ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

This proposal will determine the technical and economic viability of scaling up ultra-thin film deposition processes for exfoliated single atomic layers. The PI has developed methods to produce exfoliated nanosheets from a range of layered materials such as graphene, transition metal chalcogenides and transition metal oxides. These 2D materials have immediate and far-reaching potential in several high-impact technological applications such as microelectronics, composites and energy harvesting and storage. 2DNanoCaps (ERC ref: 278516) has already demonstrated that lab-scale ultra-thin graphene-based supercapacitor electrodes for energy storage result in unusually high power performance and extremely long device life-time (100% capacitance retention for 5000 charge-discharge cycles at the high power scan rate of 10,000 mV/s). This performance is remarkable- an order of magnitude better than similar systems produced with more conventional methods, which cause materials restacking and aggregation. 2D nanosheets also offer the chance of exploring the unique possibility of manufacturing conductive, robust, thin, easily assembled electrode and solid electrolytes to realize highly flexible and all-solid-state supercapacitors. This opportunity is particularly relevant from the industrial point of view especially in relation to the flammability issues of the electrolytes used for commercial energy storage devices at present. In order to develop and exploit any of the applications listed above, it will be imperative to develop deposition methods and techniques capable of obtaining industrial-scale “sheet-like” coverage, where flake re-aggregation is avoided. We believe our combination of unique material properties and cost effective, robust and production-scalable process of ultra-thin deposition will enable us to compete for significant global market opportunities in the energy-storage space

148 021 €

Start date: 2014-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31

The applicant will collaborate with Irish, European and U.S.-based colleagues to develop a sustainable biorefinery and bioenergy industry in Ireland and Europe. The focus of this ERC Starting Grant will be the application of classical microbiological, physiological and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays, to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize microbial communities underpinning novel and innovative, low-temperature, anaerobic waste (and other biomass) conversion technologies, including municipal wastewater treatment and, demonstration- and full-scale biorefinery applications. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a naturally-occurring process, which is widely applied for the conversion of waste to methane-containing biogas. Low-temperature (<20 degrees C) AD has been applied by the applicant as a cost-effective alternative to mesophilic (c. 35C) AD for the treatment of several waste categories. However, the microbiology of low-temperature AD is poorly understood. The applicant will work with microbial consortia isolated from anaerobic bioreactors, which have been operated for long-term experiments (>3.5 years), and include organic acid-oxidizing, hydrogen-producing syntrophic microbes and hydrogen-consuming methanogens. A major focus of the project will be the ecophysiology of psychrotolerant and psychrophilic methanogens already identified and cultivated by the applicant. The project will also investigate the role(s) of poorly-understood Crenarchaeota populations and homoacetogenic bacteria, in complex consortia. The host organization is a leading player in the microbiology of waste-to-energy applications. The applicant will train a team of scientists in all aspects of the microbiology and bioengineering of biomass conversion systems.

1 499 797 €

Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30

This project aims at a better understanding of the philosophical richness of ninth century thought using the unprecedented and highly innovative method of the synchronic approach. The hypothesis directing this synchronic approach is that studying together in parallel the four main philosophical traditions of the century – i.e. Latin, Greek, Syriac and Arabic – will bring results that the traditional enquiry limited to one tradition alone can never reach. This implies pioneering a new methodology to overcome the compartmentalization of research which prevails nowadays. Using this method is only possible because the four conditions of applicability – comparable intellectual environment, common text corpus, similar methodological perspective, commensurable problems – are fulfilled. The ninth century, a time of cultural renewal in the Carolingian, Byzantine and Abbasid empires, possesses the remarkable characteristic – which ensures commensurability – that the same texts, namely the writings of Aristotelian logic (mainly Porphyry’s Isagoge and Aristotle’s Categories) were read and commented upon in Latin, Greek, Syriac and Arabic alike. Logic is fundamental to philosophical enquiry. The contested question is the human capacity to rationalise, analyse and describe the sensible reality, to understand the ontological structure of the world, and to define the types of entities which exist. The use of this unprecedented synchronic approach will allow us a deeper understanding of the positions, a clear identification of the a priori postulates of the philosophical debates, and a critical evaluation of the arguments used. It provides a unique opportunity to compare the different traditions and highlight the heritage which is common, to stress the specificities of each tradition when tackling philosophical issues and to discover the doctrinal results triggered by their mutual interactions, be they constructive (scholarly exchanges) or polemic (religious controversies).

1 998 566 €

Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2021-02-28

Aerosols (i.e. tiny particles suspended in the air) are regularly transported in huge amounts over long distances impacting air quality, health, weather and climate thousands of kilometers downwind of the source. Aerosols affect the atmospheric radiation budget through scattering and absorption of solar radiation and through their role as cloud/ice nuclei. In particular, light absorption by aerosol particles such as mineral dust and black carbon (BC; thought to be the second strongest contribution to current global warming after CO2) is of fundamental importance from a climate perspective because the presence of absorbing particles (1) contributes to solar radiative forcing, (2) heats absorbing aerosol layers, (3) can evaporate clouds and (4) change atmospheric dynamics. Considering this prominent role of aerosols, vertically-resolved in-situ data on absorbing aerosols are surprisingly scarce and aerosol-dynamic interactions are poorly understood in general. This is, as recognized in the last IPCC report, a serious barrier for taking the accuracy of climate models and predictions to the next level. To overcome this barrier, I propose to investigate aging, lifetime and dynamics of absorbing aerosol layers with a holistic end-to-end approach including laboratory studies, airborne field experiments and numerical model simulations. Building on the internationally recognized results of my aerosol research group and my long-term experience with airborne aerosol measurements, the time seems ripe to systematically bridge the gap between in-situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties and the assessment of dynamical interactions of absorbing particles with aerosol layer lifetime through model simulations. The outcomes of this project will provide fundamental new understanding of absorbing aerosol layers in the climate system and important information for addressing the benefits of BC emission controls for mitigating climate change.

1 987 980 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30