Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GreenOMorph (Green materials for neurOMorphic signal processing by organic synaptic transistors)
Période du rapport: 2024-10-01 au 2025-09-30
Eco-friendly neuromorphic computing for electronic devices
Electronics today have significant environmental impacts in manufacturing, use, and disposal. There are also growing concerns about Europe’s economic and technological dependence on other regions. The EU-funded GreenOMorph project aims to significantly reduce the environmental impact of electronics by addressing manufacturing, usage, and disposal, and by eliminating the need for critical raw materials in electronic devices. The project has chosen neuromorphic computing over traditional Von Neumann computing, drastically reducing energy consumption during use. It will use organic electronics with eco-friendly materials and employ low-temperature additive manufacturing techniques for all organic artificial sensory neuron components designed to recognise tactile pressure patterns. The project’s outcomes will prioritise environmental sustainability while maintaining performance and market acceptance.
Objective
Electronics today cause major environmental impacts through manufacture, use and disposal, as well as growing concerns about Europe's economic and technological dependence on other regions of the world.
The overall objective of GreenOMorph is the radical reduction of the environmental impact of electronics manufacture, use and end-of-life as well as a total avoidance of critical raw materials in manufactured devices. We attack this goal on the one hand by choosing neuromorphic instead of common Von Neumann computing reducing the energy consumed during use by several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, we completely rely on organic electronics with innovative green materials and additive low-temperature manufacturing by blade coating, screen-printing and inkjet printing, in all parts of an organic artificial sensory neuron for recognition of tactile pressure patterns.
The parts of the neuron, as there are an organic tactile sensor, organic signal conditioning circuits and organic artificial synapses, as well as the neuron itself are validated outcomes of the project and contribute to the project portfolio of Responsible Electronics already during their development.
The outcomes of the project will help to replace a performance-at-any-cost attitude, yet staying fully aware that developing non-performing devices not accepted by users would have a great environmental impact as well; so performance targets and market analysis are equally important as the low environmental impact targets and social life cycle assessment are.
Showing that it is possible to fulfil a given purpose at an environmental footprint orders of magnitude smaller than today, and at the same time reduce dependence on other regions of the world, our low-environmental-footprint-first approach will serve as a reference in the future, from scientific communities to technology developers and manufacturers through to the end users.
Electronics today have significant environmental impacts in manufacturing, use, and disposal. There are also growing concerns about Europe’s economic and technological dependence on other regions. The EU-funded GreenOMorph project aims to significantly reduce the environmental impact of electronics by addressing manufacturing, usage, and disposal, and by eliminating the need for critical raw materials in electronic devices. The project has chosen neuromorphic computing over traditional Von Neumann computing, drastically reducing energy consumption during use. It will use organic electronics with eco-friendly materials and employ low-temperature additive manufacturing techniques for all organic artificial sensory neuron components designed to recognise tactile pressure patterns. The project’s outcomes will prioritise environmental sustainability while maintaining performance and market acceptance.
Objective
Electronics today cause major environmental impacts through manufacture, use and disposal, as well as growing concerns about Europe's economic and technological dependence on other regions of the world.
The overall objective of GreenOMorph is the radical reduction of the environmental impact of electronics manufacture, use and end-of-life as well as a total avoidance of critical raw materials in manufactured devices. We attack this goal on the one hand by choosing neuromorphic instead of common Von Neumann computing reducing the energy consumed during use by several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, we completely rely on organic electronics with innovative green materials and additive low-temperature manufacturing by blade coating, screen-printing and inkjet printing, in all parts of an organic artificial sensory neuron for recognition of tactile pressure patterns.
The parts of the neuron, as there are an organic tactile sensor, organic signal conditioning circuits and organic artificial synapses, as well as the neuron itself are validated outcomes of the project and contribute to the project portfolio of Responsible Electronics already during their development.
The outcomes of the project will help to replace a performance-at-any-cost attitude, yet staying fully aware that developing non-performing devices not accepted by users would have a great environmental impact as well; so performance targets and market analysis are equally important as the low environmental impact targets and social life cycle assessment are.
Showing that it is possible to fulfil a given purpose at an environmental footprint orders of magnitude smaller than today, and at the same time reduce dependence on other regions of the world, our low-environmental-footprint-first approach will serve as a reference in the future, from scientific communities to technology developers and manufacturers through to the end users.
Architecture and system specifications, together with sustainability criteria, are the basis for the technical and sustainability target specifications of the organic artificial sensory neuron and its subparts. The target specifications in turn guide the technical developments and the LCA. Sustainability modelling of reference materials is ongoing. A qualitative risk assessment has been introduced where the environmental risks of materials is graphically displayed by traffic light colors set in six categories and 20 sub-categories. In addition the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework is being applied for selected materials.
A bio-based ferroelectric material has been tested and reached half of the target value of the remnant polarisation. Initially used standard solvent chloroform has been replaced by "greener" solvents that were identified by the Hansen solubility parameter framework.
Good dielectric performance with the exception of leakage has been achieved with green solvents and bio-based ferroelectric. Optimisation is ongoing and further bio-polymers are tested in parallel.
Another innovative approach employing self-assembly for biobased ferroelectrics proved viable.
An alternative green synthetic route for a small molecule p-type organic semiconducter has been established without solvent use and waste generation.
Organic p-type semiconductors for inkjet printing have been formulated using green solvents from renewable natural resources without loss of performance.
A blade coated organic small molecule p-type semiconducter reached a mobility of 1 cm²/Vs at low operation voltage of 5V.
A model organic mixed ionic electronic conductive matereial has been identified as the active material in the artificial synapse and it could be printed with reproducible geometry.
Four alternative synthetic routes for the material were identified and are being carried out in order to reduce hazardous reagents and solvents.
This material has been employed in a printed OECT with printed electrodes of a cjhannel length significantly below 50 µm on a sustainable substrate.
Synaptic devices of very low operation voltage have been tested, achieving the target specification for low energy consumption and getting close to retention time targets.
A bio-based ferroelectric material has been tested and reached half of the target value of the remnant polarisation. Initially used standard solvent chloroform has been replaced by "greener" solvents that were identified by the Hansen solubility parameter framework.
Good dielectric performance with the exception of leakage has been achieved with green solvents and bio-based ferroelectric. Optimisation is ongoing and further bio-polymers are tested in parallel.
Another innovative approach employing self-assembly for biobased ferroelectrics proved viable.
An alternative green synthetic route for a small molecule p-type organic semiconducter has been established without solvent use and waste generation.
Organic p-type semiconductors for inkjet printing have been formulated using green solvents from renewable natural resources without loss of performance.
A blade coated organic small molecule p-type semiconducter reached a mobility of 1 cm²/Vs at low operation voltage of 5V.
A model organic mixed ionic electronic conductive matereial has been identified as the active material in the artificial synapse and it could be printed with reproducible geometry.
Four alternative synthetic routes for the material were identified and are being carried out in order to reduce hazardous reagents and solvents.
This material has been employed in a printed OECT with printed electrodes of a cjhannel length significantly below 50 µm on a sustainable substrate.
Synaptic devices of very low operation voltage have been tested, achieving the target specification for low energy consumption and getting close to retention time targets.
After 12/54 months 10 to 50% of the work aiming at replacement (100% reduction) of CRMs used in Si-industries (wider impacts) are done:
OSCs for OTFTs and OMIECS for OECTs i.s.o. doped Si,
Organic dielectrics i.s.o. Si-, Hf-, Ta-, Al-, rare earth oxides …
Polymer substrates i.s.o. Si
PFAS ferroelectric replaced by bio-polymer: polarisation demonstrated.
A step in the synthesis (functionalisation) of a small molecule p-type organic semiconducter has been demonstrated without solvent use and waste generation at all.
OSCs for OTFTs and OMIECS for OECTs i.s.o. doped Si,
Organic dielectrics i.s.o. Si-, Hf-, Ta-, Al-, rare earth oxides …
Polymer substrates i.s.o. Si
PFAS ferroelectric replaced by bio-polymer: polarisation demonstrated.
A step in the synthesis (functionalisation) of a small molecule p-type organic semiconducter has been demonstrated without solvent use and waste generation at all.