The Eurecat technology centre is coordinating the European GIANCE project which is to develop and test grapheme-based innovative and recyclable solutions to furnish industry with new sustainable materials and optimise their applications in the automotive, aerospace, hydrogen energy and water treatment industries.
Specifically, the project aims to design, develop and scale up the next generation of cost-effective, eco-friendly, lightweight and recyclable graphene and related materials-based multifunctional composites, coatings, foams and membranes.
To further improve the materials, the initiative is to build an integrated industry-driven platform which will help reduce their environmental impact.
“These new advanced materials have enhanced properties such as thermal, mechanical and chemical features which provide them with functionalities such as wear, corrosion and impact resistance that are extremely useful for developing new monitoring systems for control of the structural integrity of very low friction surfaces,” says Paul Lacharmoise, Eurecat’s Functional Printing and Embedded Devices Unit director.
“The GIANCE project will advance manufacturing processes which enable businesses to develop and market high-value manufactured products and build graphene into the automotive, aerospace, hydrogen economy and water treatment industries, thus reducing environmental impact and yielding economic and social benefits,” adds María Eugenia Rodríguez, Eurecat’s director of technological development.
“The new materials including graphene will be tested in various uses such as an aerodynamic shield for cars, parts for cutting-edge supersonic aircraft, a membrane for water desalination systems and for hydrogen generation and storage systems,” notes Ana Moya, a researcher in the Printed Sensors & Actuators line in Eurecat’s Functional Printing and Embedded Devices Unit. “These materials can also be recovered, recycled and reused at the end of the parts’ service life.”
GIANCE’s goal is to transform the graphene market in conjunction with leading industries to move forward with new applications which make businesses more competitive and drive their growth in line with the needs of the EU and global markets.
Graphene is a material consisting of a single atom-thick layer of carbon which is characterised by many outstanding properties such as high thermal and electrical conductivity, strength and lower electricity use than silicon for example, while it also blends high flexibility and lightness with extreme hardness. This makes it an attractive material for applications across a range of fields.
The GIANCE consortium has 23 partners from ten countries covering the entire industry value chain. It includes leading original equipment manufacturers, large industries, research and educational organisations and SMEs. The project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme, is part of the Graphene Flagship innovation initiative which works to advance Europe’s strategic autonomy in technologies based on graphene and other 2D materials.
As such, the project will seek to maximise its impact on the sustainability of industries and society by generating strategies for the evolution of graphene and related materials to ensure the European Union has a robust value chain which delivers concrete solutions to gain first-mover market advantages in the defined industrial sectors.
