COATED is a collaborative industrial research project which aims to demonstrate a novel current collector in commercially viable lithium-ion battery pouch cells. The project includes a significant element of stakeholder engagement and techno-economic assessment to accelerate commercialisation with the identified supply chain.

This feasibility study proposes the development and demonstration of printable gas sensors based on 2-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (2D-TMD). These materials belong to the group of graphene-related materials because similarly to graphene, they can exfoliated into monolayers of unusual properties. In contrast to graphene, the 2D-TMDs are semiconductors and they have a tunable band gap. As a result, they are useful candidates for gas sensing applications. In industrial context, the proposed 2D-TMD sensors have the potential to disrupt existing approaches. The new gas sensors will be thin, flexible, low-cost, and in many cases, disposable. This creates new applications and opportunities for integrating these sensors in smart phones, wearables, biosensors and medical diagnostics, and connecting with the Internet of Things. The proposed sensors will be used in future by system integrators and combined with many other sensors to increase the functionalities and value of the future smart systems, and implement new business models.

This project aims to investigate the feasibility for producing printed graphene - a novel material which is formed of essentially a single layer of carbon atoms and which displays unique conductive and optical properties. Printed graphene can be used in the fabrication of plastic electronic and optoelectronic devices such as large area flexible displays, thin-film photo-voltaics, sensors for healthcare and environmental monitoring, and “smart skin” for robotics and entertainment. More specifically, our project will develop new graphene inks for use in flexographic, gravure and screen printing which are established methods for industrial large-area roll-to-roll printing. The project further includes characterisation of the obtained printed graphene, and its integration into thin film devices, where it will be used to replace the expensive indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent conductor.

ChemSniff will develop a multi-mode sniffer device for real-time detection of chemical compounds contained in CBRN-E substances. This will enable high throughput screening of soft targets such as vehicles, people and their personal effects. The technology is based on a linear ion trap (LIT) mass spectrometer (MS) operating in a non-scanning mode. A non-scanning LIT allows selective ion monitoring of target threat molecules using optimal voltages for each ion mass without performing a full mass spectral scan. This result is higher sensitivity, simpler control electronics, smaller size, lower power consumption and cost. The limits of detection of LIT-MS instrument are in low parts per billion (ppb) with parts per trillion (ppt) levels achievable with suitable analyte enrichment provided by a pre-concentrator. Once the MS fingerprint of an unknown substance is measured, it can be compared online with a database of known substances enabling real-time rapid identification. In 2014 pre-prototype instrument was demonstrated in FP7 Project SNIFFLES. ChemSniff will develop a more compact MS-based than existing instruments on the market with extra capability for rapid scans of solid surfaces using suitable atmospheric ionisation inlet. Methods for miniaturisation will be applied to all key components including the vacuum system, which is the most robust part. This will be done through improved designs based on results from numerical modelling, operational designs, novel low-cost 3D printing manufacturing, electronics simplification and vacuum system optimisation. The final instrument will allow reduced acquisition/operating costs, greater mobility, user friendliness and flexibility. Performance will be benchmarked against a state-of-the-art conventional MS system for in-field analysis The project outcome will be an automated portable MS-based sniffer device, tested and evaluated for a range of security applications and markets by end-users.

The emerging graphene industry is now producing its first generation of products and prototypes. However, many of the potentially outstanding applications of graphene remain unexploited because of the lack of reliable, industrial processing methods for the integration of graphene into functional electronic, optical, and sensing devices. This project aims to develop a new graphene deposition method, using our laser transfer technology to produce graphene patterns of high resolution and high purity. Such patterns may find applications in miniaturised electronics, ultra-sensitive sensors, RF transistors, ultra-high frequency computing, integrated circuits, logic, and memory. Our technology offers a unique solution which may help develop the graphene supply chain by providing a critical link for graphene processing, bridging the gap between graphene manufacture and end users.