The project Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Sensors (EFFECTOR) will deliver innovative and environmentally-friendly solutions for digital and wearable electronics at TRL7. These objects will be individually powered by harvesting low-level light and will be made from sustainable materials for a bright digital future. EFFECTOR will contribute to a strategic position through an open economy in the key digital, and human-centric emerging technology by developing highly sustainable energy harvesting under diffuse, low-light conditions in the key areas of security and health. EFFECTOR will create new sustainable European value chains for photovoltaic technologies and open new innovative business-to-business operations by doubling the efficiency of non-toxic organic solar cells for use under low-level light. It will couple in a streamline way with non-toxic, sustainable supercapacitors with advanced low power electronics. The EFFECTOR strategy is to bring solar cell technology to mainstream use by eliminating the need for mains electricity from everyday human-centred electronics. It will develop sustainable materials and processes, using non-toxic materials and reducing environmental impact applicable for a huge raft of human-centred technologies and innovations. EFFECTOR draws on the world-leading inkjet OPV manufacturing of Dracula Technologies, the sustainable non-toxic aqueous supercapacitors of Innocell, and the high fidelity power management systems from e-peas. With its world-leading academic partners in solar cell design (SDU), high throughput industrial electronic printing and integration (VTT) and polymers for solar cell stabilization (CNRS), it will demonstrate this innovative multi-faceted approach in vital health monitoring with Polar and portable device applications with CardLab’s biometric card technology. EFFECTOR will demonstrate how low-level and indoor light can power our future in a secure, reliable and sustainable way.

BEWELL project is about developing integration and manufacturing technologies needed for smart skin patch and wrist-device wearable electronics sensing and actuating products. BEWELL project is also about demonstrating three different application use cases. Wearable electronics belongs to new age consumer electronics together with smartphones, gaming consoles and laptop/tablet computers. Key development focuses of the new devices are better human-machine interfaces, improved connectivity, user-friendly form factors and convenience of use. Internet of things, connected living, quantified self and smart homes are identified as the driving trends of this evolution among which especially the quantified self is clearly driving the wearable electronics. Inside wearable electronics, wrist-worn devices have been the largest segment but body-worn and head-worn devices are expected to grow to similar sized segments. Intimate skin contact is necessary for reliable sensing and actuation based on sensor results during different levels of activity of the users. Controllable skin contact would be a further improvement in sensing applications. The purpose can be to replace or supplement visual messaging. Therefore, skin patches and associated technologies to enhance the user-device interface also in other types of products such as the wrist-worn ones are of special importance. In BEWELL, we have identified commercially relevant future skin-patch products to be demonstrated. We have also identified a set of critical and versatile technologies that need to be developed for scalable manufacturing and integrated to realize these future products. In particular, the BEWELL project aims to unleash the potential of flexible and wearable electronics for physical and emotional wellbeing by advanced integrated technology components made in Europe.

The prevalence of overweight among the European population is estimated to be near 50% and the prevalence of obesity around 16%. Monitoring obesity and overweight prevalence is important for assessing interventions aimed at preventing or reducing the burden of obesity and related medical risks and providing the tools for maintaining a healthier lifestyle. UltraSense project introduces the concept of a stretchable multi-sensing platform, as a wearable tool for body composition analysis and overall decentral health monitoring, fostering a sustainable and healthier lifestyle. The platform will comprise smart features, AI signal processing and advanced stretchable materials, enabling the efficient synergy of three compartments of sensors relying on different technologies: A. Ultra-sound compartment: delivering precise information about body composition and tissue thickness B. Bioimpedance compartment: fast and reliable measuring of the percentage of fat, water and muscle C. G-FET biosensor compartment: Biomarker retrieval via sweating at atto-Molar sensitivity in miniaturized footprint The wearable device will be validate in two use cases: 1. The effect of sport on a healthier lifestyle: monitoring the overall health of people who exercise 2. Early detection and continuous monitoring of metabolic syndrome. Ultra-Sense's data will be displayed to the user with consistency and reliability, so that medical advice can be sought. The green and circular material synthesis approaches of the project will reduce the related CO2 emissions by more than 70% from solvent processing. UltraSense will have a huge societal and economic impact: 700k devices will be sold annually already by 2032 for 105M€ of revenues reaching a 10% market share and associated with 20 new jobs. Millions of people will have access to low-cost, easy to use device informing of their body composition helping them improve their lifestyle, reducing obesity and metabolic diseases, and related treatment costs.

A growing desire for continuous data collection, real time information and connectivity has resulted in increased demand for electronic functionalities that are fully integrated in everyday objects. Consumer electronics, healthcare, wearable electronics, IoT and smart packaging are examples of market segments that follow this trend. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the state of the art to create electronic functions; however, this technology creates an ever increasing strain on the environment because recycling and/or dismantling of the PCB can hardly be done. A radical sustainability improvement requires disruptive electronics manufacturing processes, technologies and materials. Printed electronics are more environmentally friendly than the traditional PCB, due to their additive character (printing instead of etching), the absence of chemical etching materials, low energy demanding process conditions and possibility for recovery or re-use of substrates and (metallic) inks. Thereto, in ECOTRON, flexible, organic & printed electronics are advanced through a multidisciplinary approach involving biobased materials, innovative (print) processes, and device and module dismantling technologies. Furthermore, recycling technologies and standards will be developed that are eventually integrated in a process design for a printed electronics recycling plant. Simultaneously, the lifetime of printed electronics is improved for larger implementation of printed electronics into everyday products. ECOTRON will create use-case demonstrators in existing state-of-the-art electronics products in consumer electronics, smart packaging, healthcare and wearable electronics market segments to demonstrate the potential environmental enhancements.

RoLA–FLEX is an industry driven project which provides innovative solutions to the existing OLAE challenges associated with performance and lifetime, through: (a) the fabrication and upscaling of organic semiconductors with high charge mobilities (up to 10 cm2/Vs) and high power conversion efficiencies (16% in OPV cell and 12% in OPV module); (b) the development of metal oxides for charge carrier selective contacts and metal nanoinks for highly conductive micropatterns with increased environmental stability; (c) the seamless incorporation of high speed laser digital processing in Roll-2-Roll OPV module fabrication and photolithography based OTFT manufacturing and (d) the demonstration of two TRL5+ OLAE prototypes enabled by the developed materials and innovative processes: 1. A smart energy platform for IoT devices powered by ITO-free and flexible OPVs operating at low indoor light conditions. 2. A new generation of bezel-less and fully bendable smart watches integrating FHD, ultra-bright OLCD/OTFT displays. RoLA-FLEX will advance all the aforementioned technologies to at least TRL5 within its timeframe. RoLA-FLEX will create an opportunity for a yearly increase in revenues of almost €400 M only 6 years after its end, accompanied by hundreds of new jobs. A timely investment in the early days of these new markets can ensure significant market share for the SMEs and Industries involved and greatly boost EU’s competitiveness globally.