Complications related to infectious diseases have significantly reduced, particularly in the developed countries, due to the availability and use of broad-range antibiotics and wide variety of antimicrobial agents. Excessive use of antibiotics and antimicrobial agents increased significantly the number of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. This has resulted in a serious threat to public health. The inexorable rise in the incidence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens, coupled with the low rate of emergence of new clinically useful antibiotics, has refocused attention on finding alternatives to overcome antimicrobial resistance. Novel strategies aiming to reduce the amount of antibiotics, but able to prevent and treat animal and human infections should be investigated, evidenced and approved. Among the various approaches, the use of graphene and its derivatives is currently considered a highly promising strategy to overcome microbial drug resistance. In line with this interest in graphene by the European Commission through the graphene ‘flagship’ initiatives, we respond in this consortium by exploring the utility of novel graphene based nanocomposites for the management and better understanding of microbial infections. The anti-microbical potential of the novel graphene based nanomaterials, the possibility of using such structures for the development of non-invase therapies together with the understanding of the mechanism of action will be the main focal points of the proposed project entitled “PANG”, relating to Pathogen and Graphene. We have gathered the essential elements, namely different academic institutions in Europe (France, Germany, and Sweden) and their associated countries (Ukraine) as well as two European companies (Graphenea-Spain and LSO Medical-France) and one company (RS RESEARCH) in one of the associated countries (Turkey). The proposed multidisciplinary project uniquely suits high-level interdisciplinary and cross-border training.

Hydrogen is being pursued as a promising route to store energy, potentially mitigating the unpredictability of electricity generation based on renewables. Provided that more than 95% of H2 produced comes from breaking the C-H bond in hydrocarbons, it is natural to think that storing H bound to C may provide a long-term solution to this challenge. However, liquid hydrocarbons are not an optimal solution given that the process of extracting H from them involves CO2 emissions. LESGO proposes to store energy in the C-H bond of reduced graphene oxide (rGO-H). rGO-H can be stored safely, exhibits an energy density more than 100 times larger than that of H2 gas, and can be easily transported wherever the electricity generation is needed. LESGO will demonstrate that rGO-H can become an ideal energy stock at an affordable cost and used to supply electrical power on demand where it is required. In the complete cycle from sun light to electrical power the raw material for storage evolves from graphite back to graphite with no CO2 emissions in any intermediate step. LESGO’s consortium has been structured to bring together a highly interdisciplinary community that will enable the emergence of an ecosystem around a circular economy relying on the use of: widely available raw materials, storing energy in chemical bonds, using it in applications that require electrical power, and finally recovering the materials for a second or multiple lives. Industrial (GRAPHENEA, HST, GENCELL and CRF), academic (UDE and AALTO) or research center (IREC and ICFO) activities are completely interwoven throughout the entire implementation of LESGO. Within the duration of LESGO, CRF will develop an application in the transport sector where rGO-H will be tested as the fuel in a support battery providing a fast charging for current electric vehicles. When looking ahead beyond the consortium, DBT will foster the engagement of a wider stakeholder/public community to consolidate the ecosystem around rGO-H.

Geothermal is the most under-utilized of renewable sources due to high investment costs and long development cycle. A big part (53%) of the cost is in drilling and it is time-dependent. Geo-Drill aims to reduce drilling cost with increased ROP and reduced tripping with improved tools lives. Geo-Drill is proposing drilling technology incorporating bi-stable fluidic amplifier driven mud hammer, low cost 3D printed sensors & cables, drill monitoring system, Graphene based materials and coatings. Geo-Drill fluidic amplifier driven hammer is less sensitive to issues with mud and tolerances, less impact of erosion on hammer efficiency and it continues to operate with varying mud quality in efficient manner. It is also less affected by the environmental influences such as shocks, vibrations, accelerations, temperature and high pressures. Low cost and robust 3D-printed sensors & cables along the surface of the whole length of the drill string provides real-time high bandwidth data during drilling; e.g. estimation of rock formation hardness, mud flow speed, density, temp, etc. Flow assurance simulations combined with sensor readings and knowledge-based system will assist in optimizing drilling parameters and cuttings transport performance and safety conditions. Graphene's ability to tune the particular form lends itself uniquely as a component in a wide variety of matrices for coating developments with enhanced adhesion and dispersion properties and improved resistance to abrasion, erosion, corrosion and impact. Placing few mm hard-strength materials on drill bit, drill stabilizer through diffusion bonding improves their wear resistance and improve the lifetime. Geo-Drill's hammers improved efficiency and lifetime, drill parameter optimisation and CTP via sensors, reduced time in replacing tools with improved lifetime work together to improve ROP & lifetime resulting in reduced drilling time. Thereby, Geo-Drill will reduce drilling cost by 29-60%.

GRAPHENEA proposes the present project in order to take the Graphene Oxide (GO) a step closer to the market through specific polymer applications. This will have a direct impact not only in the global economy, but also in the society, and at the same time will lead GRAPHENEA to become the worldwide reference as GO producer with the necessary production capacity to supply the polymer industry and the research laboratories. More specifically, the GO4APP objectives are: • To use all the competitive advantages of GO (aspect ratio, surface area, mechanical properties, functionality) as filler material in advanced polymer composites. • To produce tailor made GO materials (further functionalised) to improve compatibility with different matrices, leading to a broad range of applications. • The large-scale synthesis of GO to be able to enter/supply the advanced polymers industry. • The integration of GO into polymeric matrices in order to obtain dramatically improved mechanical, thermal and electrical properties via the favourable interactions between GO and polymers followed by in-situ processing. • To provide cost-competitive final advanced polymer composites. • The clear GO cost reduction via dramatically increasing the production scale. Based on already obtained and validated data for GRAPHENEA’s GO competitive production methodology and its application into polymeric matrices, GRAPHENEA expects to address the above listed objectives and become ready to provide answers to the expected GO demand in the different market segments. Through the Phase 1 of the SME instrument, GRAPHENEA will be able to study the feasibility of the GO to be the centre of the herein proposed innovation project, and design in a more accurate way the breakthrough innovation activities to take the tailor made GO materials into the market, guarantying a high quality large-scale manufacturing of GO-based products.