Products which require complicated material systems and nanoscale structural organization, e.g. third-generation solar cells, are often difficult to develop. This is because electronic properties of bulk semiconductors are often masked or at least strongly superimposed by material interface properties. Additionally these interface properties are also complex and thus make product design difficult. This project aims at solving this problem by offering a nanoscale characterization platform for the European manufacturers of coatings, photovoltaic cells, and semi-conductor circuits. It is proposed to use a combination of scanning microwave microscopes, dielectric resonators, and simulation to measure the material and interface properties of complicated material systems and nano-structures. A metrological system of cross-checks between different instruments, models and simulations with associated error bars is indispensable for obtaining trustworthy results. Scanning microwave measurements will be directly used for three-dimensional characterization of electrical properties of nanostructured semiconductors used in organic and hybrid photovoltaic cells. The objective is to accelerate the development of high efficiency cells and to have measures to predict performances in early stages of prototype production. Where process monitoring of materials with nanostructures is necessary, a dielectric resonator is used to translate insights from scanning microwave microscope measurements to fabrication environments. Such dielectric resonators could be directly integrated in production lines for monitoring thin film deposition processes. An open innovation environment will make the uptake of the results easier for European industry. A database containing exemplary measurement datasets of scanning microwave microscopes will be available in calibrated and raw versions. Simulation results of tip-semiconductor interactions will be made available on the EMMC Modeling Market Place.

NanoFabNet – International Network for sustainable industrial-scale Nanofabrication The NanoFabNet Project will create a strong international hub for sustainable nanofabrication, whose structure, business model and detailed strategies and action plans are designed, agreed and carried by its international stakeholders during the Project duration, in order to yield an (economically) self-sustaining collaboration platform: the NanoFabNet hub. The registered NanoFabNet membership organisation will provide an accountable, permanent secretariat to the hub; it will be responsible for the implementation of a long-term business plan, and the provision of validation services, trainings and consultations, while collaborative and cooperative activities between actors of the wider international nanofabrication community will be fostered within the open architecture of the hub, and may be supported by membership organisation, where necessary. The hub will stand for (a) a well-implemented, guided approach to high levels of safety and sustainability, (b) trusted technical reliability and quality, and (c) compliance with and drive of harmonisation, standardisation, and regulation requirements, amongst all of its members and along their nanofabrication value chains. It is envisaged to have a complex, open structure, whose elements will be developed, agreed and validated in a step-wise approach to meet the high-level objectives outlined below. The achievability of these aims to be a one-stop-shop for all matters and concerns pertaining to sustainable nanofabrication and its successful incorporation into the complex, large-scale high-value industries by bringing together governmental and academic laboratories with large industries and SMEs, and thereby offering a coordination space for past, current and future collaborative nanofabrication projects (incl. both EU-funded projects and initiatives, as well as public-to-public partnerships (P2Ps) and public-private-partnerships (PPPs)).

The aircraft industry is facing issues with the increase of drag directly impacting the fuel consumption of the fleet. Achieving natural laminar flow requires high surface quality. Tiny air flow disturbances at the surface can indeed cause an early transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The accumulation of insect debris on the leading edge of laminar wings has been recognized as one of the most significant operational concerns associated with laminar flow. The main objective of STELLAR is to develop efficient and durable anticontamination coating and cleaning solutions designed following a deep understanding of the insect residues properties. Hence, STELLAR project seeks to gain insight on the understanding of the biochemical transformation of hemolymph during flight phases and the consequent physico-chemical modification and interaction with the aircraft surface. In order to meet these goals, the project consortium gathers cutting edge multidisciplinary knowledge and the needed facilities to provide a deep understanding of the insect contamination issues. STELLAR approach has the potential to significantly enhance the current understanding of the key issues and highlight which surface characteristics have the greatest influence on insect residue adhesion. From this approach, new coating and cleaning solutions will be developed. The knowledge acquired and the coating and cleaning solutions developed will be evaluated through large scale tests: 1) wind tunnel tests will allow the simulation of the extreme conditions occuring during flights and 2) real aircraft tests, including short flight tests (on test aircraft) and long flight tests (on commercial aircraft), operating at higher altitudes will allow a full validation of the new solutions developed by the STELLAR project.

Perovskite photovoltaics have seen rapid advances in the last decade with the promise of higher efficiency, reduced embedded energy and CO2 emissions, low-temperature production for versatile applications such as flexible photovoltaics and all at potentially much lower cost than current Si technology. However, poor stability and short lifetime in the field is holding back wide deployment of perovskite photovoltaics. The current best performing materials also contain lead (Pb) which is toxic and damaging to health and the environment. To address these limitations, SUNREY will tackle the root causes of these limiting factors through a suite of innovations covering all aspects of the device design and manufacture including improvements to the stability/performance ratio of the perovskite materials themselves, development of new charge transport and electrode materials and low-cost deposition methods that can be configured to different perovskite absorbers, development of improved stability Pb-free materials, development of a range of measures for barriers and encapsulation from layers to module and process optimisation. These technology developments will be underpinned by new approaches to degradation mechanism analysis and the incorporation of modelling to combine barrier properties data with device performance models and test data. The design process will be driven by lifecycle, circularity and sustainability analyses. Developments will be validated to TRL5 through testing by an accredited laboratory under both realistic laboratory conditions and outdoors. SUNREY targets a breakthrough combination of high efficiency (25% Pb-based, 15% Pb-free) with long lifetime (25 years), reduced emissions and cost of manufacturing compared to Si. This will open up a wide range of new opportunities for the consortium companies including utility-scale panels, IoT and MicroPower, Independent Power Sources, Building Applied Utility Power (BAPV) Building-Integrated Photovoltaics.

SSUCHY-Next builds further where previous BBI SSUCHY stopped in 2022. Ambition is to bring different parts of the hemp fibre supply chain to TRL 7, through production at scale of various fibre products, covering the complete value chain from field to composite. Two value chains are further developed. Fibres are extracted by either scutching or by breaking roller/card, linking into different geographical regions. Hackled and carded slivers are further processed into high quality preforms for composites: woven and quasi-UD fabrics and purely UD hemp tape. The appearance at industrial scale of high quality hemp fibres would give a boost to plant fibre composites in competition with glass fibre composites, offering both an environmentally sound and cost effective alternative, especially with less expensive medium length fibres. With hemp fibres which are largely circular, one of the major bottlenecks for a further breakthrough of bio-based composites has been the lack of (fully) bio-based, environmentally sound and as well cost efficient polymer matrices. Hence, our ambition in SSUCHY-Next to work on 3 bio-based resins: bio-based acrylic polymer (“Elium®”) with very high bio-content, and fully bio-based benzoxazine and BG-epoxy, building upon developments in SSUCHY. All systems developed to TRL 6 or 7. To demonstrate the viability of the materials, various inspiring applications are developed to TRL7. We demonstrate the design, production, testing and certification of a 12.6 meter long wind turbine blade, made from hemp and bio-based acrylic. Wood-based products are developed, based on infiltrated wood scaffolds, in first instance with fluid acrylic; also a hybrid wood-based product with hemp reinforcement is included to produce a leather replacement. Large scale building applications are demonstrated, based on shorter fibres and benzoxazine. For each developed product we demonstrate its recyclability. All developments are monitored and adjusted by means of LCA.