Air pollution by pesticides is a component of atmospheric pollution that remains less documented than other environments (water, soil, food) and represents a topical health problem. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools to monitor respiratory exposure to pesticides during spray application or post application. The objective of the project OPAL is to answer it by providing portable devices for on-site and real time monitoring of pesticides in air. To do this, transducers based on the principle of anchoring transition of liquid crystals (LCs) will be used. Research will focus on identifying interfaces having a high selectivity in the anchoring transition of a LC in presence of a target pesticide, first from molecular modelling and then by experimental tests. The work carried out in this project will also concern the development of LC transducers combining the LC with a substrate modified with either an anchoring or orientational layer (depending on transducer configuration), eventually an aqueous layer, and a protective porous membrane. The orientation change from nematic phase to disorder phase after anchoring transition will be monitored by polarimetric optics as the LC transition is accompanied by a change in the birefringence. During OPAL project, reliable and robust technological processes for transducers fabrication will be developed and then several LC transducers based on different interfaces will be associated to form an array which global response will be a characteristic signature of a pesticide. Finally, full sensors will be realized by associating the transducers with LEDs and photodiodes and integrating them with an electronic card to follow LC transition by measuring the photocurrent. Furthermore, algorithms to process the signal and extract information on the presence and / or content of pesticide that will be developed. To assess and characterize the performance of the LC interfaces, the transducers and the sensors throughout the project, it is also planned to build and qualify a pesticide aerosol generation and an exposure room. The tests carried out in this room will also serve to select and optimize the design of the sensor. At the end of the project, the sensors can be tested outdoor especially in active area and confronted to standard analysis of the Air Breizh association in charge of monitoring air quality in Britany and which foresees a campaign during the project. The project consortium, composed of two public structures and involving three teams, brings together the following areas of expertise: functionalization and characterization of surfaces, technological processes, electronics, development of sensors and their integration, aerosols generation and characterization, and fluid mechanics. Thus, the complementarity of the consortium is a real asset for the development of functional prototypes.

According to the statistic of World Health Organization, 360 million people, has disabling hearing loss. Cochlear implant (CI) surgery can be used for profoundly deafened patient, for whom hearing aids are not satisfactory, and it is regarded as one of the best options for better hearing. During the implant surgery, the most difficult task is to insert the electrode array (EA) into the tympanic ramp of the patient's cochlea. As the forces involved are extremely low, surgeon has no perception on what happens in the spiral-shape cochlea while he/she is doing the insertion. The failed or incomplete insertion will lead to an incomplete coverage of the tonotopy of the cochlear nerve resulting in frequency distortions at implant activation. Moreover, EA can create trauma to the fine structures of the cochlea (basilar membrane, spiral ganglion nerve), leading to inflammatory response, fibrosis and finally to poor post-operative speech performances or to residual hearing loss. The current commercialized CI EA are generally made of silicone with about 20 platinum electrodes spread along its length. It is about 0.5mm diameter and about 25mm long. The EA are not actively controlled in shape. Despite the attention paid to the EA design, both categories still face to trauma to cochlea structures. ACCESS aims (i) a simulation of the electrode insertion through the optimal trajectory, minimizing friction forces and avoiding anatomical obstacle, (ii) a simultaneous control of surgical robot position and EA bending (iii) an actively controlled EA by means of EAP actuators and thin film EA (TFEA), (iv) feedback signals from directly TFEA by using the actuator in sensor-mode.

DISAFECAP is a Franco-Luxemburgish project addressing a key unmet need for safe, high performance, flexible solid-state supercapacitors (SCs). We hypothesize that such outcome may be realized through creation of a new family of polymer materials termed dynamic ion gels (DIGs) and produced through the simultaneous coacervation of complementary poly(ionic liquids) (PILs) and charged silica nanoparticles with in situ generation of high performance ionic liquids, and ionic crosslinking to form robust, self-healing polymer networks. DIGs alone will act as SC separators, while reduced graphene oxide loaded with DIGs or PILs will serve as electrodes, thus ensuring efficient charge transfer and mechanical stability of the trilayer SC. The fundamental knowledge on DIG formulation and properties will enable the design and production of new polymeric materials and devices with unprecedented levels of mechanical and electrochemical performance.

Hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells with enhanced stability and processability: from design to devices (ESPOIR2). In the last ten years, we have witnessed one of the most impressive evolutions in the history of photovoltaics: the rise of perovskite solar cells with power conversion efficiency rising from 2% in 2006 to higher than 22 % in mid-2016 for single junction devices. Perovskite solar cell is thus becoming a promising emerging technology. In this context, production cost, device stability, leading to durability and long product’s life, are considered as the key performance parameters. However, the perovskite materials are very sensitive to corrosion and humidity, which impedes the commercial development in the long run and becomes one of the main issues needing to be solved urgently. As a solution at this respect, the ESPOIR2 project is oriented toward designing and tailoring nanographenes as new organic hole transporting materials. Nanographenes are designed to work as high efficient additive-free non-corrosive hole conductors, thus enhance the chemical stability of the perovskite layer. ESPOIR2 covers all aspects concerning materials development: from rational molecular design and theoretical simulation, synthesis and characterization to the incorporation of new materials in perovskite solar cells devices. The project is constructed based on a solid French-Korean research partnership led by Dr. Thanh-Tuân Bui (current project coordinator) and Prof. Nam-Gyu Park of Sungkyunkwan University, world-leading scientist in the perovskite solar cell fields. ESPOIR2 is organized in 4 dependent and strongly interactive work packages: WP0 (project management), WP1: nanographene molecular engineering and syntheis, WP2: nanographene materials advanced characterization, WP3: incorporation of nanographene in perovskite photovoltaic devices and device long-term stability investigation. The WP1 and WP2 will be realized within the Laboratory of Physicochemistry of Polymers and Interfaces of the University of Cery-Pontoise (France). The WP3 will be done at Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea) and partially at the University of Cergy-Pontoise.

The storage of electricity produced by intermittent renewable sources is the bottleneck of the transition towards a fully green energy landscape. Besides technical suitability, the stationary storage with battery technologies applied to buffer the temporal mismatch between electricity production and demand have to comply with very tight economic constraints to be competitive with fossil fuel combustion technologies, to allow for further nurturing of a sustainable energy transition. Moreover, sensitive aspects concerning the secured supply of critical raw materials and the strategic technological independence are now at the forefront of the discussions and need to be addressed natively to any battery technology to be developed. The consortium for ZABSES project brings the partners together from both sides of the Rhine; and proposes to setup the basis for an innovative European-based practical solution. The ZABSES project aims at demonstrating that a rechargeable alkaline zinc – air battery (ZAB) technology, being made of abundant, environmentally friendly, intrinsically safe and robust materials, without issues for recycling step and presenting auspicious life cycle costs, could be more advantageous than state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries for the stationary electricity storage. The objective of this project is to demonstrate, with the construction of a prototype (TRL 4), that such battery technology will fulfil requirements in terms of load profiles for the energy storage for residential and grid renewable production. This objective relies on promising preliminary results already gained by the partners involved in the project namely: (i) from Sunergy a solution for the zinc electrode based on the development of a NiZn battery, making 2000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge, and a zinc electrode for ZAB with a surface capacity up to 400 mAh·cm-2, (ii) a consolidated approach for bi-functional air electrode with 150 load cycles at 10 mA/cm2 (and during 2h charge and 2h discharge)in half cell tests, from ZSW. Starting from TRL 2-3, bi-functional air cathode charge-discharge capability has to be improved greatly. An iterative and integrated approach, joining experiment and modelling, will be adopted to develop cutting-edge materials and electrode architecting, to secure the output and to unveil a deeper understanding of electrode processes down to the atomic scale level, this within the framework of battery cell prototype. The French-German consortium gathers together the University of Cergy-Pontoise’s laboratory LPPI (France), the non-profit research institution ZSW (Germany) at the interface between University and Industry, the R&D SME Sunergy (France), the Research Institute Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt / Helmholtz-Institut Ulm (Germany) and the company Varta Microbattery GmbH for a concerted development of a performant rechargeable ZAB prototype.