Objective
Water freezing (icing) and condensation are ubiquitous in our life. Preventing undesirable icing on surfaces with minimal energy and chemical use, and improving the efficiency of condensation heat exchangers has broad societal value. Thus, I aim to use fundamental insights to offer energy-efficient solutions for undesirable ice formation and promoting dropwise condensation using novel and robust nanoengineered surfaces. My objectives are:
i) to realise thermodynamically guided metallic surfaces with precise (<10 nm) morphology and controlled superficial stiffness for energy-efficient icing prevention and sustaining dropwise flow condensation
ii) to rationally intercalate polymers and/or suspensions into surface nanotextures and exploit nanomechanics in order to enable robust and smart nanoengineered surfaces for high speed impact, abrasion and chemical resistance; stable icephobicity (delaying freezing); and sustained dropwise condensation.
iii) to develop new fundamental insights to: a) prevent icing due to high speed (~100 m/s) supercooled droplet/ice crystal impact; b) realise icephobicity down to -30 degrees Celsius; c) minimise ice-surface adhesion; and d) sustain dropwise condensation at high (50-100 m/s) vapour speeds.
The proposal emphasis on energy efficiency is aligned with the EU's 20/20/20 Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan. To exemplify their salient impact, the proposed smart nanoengineered surfaces offer a passive solution for airplane icing (and related accidents) and will delay evaporator icing on air source heat pumps and refrigerators, thereby helping to lower the energy use in buildings and cold storages. The latter are tied to the global food storage and distribution challenges. Similarly, sustained dropwise condensation will make condensers in process industry and steam power plants compact and efficient. Optimally, only ~1 micron of the surface depth will require treatment – this will minimize chemical use and promote sustainability.
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.
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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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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - 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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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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-2016-STG
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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.
WC1E 6BT LONDON
United Kingdom
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.