Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ELEGANCE (Green SELf-Powered NEuromorphic Processing EnGines with Integrated VisuAl and FuNCtional SEnsing)
Reporting period: 2024-11-01 to 2025-10-31
Technologies implementing autonomous smart devices into an IoT network are increasingly required, while millions of IoT sensors will lead to a data and power deluxe. To overcome this problem, a potentially game-changing element: a low-cost, based on sustainable materials and processes, self-powered processor with on-chip sensing, promising IoT-edge computing with ultra-low power consumption should have, if materialized, a transformational societal and economic impact.
The key objective of ELEGANCE is to develop novel sustainable materials and manufacturing printing-based technologies, avoiding the use of critical raw materials (CRM) while following the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework. This approach will be verified by Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC).
ELEGANCE’s innovative breakthrough technology exploits low temperature, industrially compatible processes significantly reducing the energy and material usage for the fabrication of recyclable components enabling reduced carbon footprint aligned with the goals of EU circular economy and Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI).
ELEGANCE will revolutionise the Internet of Things (IoT) world by developing a domain-specific, hybrid processing and visual sensing engine utilizing as a building block a novel printed stack of a light-operated sustainable oxide-based memristor with an electrochromic structure (ES) integrated on top that allows light illumination control locally.
ELEGANCE’s reconfigurable Processing in Memory (PiM) engine implemented in a memristive crossbar array will perform computing and visual pre-processing based on the same physical fabric, that not only sense, but also control and act upon different inputs from the environment. This offers reduced fabrication cost and power consumption, as well as lower energy and use of resources compared to current CMOS architectures.
The success of ELEGANCE will enable the synergy between energy-efficient intelligent cognitive functions with a plethora of consumer products constituting an ambitious and technologically concrete breakthrough for energy efficient IoT edge-computing applications.
Objectives of ELEGANCE include developing safe and sustainable strategies according to EC SSbD framework and circular economy plan, formulating sustainable inks based on 2D materials, polymers, and inorganic oxides, optimizing high throughput / low-cost industrial printing processes, developing solution-processed oxide -based transistors and memristors (going beyond IGZO), developing solution-processed (< 200 oC) transmissive electrochromic pixels (ES), and finally evaluate stacks of memristors/ES embedded into a spiking neural network (SNN).
The key objective of ELEGANCE is to develop novel sustainable materials and manufacturing printing-based technologies, avoiding the use of critical raw materials (CRM) while following the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework. This approach will be verified by Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC).
ELEGANCE’s innovative breakthrough technology exploits low temperature, industrially compatible processes significantly reducing the energy and material usage for the fabrication of recyclable components enabling reduced carbon footprint aligned with the goals of EU circular economy and Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI).
ELEGANCE will revolutionise the Internet of Things (IoT) world by developing a domain-specific, hybrid processing and visual sensing engine utilizing as a building block a novel printed stack of a light-operated sustainable oxide-based memristor with an electrochromic structure (ES) integrated on top that allows light illumination control locally.
ELEGANCE’s reconfigurable Processing in Memory (PiM) engine implemented in a memristive crossbar array will perform computing and visual pre-processing based on the same physical fabric, that not only sense, but also control and act upon different inputs from the environment. This offers reduced fabrication cost and power consumption, as well as lower energy and use of resources compared to current CMOS architectures.
The success of ELEGANCE will enable the synergy between energy-efficient intelligent cognitive functions with a plethora of consumer products constituting an ambitious and technologically concrete breakthrough for energy efficient IoT edge-computing applications.
Objectives of ELEGANCE include developing safe and sustainable strategies according to EC SSbD framework and circular economy plan, formulating sustainable inks based on 2D materials, polymers, and inorganic oxides, optimizing high throughput / low-cost industrial printing processes, developing solution-processed oxide -based transistors and memristors (going beyond IGZO), developing solution-processed (< 200 oC) transmissive electrochromic pixels (ES), and finally evaluate stacks of memristors/ES embedded into a spiking neural network (SNN).
ELEGANCE has advanced sustainable substrates and inks for printed electronics, combining high device performance with environmental responsibility. Biodegradable and recyclable substrates such as PET, polyimide, and PLA were tested for transparency, mechanical stability, and thermal tolerance to enable low- and high-performance devices. Inks were formulated using non-toxic solvents like water, optimized for viscosity and jetting behavior. Metal oxide inks enabled low-temperature processing and reproducible thin films for memristors and optoelectronic memristors avoiding critical raw materials usage. Two-dimensional materials—graphene, MoS2, etc., —were produced via liquid-phase exfoliation, yielding stable inks for screen and inkjet printing. Graphene inks achieved high conductivity and allowed the demonstration of transparent conductive electrodes without noble metals usage, while MoS2 inks showed light absorption for various optoelectronic devices implementation. Activities were also initiated to defining printing specifications, refining the manufacturing processes, and making the first working devices for the neuromorphic engine achieving printing features below 10μm in resolution. These innovations enabled scalable, low-temperature fabrication of memristors, transparent electrodes, and phototransistors, proving that high-performance printed electronics can be achieved without compromising sustainability and paving the way for eco-friendly future applications.
Side by side with experimental efforts on optimizing sustainable materials and manufacturing processes, a complete eco-design process was initiated. The main activities were focused on the definition and execution of the first phases of the Safe Sustainability by Design (SSbD) Framework, the creation of the eco-design structure for ELEGANCE technologies, and the setting up of the scoring and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodologies that will be used in later stages of the project. The initial methodologies, information systems, and partnerships have been put in place successfully, thus making it possible for the next reporting period to be efficiently utilized for the deliverables and in-depth assessments to come.
Side by side with experimental efforts on optimizing sustainable materials and manufacturing processes, a complete eco-design process was initiated. The main activities were focused on the definition and execution of the first phases of the Safe Sustainability by Design (SSbD) Framework, the creation of the eco-design structure for ELEGANCE technologies, and the setting up of the scoring and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodologies that will be used in later stages of the project. The initial methodologies, information systems, and partnerships have been put in place successfully, thus making it possible for the next reporting period to be efficiently utilized for the deliverables and in-depth assessments to come.
ELEGANCE has advanced printed electronics by developing eco-friendly inks and substrates free of critical raw materials, reducing environmental impact. Innovations include novel oxide-based devices by replacing indium and gallium, and non-toxic solvents like water. TCE based on 2D materials were demonstrated opening the path for noble metal replacement in an array of devices such as solar cells, phototransistors and optoelectronic memristors. The project introduced low-temperature, energy-efficient techniques for large-scale printing—inkjet, screen, slot-die, aerosol jet—and advanced methods like Reverse Offset Printing and high-precision 3D printing, yielding uniform thin films for memristors, transistors, and electrochromic devices with minimal carbon footprint.