Project description
Transforming materials into smart information providers
Traditional materials are considered passive, lacking the ability to sense or communicate with their environment. This limitation hinders advancements in safety, predictive maintenance, recycling transparency and automated manufacturing. With this in mind, the ERC-funded SmartRust project aims to transform materials into active participants capable of perceiving and reporting trigger events. This could redefine how products are monitored, recycled, and integrated into Industry 4.0 systems. At the heart of SmartRust are innovative, micron-sized supraparticles, which are composed of magnetic nano building blocks (transducers) and non-magnetic moieties (sensitisers), engineered to respond to specific stimuli. Using magnetic particle spectroscopy, researchers will explore interactions within and between these particles to develop materials that could ultimately talk to us, offering a new frontier in conscious matter.
Objective
So far, materials are seen as passive items. This project aims at providing a solution that can turn objects into matter that can perceive and communicate trigger events. If materials are turned capable of reporting their encountered history, this will significantly contribute to i) ensuring product safety and reliability, ii) making predictive maintenance possible, iii) making complex recycling fates of materials transparent, and iv) enabling autonomous, robot-controlled, resilient manufacturing (Industry 4.0).
The key to realize this vision is to make use of smart magnetic particles, largely based on iron oxide (SmartRust). To achieve SmartRust, micron-sized (1-10 µm) supraparticles are composed of magnetic nano building blocks, the “signal transducers”, which are combined with other non-magnetic moieties, the “sensitizers”. A toolbox-like approach using spray-drying allows for nanoparticle assembly of a transducer and a sensitizer type of choice to specifically target a desired type of stimulus. The SmartRust particles are then integrated in materials` matrices.
It is hypothesized – and yet an open research question! - that there is an interplay of two magnetic interaction principles: on a hierarchical level I, a trigger event will alter the intra-supraparticle magnetic interactions of the nanoparticles within individual supraparticles. On a hierarchical level II, a trigger event will alter the inter-supraparticle magnetic interactions among the supraparticles when the matrix of the materials, where the supraparticles are embedded in, is altered.
The scientific idea is that this magnetic interaction information can be read out fast, easily, in a non-destructive way and from within a material, enabled by the technique magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS).
If this endeavour is successful in obtaining a meaningful signal-structure-trigger correlation, ultimately, design rules could be deduced how to create conscious matter using SmartRust.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- humanities history and archaeology history
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
91058 ERLANGEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.