Project description
Sustainable aluminium alloys suitable for a future circular economy
Pure metals and alloys typically exhibit superior properties. However, as material recycling becomes more prevalent in production processes, impurity levels tend to escalate. This can pose significant challenges because once impurities infiltrate aluminium, they become difficult to eliminate. The ERC-funded HETEROCIRCAL project will develop a new category of upcycled materials capable of withstanding high impurity levels. This will be achieved through the design of intermetallic phases incorporating heterostructured alloys. The project’s focal points include enhancing the volume fraction of primary intermetallic phases in aluminium wrought alloys and crafting functional intermetallic phase heterostructures. The project aims to diminish the reliance on diluting alloys with pure aluminium sourced from natural reserves.
Objective
A tenet in metallurgy is that the purer metals and alloys are, the better are their properties. However, as recycling in material production increases in importance, so do impurity levels. In aluminium the consequences are particularly harmful because the solubility of most elements in aluminium is very small, resulting in the formation of brittle intermetallic phases. Moreover, once impurities have entered aluminium, it is nearly impossible to remove them. The HETEROCIRCAL project aims to break the paradigm of „harmful“ impurities.
HETEROCIRCAL’s main contribution will be to develop a new, ground-breaking class of upcycled materials that can tolerate high levels of impurities. We will achieve this goal by designing intermetallic phase containing heterostructured alloys where previously detrimental intermetallic phases become impurity sinks – sinks which also form a novel heterostructure which features an excellent trade-off between strength and ductility. Here we aim to reverse the common view of primary intermetallic phases in aluminium wrought alloys, and to extend their admitted volume fraction to unexplored regions. Our preliminary work gives evidence that structures with such properties are in fact possible.
The main challenge will be to develop viable means of creating beneficial intermetallic phase heterostructures, that are applicable in large-scale. We will address it by manipulating intermetallic phases during solidification and solid-state processing and applying a high-throughput method. HETEROCIRCAL’s aim is also to gain insights into the formation of intermetallic phases at high resolution and their role in the novel heterostructures. The project will meet the enormous challenge of creating sustainable aluminium alloys for a future circular economy, and reduce both the need to dilute alloys with pure aluminium produced from natural resources and the continuous downcycling of alloys. HETEROCIRCAL will also advance European metallurgy in general.
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.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry post-transition metals
- engineering and technology materials engineering metallurgy
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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.
8700 Leoben
Austria
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.