Even though Li-ion batteries have dominated the market so far, they lack the desired properties for large scale electric grids or electric vehicles. Besides, there are some concerns regarding the safety and raw-materials availability in the future. In this context, Zn-air batteries emerge as the most promising candidates to be the post-lithium technology for their lower weight and volume, and inherently safety. However, their cycle life is still below the required standards. Therefore, the goal of this proposal is to develop efficient electrically rechargeable Zn-air batteries with high energy density and cycling stability. To achieve this, near neutral electrolytes will be used instead of traditional highly alkaline solution employed in non-rechargeable devices. The latter leads to significant improvements in Zn anode cyclability increasing battery life. However, to fully exploit the potential of this technology, bifunctional catalytic materials specifically design to operate in this pH conditions are necessary and still missing. This project seeks to address this matter using metal oxide nanoclusters, known as polyoxometalates (POM), as homogenous bifunctional catalyst to promote both oxygen evolution and reduction reactions. These materials have outstanding electrochemical properties including an excellent reversibility, which makes them ideal for rechargeable energy storage devices. This research plan will investigate the electrocatalytic activity of various POMs in near neutral electrolytes using several electrochemical techniques. These will be later test in lab-scale Zn-air batteries to assess the performance of POMs as bifunctional catalyst in real operating conditions. The combination of near-neutral electrolytes and POM-based air cathodes is expected to allow fabrication of ZAB devices with increased cycle life, specific and volumetric energy density and power density. These improvements will consolidate ZAB secondary batteries as a post-lithium technology

IMPRESS (Interoperable electron Microscopy Platform for advanced RESearch and Services) aims to co-develop and deliver advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) instrumentation, methods and tools that will revolutionize the way in which TEMs are used by all new and well-established scientific communities, integrate them with other instrumentation at analytical research infrastructures (RIs) and create new business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. The core of the project is the development of a standardized cartridge-based interoperable platform for TEM that is based on common interfaces and data formats, is flexible and adaptable and allows users to perform advanced correlative experiments using different instruments and to co-develop methodological options that are not yet satisfied by commercially available electron microscopes. The solutions will be delivered at technology readiness level 8 through a pre-commercial procurement. The project also involves the co-development of new electron sources, techniques based on adaptive optics and event-driven detectors, application-relevant in situ/operando sample environments and software for simulation of experiments and remote access based on artificial intelligence. By the end of the project, these developments will be integrated with the new cartridge-based platform, in order to make them available to all users of RIs and other TEMs owners. An open knowledge and innovation hub for TEM will be created and a training programme will promote the new solution, to initiate RI staff in their use and to provide both materials and life science communities with optimized tools for tackling societal challenges, especially in the energy and health sectors. The project will exploit synergies and collaboration with five RIs of European dimension for the benefit of users from diverse scientific communities and will pave the way towards a new cooperative model for the development and operation of RIs for TEM

Many governments are working towards decarbonising their economies, with the EU having set net-zero targets to be reached by 2050. At the moment, however, still about 70% of all the world’s power comes from burning fossil fuels (i.e. coal, oil, gas). It is clear that in order for these goals to be feasible and economically viable, the way we generate and use energy needs to change drastically. One way of addressing this challenge is research into novel, more advanced classes of quantum materials where, broadly speaking, new structural and electronic properties can start to emerge. Here, ferroelectrics are a leading candidate for achieving high-performance energy technologies. OFFSET aims to explore the potential of ferroelectric materials for future energy applications by focusing on one specific material class, nitride perovskites. While the properties of many nitride perovskite candidates have already been studied computationally, experimental realisations have been lacking, hindering potential applications. In order to achieve these goals, OFFSET aims to synthesise a number of structures using molecular-beam epitaxy. This will be combined with advanced characterisation techniques, including cryogenic and structural measurements as well as piezoresponse atomic-force and transmission electron microscopy, in order to assess their quality and quantify the piezoelectric/ ferroelectric response. At a later stage, OFFSET also aims to explore potential technological applications including uses as memories, photovoltaics and/or thermoelectrics. This will be achieved via an advanced nanofabrication programme, making use of the cleanroom facilities available at both project partners. With these efforts, OFFSET expects to acquire fundamental knowledge on the viability and feasibility of nitride perovskites for use in future energy technologies.

Devices such as mobile phones, computers, and batteries have become an integrated part of our society. An important challenge in such devices and device components is to avoid overheating by using suitable thermal management. Currently, this typically relies on heat dissipation by electrons in metals such as copper. More recent approaches have explored heat dissipation by phonons in graphene and related materials, which can have a thermal conductivity that is an order of magnitude higher than that of typical metals. In this project, we aim to demonstrate thermal management technology, where heat dissipation takes place by graphene electrons, rather than phonons. This is a promising approach, as the thermal conductivity of graphene electrons can be another order of magnitude larger than that of graphene phonons, as we recently demonstrated in our ERC-funded research. Furthermore, it allows for direct electronic heat dissipation without the intermediate step via phonons. The two main objectives of this project are i) to demonstrate graphene-electron-based heat dissipation in relevant electronic devices; and ii) to develop a business creation plan related to this technology. These objectives will be addressed by an experienced and multidisciplinary team consisting of scientists, technologists and business developers. On the technical level, we will fabricate and characterize three specific proof-of-concept demonstrator devices. On the commercial level, we will work on intellectual property protection, leverage our network of partners from relevant industries, and design a business creation strategy. There will be constant feedback between the technical level and the commercial level of the project, in order to establish how the technology will create the most added value adapted to the market needs, and thereby create most value for society.