ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Redox chemistry provides the fundamental basis for numerous energy-related electrochemical devices, among which Li-ion batteries (LIB) have become the premier energy storage technology for portable electronics and vehicle electrification. Throughout its history, LIB technology has relied on cationic redox reactions as the sole source of energy storage capacity. This is no longer true. In 2013 we demonstrated that Li-driven reversible formation of (O2)n peroxo-groups in new layered oxides led to extraordinary increases in energy storage capacity. This finding, which is receiving worldwide attention, represents a transformational approach for creating advanced energy materials for not only energy storage, but also water splitting applications as both involve peroxo species. However, as is often the case with new discoveries, the fundamental science at work needs to be rationalized and understood. Specifically, what are the mechanisms for ion and electron transport in these Li-driven anionic redox reactions? To address these seminal questions and to widen the spectrum of materials (transition metal and anion) showing anionic redox chemistry, we propose a comprehensive research program that combines experimental and computational methods. The experimental methods include structural and electrochemical analyses (both ex-situ and in-situ), and computational modeling will be based on first-principles DFT for identifying the fundamental processes that enable anionic redox activity. The knowledge gained from these studies, in combination with our expertise in inorganic synthesis, will enable us to design a new generation of Li-ion battery materials that exhibit substantial increases (20 -30%) in energy storage capacity, with additional impacts on the development of Na-ion batteries and the design of water splitting catalysts, with the feasibility to surpass current water splitting efficiencies via novel (O2)n-based electrocatalysts.

2 249 196 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

The overarching research question of this project is: how is authoritarian rule affected by and responding to globalisation of (a) information and communication, (b) association, and (c) people movement? The wholly unpredicted series of revolts that recently spread across the Arab world suggests that the nature and sustainability of contemporary authoritarian rule are not well-understood. Openness to global ICT and media, international NGOs, and inflow and outflow of people have thrown up new challenges for authoritarian rulers in terms of how to control citizens. This project investigates changes in both the nature and the sustainability of authoritarian rule in relation to the erosion of decision-making autonomy at the state level posited by globalisation theorists. In four sub-projects, this project will investigate: 1. Whether, how and to what extent globalisation of information and communication, association, and people movement affect authoritarian persistence (longitudinal quantitative study, 1970-2011) 2. How, i.e. with what policy mechanisms, authoritarian states respond to globalisation of information and communication, association, and people movement (qualitative multi-sited studies relating to Belarus, China, Iran and Zimbabwe) 3. How to understand the phenomenon of subnational authoritarianism in its engagement with the democratic state and the wider world in relation to information and communication, association, and people movement (mixed method subnational studies of states within India and Mexico) 4. What authoritarianism is in a global age: reconsidering authoritarianism’s defining characteristics of low accountability and high coercion, and whether these still relate exclusively to statehood (theory study) The project will transcend the theoretical and empirical separation between globalisation studies (which have neglected authoritarian contexts) and authoritarianism studies(which have taken relatively little notice of effects of globalisation)

2 451 179 €

Start date: 2013-10-01, End date: 2019-02-28

Life, with all its diversity, is in crisis. As humans increasingly encroach on biologically complex semi- natural landscapes, no organism, place or ecological function remains unaffected. While all 196 parties (195 countries plus the European Union) to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) have agreed to monitor the state of biodiversity, the currently available methods to do so leave much to be desired. Traditional monitoring involves the field observation of species by trained specialists, aided by skilled volunteers, whose expertise is restricted to specific biotic groupings. In a process that is both time consuming and inconsistent across time and space, botanists identify and record the presence of plant species and ornithologists the bird biota, resulting in 'unpopular' biotic groups such as fungi, bacteria and insects being under-observed or escaping identification altogether. In this project, a fundamentally different approach to terrestrial biodiversity monitoring couples next generation satellite remote sensing with environmental DNA (eDNA) profiling, complemented where available by legacy human-observed datasets. Satellite remote sensing is able to survey the environment as a single, continuous, fine-resolution map, while eDNA profiling can rapidly quantify much greater taxonomical and functional breadth and depth than human field observation. This project combines, for the first time, these two powerful, cutting-edge techniques for monitoring biodiversity at the global level in a consistent manner. Following from this, another key innovation will be the deepening of our scientific understanding of how biodiversity is impacted by anthropogenic pressure as well as by natural environmental gradients. In concert, these scientific developments will enable the accurate and fine grain monitoring of biodiversity from space – a ground-breaking contribution to the quest to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and CBD Aichi targets.

2 470 315 €

Start date: 2019-09-01, End date: 2024-08-31

Soft materials are irreplaceable in engineering applications where large reversible deformations are needed, and in life sciences to mimic ever more closely or replace a variety of living tissues. While mechanical strength may not be essential for all applications, excessive brittleness is a strong limitation. Yet predicting if a soft material will be tough or brittle from its molecular composition or structure relies on empirical concepts due to the lack of proper tools to detect the damage occurring to the material before it breaks. Taking advantage of the recent advances in materials science and mechanochemistry, we propose a ground-breaking method to investigate the mechanisms of fracture of tough soft materials. To achieve this objective we will use a series of model materials containing a variable population of internal sacrificial bonds that break before the material fails macroscopically, and use a combination of advanced characterization techniques and molecular probes to map stress, strain, bond breakage and structure in a region ~100 µm in size ahead of the propagating crack. By using mechanoluminescent and mechanophore molecules incorporated in the model material in selected positions, confocal laser microscopy, digital image correlation and small-angle X-ray scattering we will gain an unprecedented molecular understanding of where and when bonds break as the material fails and the crack propagates, and will then be able to establish a direct relation between the architecture of soft polymer networks and their fracture energy, leading to a new molecular and multi-scale vision of macroscopic fracture of soft materials. Such advances will be invaluable to guide materials chemists to design and develop better and more finely tuned soft but tough and sometimes self-healing materials to replace living tissues (in bio engineering) and make lightweight tough and flexible parts for energy efficient transport.

2 251 026 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31