In GREENSENSE project following targets have been achieved:
- Different types of nanocellulose have been fabricated, functionalized and characterized: carboxymethylated CNF, cationized CNF, aminosilylated CNF/CNC, sulfonated CNC and acetylated CNC, first at lab scale, and, finally, at pilot (potentially up to tons per year).
- Free-standing NC films and NC-coated paper boards have been produced and characterized (physical, optical, thermal, mechanical, etc.) at large scale.
- Different types of NC-based inks have been produced at large scale (up to 50 kg/batch): conductive (with conductivity up to 107 S/m), electrochemical, electrolytes for electrochromic display and energy storage applications. They have been characterized accordingly to international standards for printed electronics (IEC 62899).
- Different types of NC-based printed electronic components have been fabricated at large scale (more than 1.500):
o NFC Antennas with a reading distance up to 6 cm and a Q factor up to 14.
o Supercapacitors with capacity >100 mF/cm2 at 2V, energy density > 400 mJ/cm2 and power density > 150mW/cm2, ESR= <2 Ohm, < 3 µA of leakage current.
o Primary batteries with a capacity 1.8 – 2.1 mAh, 4.0 – 4.2V an impedance 100 - 250 Ohms and a calculated half capacity lifetime of 27 month.
o Different architecture electrochromic Displays for heterogenous integration, with a color contrast of ΔE~25-30. Furthermore, displays with different colour shades as well as displays updated via passive matrix addressing protocols have also been demonstrated.
- Development of biosensors for drugs detection with a redox active ink and a hydrogel.
Moreover, a microchip with several interfaces (for power management, sensor, RFID with harvesting possibilities to charge connected energy storages and for displays) has been developed.
Functional biosensing platforms with different functionalities and components (namely GEN2 and GEN3) have been manufactured at large scale (up to 75 units) by semi-automated processes (screen-printing, pick and place and BioDOT processes) on substrates of ca. 300 x 350 mm (8 platforms/sheet). An application has been also developed for the operation of the platforms using a Smartphone.
Mechanical, adhesion and ageing tests were performed for some of the printed electronic components and the final biosensing platforms according to standards (IEC 62951). Assessment of the analytical performance of the developed biosensors including linearity, precision, specificity, Limit of Detection (LoD), Limit of Quantification (LoQ), measuring range and thermal stability has been done.
A LCA has been done with data collection from all partners. For the sustainability and recyclability assessment, the need for recycling of printed electronics at their End-of-Life (EoL) has been explored. Additionally, the possible applications for paper-based electronics have been explored and the competitiveness of each application in-terms of sustainability has been assessed with the MPAS method.
The business plans for the materials, components and processes development in each Work Package have been done. Discussions of a GREENSENSE follow-up agreement to keep the critical mass of the project and attempt market exploitation of the results has been performed.
Dissemination has been achieved by the publication of several articles to relevant journals and the attendance to several conferences and fares. Moreover, a patent is currently under progress.
