Open Innovation Test Beds for nano-enabled surfaces and membranes (IA)

• Open Innovation Test Beds should upgrade or develop materials facilities and make available to industry and interested parties, including SMEs, services for the design, development, testing, safety assessment, and upscaling of new nano-enabled surfaces and membranes;
• New materials functionalities may include, among others, improved scratch and abrasion resistance, super hardness and mechanical resistance, improved corrosion, wear and friction properties, bio-functionality, bio-compatibility, control of reflectivity, sensing ability, self-cleaning, antimicrobial, permeability and selectivity properties;
• Open access at fair conditions and cost as well as outreach and dissemination across Europe, based on a distinct methodology;
• Applications can cover industrial as well as consumer products. Potential regulatory, economical and technical barriers should be identified and assessed;
• Quality control processes and tools should be validated to allow on-line quality controls;
• Materials should be demonstrated in relevant industrial environments;

Proposals submitted under this topic should include actions designed to facilitate cooperation, across Europe, with other projects and existing Pilot Lines; to enhance user involvement; and to ensure the accessibility and reusability of data produced in the course of the project.

Activities should start at TRL 4 and achieve TRL 7 at the end of the project.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU between EUR 7 and 15 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Nano-enabled surfaces and membranes have a vast range of applications in final products across many industry sectors. The challenge is to enable a cost effective and sustainable industrial upscaling and deployment of nano-enabled surface and membrane technologies, including thin film architecture, coating, surface structuration for improved properties (optical, surface energy, durability, reduced friction, etc.), and nanostructured membrane's functionalities. This will require the integration of state-of-the-art nano-scale processes for modification, functionalisation, and structuring/coating of surfaces or membranes.

• Open and upgraded facilities at the EU level for the design, development, testing, safety assessment, and upscaling of nano-enabled surfaces and membranes;
• Attract a significant number of new SME users, with at least a 20% increase for existing test beds;
• Increased access to finance (for SMEs in particular) for investing in these nano-enabled surfaces or membranes or in applications using them;
• At least 15% improved process parameters and 20% faster verification of nano-enabled surfaces or membranes performance for highly promising applications;
• At least 20% improvement in industrial productivity, reliability, environmental performance, durability, and reduction of life-cycle costs of these nano-enabled surfaces or membranes;
• At least 15% indirect reduction in energy consumption for applications using novel nano-enabled surfaces or membranes.

Relevant indicators and metrics, with baseline values, should be clearly stated in the proposal.