The water crisis is the #1 global risk based on impact to society as announced by the World Economic Forum in January 2015 [1]. Indeed, groundwater is a scarce resource as it only account for 0.3% of the Earth's total freshwater reserves. And already, 663 million people - 1 in 10 - lack access to safe water and 2.4 billion people - 1 in 3 - lack access to adequate sanitation (including 1/3 of all schools)[2,3] which has been shown to strongly impact local water quality and population’s health [4] Even when safe water is accessible, there can be great variability in its composition depending on many environmental and human factors [5], which can sporadically render it unsafe. Despite this, little is known of this variabilities and interplays because no global and permanent monitoring of these freshwater resources. The reason for this are explained in the proposal and a new low cost, multi-analyte water quality monitoring solution is proposed. 1. World Economic Forum. (2015). Global Risks 2015 Report. 2. World Health Organization and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). (2015) Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation, 2015 Update and MDG Assessment. 3. United States Census Bureau Estimates. (2015). United States and World Population Clock. 4. Contribution of Water Pollution From Inadequate Sanitation and Housing Quality to Diarrheal Disease in Low-Cost Housing Settlements of Cape Town, South Africa. Thashlin Govender, Jo M. Barnes, Clarissa H. Pieper, Am J Public Health. 2011 July; 101(7): e4–e9. 5. Spatial and Seasonal Variability in the Water Quality Characteristics of an Ephemeral Wetland. Chad J. Boeckman and Joseph R. Bidwell Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 87: pp 45-54 (2007)

The modalities of nanoscale and macroscale energy transfer differ because of the increased role of interfaces and ballistic phonon transport in the former case, whose fundamental description is required in fields such as electronics, thermoelectricity, biological imaging or sensing. The proposed project aims at both optimizing the vibrational quality factors of metal nanoparticle-based nanoresonators (by determining and minimizing their intrinsic damping sources) and characterizing phonon transport in thin layers separating two distinct metallic components used as heater and thermometer, respectively. The consortium formed to reach these goals brings together three partners with complementary expertise: the synthesis of single-crystal gold nanoparticles and of metal-dielectric nano-hybrids, and their time-resolved optical spectroscopy at the single-particle level.

3D Printing has significantly lowered the barrier-of-entry in terms of cost, time and accessibility to micro-fabricated intricate shapes and sophisticated devices, in various fundamental research domains. 3D printers can manufacture objects with sizes ranging from few microns with two-photon stereolithography (TPS) to centimeter. In the field of microfluidics, the more "user-friendly" implementation and the easiness of 3D printing of complex structures digitally designed (3D CAD) compete the robust but heavy implementation of soft lithography. 3D printing allows direct and rapid fabrication of microfluidic chips. Among all 3D printing technologies, 3D printings based on stereolithography have attracted particular attention since sub-100 µm internal channel diameter has recently been demonstrated. In this context, polymers are strategic materials. However, the main limitation relies on the fact that the properties of the chosen monomer impose the surface chemistry of the envisioned object. At technological level, substantial efforts have been devoted to improving writing devices (writing resolution and speed). However, little attention has been given to increasing the chemical diversity or surface functionalization of the written scaffolds. Today, it is not yet possible to modify the surface chemistry in a simple way from 3D printers other than robust but heavy and/or cumbersome post physical or chemical treatments. So mechanically compliant and chemically functionalized surfaces (polarity, texturing, biocompatibility, etc…) are still untenable. Moreover, it is a hard puzzle to solve when surface modifications are to be done at located place (patterning). 3D-CustomSurf project aims at developing new photo-initiator with advanced properties and new methodologies in additive manufacturing techniques 3DP-UV (mm to cm scale) and TPS (µm scale). Our strategy is grounded on the use of photo-Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization (photo-RDRP) techniques adapted to the specific conditions of 3D manufacturing by photo-polymerization applied to microfluidics field where this will be an asset when specific patterning is needed. Indeed, surface modification of internal channels of a microfluidic device is still limited by multi-steps process. Our strategy is grounded on i) the design and synthesis of unique photo-sensitive alkoxyamines containing specific chromophores for both 3DP-UV and TPS and the initiating moiety ii) a careful examination of their photo-physical and chemical properties iii) a thorough investigations of their efficiencies for first and re-polymerization (living polymerization) under laser writing (3DP-UV, TPS) iv) methodological investigations for first polymerization (3DP-UV) followed by inner surface functionalization (chemical and patterning) by TPS on simple prototypes (tubes) v) the fabrication of a microfluidic device with customized inner surface channels for double emulsion preparation. Coupling laser writing with RDRP methodologies is a novel approach which has been poorly investigated notably in the field of TPS where no work has been reported with a such combination. Novelty and especially lack of thorough investigations about chemical and physical phenomena involved during the 3D fabrication process explain the absence of such approach in 3D laser printing area. Our strategy is expected to be a breakthrough in this field since NMP2 coupled with 3D Printing allow to consider the object on the one hand and its surface modification (chemistry and structuration) on the other hand in a protocol of great simplicity.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become a trending technology in photovoltaic research due to a rapid increase in efficiency in recent years. In 2020, a record efficiency of 25.5% close from Shockley-Queisser theoretical limit of 30% was reported. Tandem solar cells offer an alternative to go beyond but stability still remains an issue. In our project, we will bring together our complementary expertise in molecular and macromolecular syntheses, thin film morphology tuning and cell device engineering to improve the stability of highly efficient inverted perovskite cells using new electron transport layers (ETL) with high electron mobility and high stability. We will design and synthesize new n-type fullerene free semiconductors. Introduction of cross-linkable groups will lead to stabilized ETLs by thermally-induced cross-linking after film formation. The efficiency and stability of these ETLs will be finally evaluated through their incorporation in tandem configuration.

The general objective of ICARUS is strategic to Europe’s ambition and long-term vision of becoming independent on fossil fuels while strengthening its leadership in renewable energy and hydrogen technologies. ICARUS aims at developing one of the next generation technologies that will represent the pillars of the clean energy transition targeted to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The scientific aim of ICARUS is to boost the efficiency of solar energy conversion and the economic sustainability of green hydrogen through the simultaneous, synergic production of electric power and solar hydrogen, entirely from sunlight and water. This ambitious goal will be achieved through the smart integration of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and photovoltaic (PV) power generation, using a spectrum-splitting dichroic system to concentrate short-wavelength solar radiation onto the PEC reactor, while transmitting long-wavelength photons to the PV module. This approach guarantees a panchromatic use of sunlight with optimized spectral quantum efficiency. ICARUS will build a prototype to validate the technology in a relevant environment; the system will integrate hydrogen storage at near ambient conditions using a metal hydride reservoir. The project will bring a pivotal contribution to the clean energy transition by addressing the topic of “Hybrid-RES solutions” in Call Module 03A, which focuses on electricity generation combined with clean energy carriers.