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The first nanowire on graphene UVC LED technology able to give the efficiency, lifetime, and cost needed for mass deployment disinfection

Project description

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Nanomaterials-based UVC LED against pandemics

We need new technologies to combat deadly diseases and pandemics such as COVID-19. Sterilisation by UVC light is recognised as an effective and safe method for killing microbes and a promising direction for mass-market developments. Unfortunately, its cost in terms of service and energy consumption remains an obstacle. The EU-funded SteriLED project proposes a solution based on a pioneering UVC LED technology. The core technology of SteriLED is the nanowires of the semiconductor aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) grown on a substrate of graphene. The properties of these two nanomaterials allow SteriLED to emit three times more light and have a three times longer lifetime at a quarter of the costs of standard UVC LEDs. SteriLED aims to bring this innovative technology quickly to market.

Objective

UVC light is the safest, quickest and most effective way to kill disease-causing bacteria and viruses. UVC LEDs are a promising technology which can make chemical-free disinfection possible thanks to their efficiency, long-lasting and compact design. Despite their potential, they remain a niche solution because they face key bottlenecks which prevent them from having a good enough cost-performance (defined as euro/watt) for a consumer market. CrayoNano has developed a completely new UVC LED called SteriLED which will reach these cost-performance targets for the first time, backed by a growing portfolio of market and industry players. We have achieved what leading LED manufacturers have not thanks to our radical new processing technique protected by over 14 patent families. The core technology of SteriLED are core nanowires of the semiconductor AlGaN grown on a substrate of a promising new material, graphene. Thanks to the properties of these two nanomaterials, SteriLED emits 3X more light, has a 3X longer lifetime at one fourth of the costs of standard UVC LEDs. Our strategy to bring SteriLED quickly to the market at the beginning of 2022 is to manufacture them for sales to the OEMs of point of use (POU) water purification devices. SteriLED fits seamlessly into these devices to treat water at the point of consumption to transform them into the most practical, dependable, potent and inexpensive systems on the market. The first successes of SteriLED will be only a stepping stone for its rapid improvement of its cost-performance reduction and its development for new applications from high volume purification systems for water, surface and air disinfection, eliminating the need for thousands of toxic chemicals.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

Coordinator

CRAYONANO AS
Net EU contribution
€ 2 403 187,50
Address
SLUPPENVEGEN 6
7037 Trondheim
Norway

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Yes
Region
Norge Trøndelag Trøndelag
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost
€ 3 433 125,00

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Last update: 27 December 2023

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/969264

European Union, 2025