The global EV market is largely reliant on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that employ lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, mostly based on liquid electrolytes. Due to extensive research and development of Li-ion, we are gradually reaching the maximum chemical potential of today’s electrode materials regarding Nickel-rich cathodes. Yet Li-ion based battery systems, based on liquid electrolytes, still face significant limitations , due to their chemistries, such as high flammability , potential safety risks, burning, and explosions, electrochemical instabilities, and low ion selectivity. In this regard, promising solutions are emerging in the form of solid-state battery EV (SSBEV) technology. However, the inherent differences between SSBs and traditional Li-ion batteries such as fundamentally distinct operating temperatures, charging rates, form factor and cell safety characteristics introduce complexities in integrating them into existing BEV systems, necessitating a redesign of the several systems. To meet this need, ARISE will develop an advanced solid-state, fourth generation (Gen-4) Li-ion battery system that offers advanced high-performance features, based on a cell-to-chassis concept with expandable modules that is applicable to any next generation S SBEV. ARISE will cover 3 different development paths: 1) a new city car chassis design utilizing SSBs that is expandable when needed, 2) a novel battery and pack level Thermal Management System compatible with SSBs, 3) Smart Battery Management System that controls battery expansion, fast charging, and safety.

Thermoelectric materials offer a versatile approach to the generation of electrical power from waste heat and solar thermal sources. Their widespread application is limited today by their limited performance and high cost. Iconiq innovation will investigate the application of self propagating high temperature synthesis on the industrial scale manufacture of novel cost effective thermoelectric materials.

The RETURN project uses eco-friendly liquid salts and low-energy electrochemical processes to recover >99% of the metals contained in waste PCBs panels. It utilises digital recognition, assessment and sorting, working in parallel with Digital Product Passport systems and a Dynamic Digital Marketplace to return recovered or repaired components and materials to EU markets. The impact is maximised by commercially attractive circular or closed-loop recycling of e-waste with facilities located directly into existing recycling centres at low investment levels. Sustainability and techno-economic viability assessments are built into all stages, assisting decision making and contributing to commercially useful performance and sustainability data to support post-project exploitation.

Biologicalisation considers the convergence of biology, engineering, and information technologies and offers the prospect of dramatic step-change scenarios for innovative development in many different manufacturing applications. ORGANIC will enable the biological transformation of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes integrating bio-inspiration from nature (complex-lattice structures), bio-intelligent technologies and architectures (cognitive and evolutionary capabilities), and biomaterials (fully recyclable biocomposites) into Fused Granulate Fabrication (FGF) additive manufacturing technology. Project’s biointelligent architecture consists of: 1) Integrated process-structure-property-performance (PSPP) open optimisation tool; 2) High-precision and digitized FGF equipment; and 3) A novel cognitive control system with self-X capabilities (self-configuration, sel-monitoring, self-optimization and self-healing) for real-time data-driven decision-making that will provide autonomy to the printing process. On top the AI-based gentelligence system enables the long-term AM process evolution as an organism that evolve from generation to generation, thus allowing continuous improvement of the AM process (including hardware and software) and future printed products (lifelong learning), so reliability and sustainability of the production process are guaranteed. ORGANIC technologies will be validated in one manufacturing value chain (wind energy sector) through the first-time-right fabrication of large highly optimized bioinspired products (spar cap or shear web components used on large offshore blades) made of the combination of different fully-recyclable fiber-reinforced biocomposites using FGF additive manufacturing techniques, starting at TRL4 and achieving TRL6 by the end of the project.

BUTTERFLIES aims to drive Europe towards sustainability and technological progress through Biointelligent Manufacturing, using biological systems to create innovative production technologies. Our project will achieve these aims by addressing challenges currently preventing widespread uptake of bio-polymers in advanced additive manufacturing (AM). The BUTTERFLIES bio-inspired advancements are based on chitin, one of the most abundant bio-polymers on Earth (second only to cellulose), and applied specifically to binder jetting (BJT) and 2 photon polymerisation (2PP) AM processes. Environmental sustainability will be achieved through chitin nanocrystal crosslinkers that bind chitin biopolymers in BJT and photocurable chitosan bio-polymer in 2PP. These approaches will offer streamlined production to replace petroleum-based plastics and non-environmentally friendly binders. BUTTERFLIES seeks to transform and revolutionise European manufacturing and products through seamless integration of biomaterials into additive manufacturing processes. BUTTERFLIES will address the challenges associated with the processing of biomaterials such as chitin and chitosan in processes such as binder jetting (BJT) and 2 photon polymerisation (2PP). Environmental sustainability will be achieved through low-temperature bio-based binders that will offer streamlined production to replace petroleum-based plastics and binders with chitin, the second most common biopolymer in nature. BUTTERFLIES will focus on development of smart bioproduct and hybrid manufacturing techniques through key technology developments: - BJT and 2PP for bio-intelligent 3D manufacturing to manufacture complex structures from biomaterials with embedded intelligence from bioprocesses and mimicry of real biological systems. -Novel biomaterial binders -Process design for BJ and 2PP-based 3D printing of biomaterials. -Process scalability of the 2PP technique based on laser beam shaping and multi-beam processing.