Bioinspired Composites Strategies for Saving Energy

Project Information

BioCom4SavEn

Grant agreement ID: 948840

DOI

10.3030/948840

EC signature date 1 October 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 694 375,00

EU contribution

€ 1 694 375,00

Coordinated by

AKADEMIA GORNICZO-HUTNICZA IM. STANISLAWA STASZICA W KRAKOWIE
Poland

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BioCom4SavEn (Bioinspired Composites Strategies for Saving Energy)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Energy consumption is constantly increasing, prompting scientists to explore numerous alternative energy generation and optimal utilization methods. Yet, the aspect receiving comparatively less attention pertains to thermal management aimed at energy conservation. As the global demand for energy-efficient infrastructure like devices, buildings, and cabling intensifies due to the increasing worldwide energy consumption, the advancement of thermal insulation is expected to gain momentum. The quantity of power-hungry electronic devices is steadily growing, leading to heightened difficulties in dissipating heat. Consequently, there is a pressing need for enhanced heat dissipation technology to cater to the requirements of upcoming handheld devices.
The main aim of the BioCom4SaveEn project is to design novel materials for energy harvesting and storage. In the project, we use electrospun membranes possessing a high surface area-to-mass ratio. In the project, we are bringing new solutions to the following 3 main challenges:
1. Constructing light and more efficient thermal insulation for buildings, cables, and small devices
2. Developing a cooling system based on the fibrous membranes to dissipate effectively heat, leading to lower power consumption in small devices and smart textiles
3. Building mechanically robust and integrated systems with conductive or piezoelectric properties, including thermal insulation and cooling systems.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Energy harvesting and saving technologies are a primary research focus of the BioCom4SavEn project. We are looking for alternative ways to power small electronic devices. Here, piezoelectric materials, especially polymers, have received increasing attention because of their low manufacturing cost, sufficient power output, and the possibility of producing very flexible forms with low density. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), one of the most essential piezoelectric polymers, found a lot of research interest in powering smart electronic and sensor devices autonomously. We showed that electrospun PVDF mats and fibers with enhanced piezoelectric phase content can generate electrical potential. Fiber production, such as electrospinning, requires the best parameters; thus, we show the solvents' importance and the incorporation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) filler for increased piezoelectric coefficient and output power generation. Remarkably, adding 1wt% of rGO enhances the power density output by approximately 5 times higher than the pristine PVDF.
Polymer fiber composites can be very useful for thermal management, especially in thermal insulation, and after the addition of active filler, their thermal conductivity can be improved.
Electrospun nanofibers are also used to produce yarns, not only mats and membranes. In the BioCom4SavEn project, yarn based on composite polyimide (PI) nanofibers with silicon nitride (SiN) were applied as coatings on resistance wires. The highest concentration of SiN (35wt%) in PI nanofibers exhibited the highest increase in the surface temperature analyzed via scanning thermal microscopy (SThM), thus showing a great promise for effective heat dissipation materials in thermal management applications.
All the abovementioned results were presented at several international conferences.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project goes beyond the state-of-the-art systems by using electrospun porous membranes for thermal management and energy harvesting. The porous membranes and fibrous mats have superb mechanical performance and flexibility. The electrospun membranes can wrap various shapes and can be produced in the form of yarns or coatings. Moreover, their specific thermal properties can be improved by controlling the porosity of fibers or by incorporating nanoparticles, graphene oxide, carbon black, and other fillers into polymer solutions and, later, directly electrospinning hybrid fibers. The added fillers can be blended into the polymers or present in the core or in the shell of the polymer fibers.
This way, we are able to replace the standard materials, saving space and energy by adding flexible membranes giving also mechanical support, which improves the general usability of the thermal management system. Additionally, the reduction of the thickness and size makes the product more comfortable to wear. Multiple improvements have been made with the aim of making better materials from an ergonomic aspect. The socio-economic impact of the usage of this technology can be significant with the possibility of applying the electrospun membranes to small electronic devices apart from buildings, pipes, or cables. The further development of these materials will result in more energy savings.

The introduction of rGO induces faster thermal transport in core shell fibers. Advance SThM and t