The objective of the project is to investigate the fatigue crack growth (FCG) threshold and rate for long as well as short cracks of second generation TiAl alloys suitable for use in the Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) of the UltraFanTM engine. The work includes in detail all investigations specified in the Call for Proposals JTI-CS2-2014-CFP01-ENG-03-04, that are: • determination of the FCG threshold and rates at load ratios R of 0.1, 0.5, 0.8 at room temperature and at 750 °C, • determination of the variation of these material properties at room temperature for three different heat treatments (centre and extremes of the heat treatment window) at load ratios R of 0.1, 0.5, 0.8, and • determination of the effect of defect type (defects from manufacturing, handling and foreign object damage (FOD)), morphology and size on the fatigue properties at room temperature and at 750 °C at load ratios R of 0.1, 0.5, 0.8.

The goal of CITRES is to provide new energy storage devices with high power and energy density by developing novel multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) based on relaxor thin films (RTF). Energy storage units for energy autonomous sensor systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) must possess high power and energy density to allow quick charge/recharge and long-time energy supply. Current energy storage devices cannot meet those demands: Batteries have large capacity but long charging/discharging times due to slow chemical reactions and ion diffusion. Ceramic dielectric capacitors – being based on ionic and electronic polarisation mechanisms – can deliver and take up power quickly, but store much less energy due to low dielectric breakdown strength (DBS), high losses, and leakage currents. RTF are ideal candidates: (i) Thin film processing allows obtaining low porosity and defects, thus enhancing the DBS; (ii) slim polarisation hysteresis loops, intrinsic to relaxors, allow reducing the losses. High energy density can be achieved in RTF by maximising the polarisation and minimising the leakage currents. Both aspects are controlled by the amount, type and local distribution of chemical substituents in the RTF lattice, whereas the latter depends also on the chemistry of the electrode metal. In CITRES, we will identify the influence of substituents on electric polarisation from atomic to macroscopic scale by combining multiscale atomistic modelling with advanced structural, chemical and electrical characterizations on several length scales both in the RTF bulk and at interfaces with various electrodes. This will allow for the first time the design of energy storage properties of RTF by chemical substitution and electrode selection. The ground-breaking nature of CITRES resides in the design and realisation of RTF-based dielectric MLCCs with better energy storage performances than supercapacitors and batteries, thus enabling energy autonomy for IoT sensor systems.

Devices for the Internet-of-Things (IoT) are often placed in remote locations or are embedded in vehicles or machines and thus need to be fully wireless, lightweight, and energy-autonomous. The project FOXES aims to provide a clean, compact, low-cost and scalable high energy density solution for powering IoT devices such as wireless sensor nodes. The energy supply system developed by FOXES is constituted by the combination of a lead-free perovskite solid cell and a multilayer relaxor thin film capacitor with high energy density. Coupling these two devices allows solar energy surplus to be stored in the capacitor and being used for periods of time when solar light is not available. The energy balance (intake/discharge) is regulated by an electronic circuit, ensuring a positive energy balance for powering the sensor node. The FOXES system is constituted by: -Fully lead-free perovskite solar cell with > 10% efficiency. -Lead-free perovskite multilayer thin film capacitor with high energy density (> 50 J/cm3). -Graphene and metal-oxide based electronics for energy management circuit. These components will be fully 3D monolithically integrated using low-cost and sustainable processes (e.g. spin coating, spray pyrolysis) minimising the use of harmful chemicals or critical raw materials. This will also improve recycling and end-of-life disposability of the FOXES system. The targeted energy generation of the FOXES system is > 250 mJ/day. The developed system will be then coupled with low-power light-activated gas sensors (as use case) – giving less than 3 mJ/day energy consumption – and the necessary ASIC/data transmission devices for sensor operation. For the latter, commercial low-power solutions will be adopted, so that a positive energy balance will be maintained. The combined energy supply – sensor system will be tested in the lab against gas mixtures during variable irradiation conditions. A roadmap for scaling up the FOXES technology will be also defined.

According to the European Energy Storage Technology Development Roadmap towards 2030 (EASE/EERA) energy storage will be of the greatest importance for the European climate energy objectives. The Sintbat project aims at the development of a cheap energy efficient and effectively maintenance free lithium-ion based energy storage system offering in-service time of 20 to 25 years. Insights gained from advanced in-situ and in-operando analysis methods will be used for multi scale modelling targeting on the simulation of aging mechanisms for a reliable lifetime prediction and enhancement. In addition, the latest generation of anode materials based on silicon as well as a prelithiation process for lifetime enhancement will be implemented in the cell manufacturing process. The implementation of high energy materials combined with a low cost and environmental benign aqueous cathode manufacturing process will lead to remarkable cell costs reduction down to 130 € per kWh. This will enable battery based storage system for an economic reasonable price of less than 400 € per kWh (CAPEX) and will lower the OPEX down to less than 0.09 € per stored kWh for the targeted in-service time of 20 to 25 years (10,000 cycles). The technical developments will be supported by the set-up of a relevant roadmap as well as a catalogue for good practice. To guarantee the highest possible impact for the European economy the Sinbat consortium installed an Industrial Advisory Board including various European battery material suppliers, cell manufacturer and end-users whereby the whole value added chain in this way is completed within the Sintbat project. This strong interaction of the Sintbat consortium with relevant stakeholders in the European energy economy will assure that battery based energy storage systems are becoming an economic self-sustaining technology.