Project description
A new generation of biohybrid appliances
To reach low-cost and efficient consumption of electricity, the EU supports advanced biohybrid lighting and photovoltaic technologies. However, the use of biomolecules as practical components in lighting and photovoltaic appliances is still under research as they mutate during storage and operation. An innovative rubber-like material preserving biofunctionality is now in use. The EU-funded InOutBioLight project will design multifunctional rubbers with improved mechanical, thermal, colour-converting and light-guiding characteristics. The project aims to develop a new generation of biohybrid appliances by approaching five critical issues: the nature of the protein-matrix stabilisation; how to strengthen the thermal and mechanical characteristics; multifunctional rubber design; mimicking natural patterns; and expanding technological utilisation of the rubber-like materials.
Objective
InOutBioLight aims to design multifunctional rubbers with enhanced mechanical, thermal, color-converting, and light-guiding features towards advanced biohybrid lighting and photovoltaic technologies. The latter are placed at the forefront of the EU efforts for low-cost production and efficient consumption of electricity, a critical issue for a sustainable development.
In this context, the use of biomolecules as functional components in lighting and photovoltaic devices is still a challenge, as they quickly denature under storage and device operation conditions. This paradigm has changed using an innovative rubber-like material, in which the biofunctionality is long preserved. As a proof-of-concept, color down-converting rubbers based on fluorescent proteins were used to design the first biohybrid white light-emitting diode (bio-HWLED). To develop a new generation of biohybrid devices, InOutBioLight will address the following critical issues, namely i) the nature of the protein-matrix stabilization, ii) how to enhance the thermal/mechanical features, iii) how to design multifunctional rubbers, iv) how to mimic natural patterns for light-guiding, and v) how to expand the technological use of the rubber approach.
To achieve these goals, InOutBioLight involves comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and mechanical studies to investigate the protein-matrix interaction using new polymer matrices, additives, and protein-based nanoparticles. In addition, the mechanical, thermal, and light-coupling features will be enhanced using structural biocompounds and reproducing biomorphic patterns. As such, InOutBioLight offers three major advances: i) a thorough scientific basis for the rubber approach, ii) a significant thrust of the emerging bio-HWLEDs, and iii) innovative breakthroughs beyond state-of-the-art biohybrid solar cells.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcolors
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyphotovoltaic
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantHost institution
80333 Muenchen
Germany