Project acronym FREENERGY
Project Lead-free halide perovskites for the highest efficient solar energy conversion
Researcher (PI) Antonio ABATE
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2018-STG
Summary Achieving zero net carbon emissions by the end of the century is the challenge for capping global warming. The largest share of carbon emissions belongs to the production of electric energy from fossil fuels, which renewable energies are progressively replacing. Sunlight is an ideal renewable energy source since it is most abundant and available worldwide. Photovoltaic solar cells can directly convert the sunlight into electric energy by making use of the photovoltaic effect in semiconductors. Halide perovskites are emerging crystalline semiconducting materials with among the strongest light absorption and the most effective electric charge generation needed to design the highest efficient photovoltaic solar cells. The PI has the ambition to reinvent halide perovskites as environmentally friendly photovoltaic material, aiming at:
(i) Removing lead: state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells are based on lead, which is in the list of hazardous substances of the European Union. The PI will prepare new tin-based perovskites and prove them in the highest efficient solar cells.
(ii) Solvent-free crystallisation: organic solvents drive the crystallisation of the perovskite in the most efficient solar cells. However, crystallising the perovskite without using solvents is more environmentally friendly. The PI will establish physical vapour deposition as a solvent-free method for preparing the perovskite and the other materials comprising the solar cell.
(iii) Durable power output: the long-term power output defines the solar energy yield and thus the return on investment. The PI aims to make stable tin-based perovskites addressing the oxidative instability of tin directly.
The quantified target of FREENERGY is demonstrating a tin-based perovskite solar cell with power conversion efficiency over 20% and stability for 25 years. The research strategy to enable this disruptive outcome comprises innovative perovskites formulations and unconventional supramolecular interactions
Summary
Achieving zero net carbon emissions by the end of the century is the challenge for capping global warming. The largest share of carbon emissions belongs to the production of electric energy from fossil fuels, which renewable energies are progressively replacing. Sunlight is an ideal renewable energy source since it is most abundant and available worldwide. Photovoltaic solar cells can directly convert the sunlight into electric energy by making use of the photovoltaic effect in semiconductors. Halide perovskites are emerging crystalline semiconducting materials with among the strongest light absorption and the most effective electric charge generation needed to design the highest efficient photovoltaic solar cells. The PI has the ambition to reinvent halide perovskites as environmentally friendly photovoltaic material, aiming at:
(i) Removing lead: state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells are based on lead, which is in the list of hazardous substances of the European Union. The PI will prepare new tin-based perovskites and prove them in the highest efficient solar cells.
(ii) Solvent-free crystallisation: organic solvents drive the crystallisation of the perovskite in the most efficient solar cells. However, crystallising the perovskite without using solvents is more environmentally friendly. The PI will establish physical vapour deposition as a solvent-free method for preparing the perovskite and the other materials comprising the solar cell.
(iii) Durable power output: the long-term power output defines the solar energy yield and thus the return on investment. The PI aims to make stable tin-based perovskites addressing the oxidative instability of tin directly.
The quantified target of FREENERGY is demonstrating a tin-based perovskite solar cell with power conversion efficiency over 20% and stability for 25 years. The research strategy to enable this disruptive outcome comprises innovative perovskites formulations and unconventional supramolecular interactions
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-02-01, End date: 2024-01-31
Project acronym LifeLikeMat
Project Dissipative self-assembly in synthetic systems: Towards life-like materials
Researcher (PI) Rafal KLAJN
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2018-COG
Summary "Living organisms are sophisticated self-assembled structures that exist and operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium and, as such, represent the ultimate example of dissipative self-assembly. They remain stable at highly organized (low-entropy) states owing to the continuous consumption of energy stored in ""chemical fuels"", which they convert into low-energy waste. Dissipative self-assembly is ubiquitous in nature, where it gives rise to complex structures and properties such as self-healing, homeostasis, and camouflage. In sharp contrast, nearly all man-made materials are static: they are designed to serve a given purpose rather than to exhibit different properties dependent on external conditions. Developing the means to rationally design dissipative self-assembly constructs will greatly impact a range of industries, including the pharmaceutical and energy sectors.
The goal of the proposed research program is to develop novel principles for designing dissipative self-assembly systems and to fabricate a range of dissipative materials based on these principles. To achieve this goal, we will employ novel, unconventional approaches based predominantly on integrating organic and colloidal-inorganic building blocks.
Specifically, we will (WP1) drive dissipative self-assembly using chemical reactions such as polymerization, oxidation of sugars, and CO2-to-methanol conversion, (WP2) develop new modes of intrinsically dissipative self-assembly, whereby the activated building blocks are inherently unstable, and (WP3&4) conceive systems whereby self-assembly is spontaneously followed by disassembly.
The proposed studies will lead to new classes of ""driven"" materials with features such as tunable lifetimes, time-dependent electrical conductivity, and dynamic exchange of building blocks. Overall, this project will lay the foundations for developing new synthetic dissipative materials, bringing us closer to the rich and varied functionality of materials found in nature."
Summary
"Living organisms are sophisticated self-assembled structures that exist and operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium and, as such, represent the ultimate example of dissipative self-assembly. They remain stable at highly organized (low-entropy) states owing to the continuous consumption of energy stored in ""chemical fuels"", which they convert into low-energy waste. Dissipative self-assembly is ubiquitous in nature, where it gives rise to complex structures and properties such as self-healing, homeostasis, and camouflage. In sharp contrast, nearly all man-made materials are static: they are designed to serve a given purpose rather than to exhibit different properties dependent on external conditions. Developing the means to rationally design dissipative self-assembly constructs will greatly impact a range of industries, including the pharmaceutical and energy sectors.
The goal of the proposed research program is to develop novel principles for designing dissipative self-assembly systems and to fabricate a range of dissipative materials based on these principles. To achieve this goal, we will employ novel, unconventional approaches based predominantly on integrating organic and colloidal-inorganic building blocks.
Specifically, we will (WP1) drive dissipative self-assembly using chemical reactions such as polymerization, oxidation of sugars, and CO2-to-methanol conversion, (WP2) develop new modes of intrinsically dissipative self-assembly, whereby the activated building blocks are inherently unstable, and (WP3&4) conceive systems whereby self-assembly is spontaneously followed by disassembly.
The proposed studies will lead to new classes of ""driven"" materials with features such as tunable lifetimes, time-dependent electrical conductivity, and dynamic exchange of building blocks. Overall, this project will lay the foundations for developing new synthetic dissipative materials, bringing us closer to the rich and varied functionality of materials found in nature."
Max ERC Funding
1 999 572 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym SusDrug
Project Sustainable Approach to Drug Discovery
Researcher (PI) David SARLAH
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2018-STG
Summary Modern drug discovery is facing critical challenges. Rapid advances in human biology are revealing new biomolecular targets and processes, for which existing chemical compound libraries can provide only limited success in the identification of novel bioactive agents. This deficiency has been attributed primarily to the relative lack of structural diversity within the libraries. The three-dimensional world of biological macromolecules has been continuously interrogated with generally similar planar, aromatic, and structurally simple compounds. Contemporary diversity-generating methods have never been implemented for the preparation of large libraries, as an increase in the number of diverse members requires a corresponding increase in the number of synthetic steps, or a continuous supply of different staring materials. This proposal details a strategy for developing a chemically sustainable diversification method, by tapping into our largest source of organic compounds: arenes.
The proposed research aims to develop new methods that can rapidly convert simple aromatic entities into highly functionalized, complex small molecules. By integration of this strategy with many different chemical operations, numerous distinctive and independent dearomative programs will generate a diverse set of multiplex small molecules. This simplicity-to-complexity approach will provide a practical platform for the rapid, controlled access to a functionally diverse set of compounds, ranging from anticancer to anti-infective agents. This research will also deliver methods for dearomative diversification of existing aromatic compound libraries to provide new members with unique physiochemical properties. Given the broad scope of possible dearomative programs that will be developed, and the vast amount of aromatic compounds accessible, this will ultimately provide a sustainable source of diverse molecules for the next generation of compound libraries.
Summary
Modern drug discovery is facing critical challenges. Rapid advances in human biology are revealing new biomolecular targets and processes, for which existing chemical compound libraries can provide only limited success in the identification of novel bioactive agents. This deficiency has been attributed primarily to the relative lack of structural diversity within the libraries. The three-dimensional world of biological macromolecules has been continuously interrogated with generally similar planar, aromatic, and structurally simple compounds. Contemporary diversity-generating methods have never been implemented for the preparation of large libraries, as an increase in the number of diverse members requires a corresponding increase in the number of synthetic steps, or a continuous supply of different staring materials. This proposal details a strategy for developing a chemically sustainable diversification method, by tapping into our largest source of organic compounds: arenes.
The proposed research aims to develop new methods that can rapidly convert simple aromatic entities into highly functionalized, complex small molecules. By integration of this strategy with many different chemical operations, numerous distinctive and independent dearomative programs will generate a diverse set of multiplex small molecules. This simplicity-to-complexity approach will provide a practical platform for the rapid, controlled access to a functionally diverse set of compounds, ranging from anticancer to anti-infective agents. This research will also deliver methods for dearomative diversification of existing aromatic compound libraries to provide new members with unique physiochemical properties. Given the broad scope of possible dearomative programs that will be developed, and the vast amount of aromatic compounds accessible, this will ultimately provide a sustainable source of diverse molecules for the next generation of compound libraries.
Max ERC Funding
1 400 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-07-01, End date: 2024-06-30
Project acronym SynProAtCell
Project Delivery and On-Demand Activation of Chemically Synthesized and Uniquely Modified Proteins in Living Cells
Researcher (PI) Ashraf BRIK
Host Institution (HI) TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE5, ERC-2018-ADG
Summary While advanced molecular biology approaches provide insight on the role of proteins in cellular processes, their ability to freely modify proteins and control their functions when desired is limited, hindering the achievement of a detailed understanding of the cellular functions of numerous proteins. At the same time, chemical synthesis of proteins allows for unlimited protein design, enabling the preparation of unique protein analogues that are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain. However, effective methods to introduce these designed proteins into cells are for the most part limited to simple systems. To monitor proteins cellular functions and fates in real time, and in order to answer currently unanswerable fundamental questions about the cellular roles of proteins, the fields of protein synthesis and cellular protein manipulation must be bridged by significant advances in methods for protein delivery and real-time activation. Here, we propose to develop a general approach for enabling considerably more detailed in-cell study of uniquely modified proteins by preparing proteins having the following features: 1) traceless cell delivery unit(s), 2) an activation unit for on-demand activation of protein function in the cell, and 3) a fluorescence probe for monitoring the state and the fate of the protein.
We will adopt this approach to shed light on the processes of ubiquitination and deubiquitination, which are critical cellular signals for many biological processes. We will employ our approach to study 1) the effect of inhibition of deubiquitinases in cancer. 2) Examining effect of phosphorylation on proteasomal degradation and on ubiquitin chain elongation. 3) Examining effect of covalent attachment of a known ligase ligand to a target protein on its degradation Moreover, which could trigger the development of new methods to modify the desired protein in cell by selective chemistries and so rationally promote their degradation.
Summary
While advanced molecular biology approaches provide insight on the role of proteins in cellular processes, their ability to freely modify proteins and control their functions when desired is limited, hindering the achievement of a detailed understanding of the cellular functions of numerous proteins. At the same time, chemical synthesis of proteins allows for unlimited protein design, enabling the preparation of unique protein analogues that are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain. However, effective methods to introduce these designed proteins into cells are for the most part limited to simple systems. To monitor proteins cellular functions and fates in real time, and in order to answer currently unanswerable fundamental questions about the cellular roles of proteins, the fields of protein synthesis and cellular protein manipulation must be bridged by significant advances in methods for protein delivery and real-time activation. Here, we propose to develop a general approach for enabling considerably more detailed in-cell study of uniquely modified proteins by preparing proteins having the following features: 1) traceless cell delivery unit(s), 2) an activation unit for on-demand activation of protein function in the cell, and 3) a fluorescence probe for monitoring the state and the fate of the protein.
We will adopt this approach to shed light on the processes of ubiquitination and deubiquitination, which are critical cellular signals for many biological processes. We will employ our approach to study 1) the effect of inhibition of deubiquitinases in cancer. 2) Examining effect of phosphorylation on proteasomal degradation and on ubiquitin chain elongation. 3) Examining effect of covalent attachment of a known ligase ligand to a target protein on its degradation Moreover, which could trigger the development of new methods to modify the desired protein in cell by selective chemistries and so rationally promote their degradation.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30
