Due to their exceptional mechanical qualities, the main materials used today to strengthen polymer composites are glass fibre and carbon fibre. However, these fibres are hard to recycle, non-biodegradable and have a large carbon footprint.

Natural fibres such as bamboo, flax or hemp are alternative resources that can be used as strengthening materials. Several studies come to the conclusion that these natural fibres, particularly bamboo, are environmentally superior to synthetic fibres at each stage of the composite material life cycle.

Contact:Carlos Fuentes Rojas

A new family of polymer electrolytes has been created thanks to the support of an INTER grant from the National Research Fund (FNR) within the framework of the DISAFECAP project (Safe Solid-State Supercapacitors using Dynamic Ion Gels from Poly(ionic Liquids)), in cooperation with two French partner universities (CY Cergy Paris University and Lyon University 1).

This new family of polymer materials called dynamic ion gels is obtained by combining polymers and oppositely charged silica nanoparticles. This process leads to the creation of robust polymers with self-healing properties and high ionic conductivity.

Contact:  Pierre Verge

In collaboration with Goodyear, LIST has revisited the tyre tread skeleton called the silica percolation network. Using a new modified dendritic silica nanoparticle, LIST achieved better results than conventional rubber/silica nanocomposites and paved the way for the next generation of tyres with better traction and lower rolling resistance.

The application of such a charging system for the reinforcement of tyre rubber opens up new prospects for the design of tyres with low rolling resistance and competitive traction together with sustainable performance. This study was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal and the particles are patented.

Contact:  Jean-Sébastien Thomann

In 2022, LIST welcomed Florian Kaiser, whose mission is to create a new materials research group for quantum computing. Florian previously held the post of assistant professor at the University of Stuttgart.

Over the next five years, the overall objective is to demonstrate the generation, manipulation and use of the qubits needed to demonstrate the first quantum computing originating from Luxembourg technology. The technology studied has the potential to generate more than ten qubits interlinked by a basic device drawing on the atomically controlled silicon vacancy on ultra-high-purity substrates.

This technology will be developed under the responsibility of Florian Kaiser, one of the world's experts in this technology.

Contact:  Florian Kaiser

The development of efficient and safe energy storage technologies is essential in order to speed up the transition to sustainable and clean energy. Although lithium-ion batteries are now ubiquitous in everyday life, many nanoscale mechanisms underpinning how these batteries work are not yet fully understood. Knowledge of nanometric mechanisms such as transport and transfer of charges occurring at the internal battery interfaces will be useful in mitigating degradation processes and significantly improving the efficiency, safety and sustainability of these storage devices.

Investigating local electrochemistry on a nanometric scale in batteries during operation is a challenge currently faced by the battery research community. To further develop tools and methods of analysis, including machine learning approaches for battery characterisation, an international research team led by LIST has received funding of EUR 5 million from the European Union and an additional EUR 700,000 from Switzerland.

Contact: Santhana Eswara Moorthy

More information

In December 2022, LIST opened the Sustainable Composite Materials & Manufacturing Innovation Centre (SCMM IC). The initiative focuses its research and innovative development priorities on the challenges faced by the transport sector in the search for zero emission mobility solutions. The aim of the innovation centre is to speed up the use of materials and processes with a low carbon footprint for functional composite parts that will meet the needs of the vehicles of the future.

To this end, innovative technological bricks of materials, for example biosourced and/or recyclable materials as well as efficient manufacturing and recycling processes, will be integrated into highly relevant demonstrators aligned with the vision of major industrial leaders, their equipment manufacturers and major suppliers in the automotive, rail, space and aeronautical sectors, not forgetting the emergence of urban air mobility.

The centre proposes an effective approach allowing for a rapid transition of research results to the real economy by bringing together, in an ambitious innovation programme, end users (OEM), national and international operators along the entire composite value chain and LIST researchers.

The initiative involves four major players in European transport, namely Toyota, Airbus, Thales Alenia Space and Alstom, who share their critical needs to enable the medium-term marketing of ultralight, recyclable and low-carbon vehicles.

This innovation programme will initially last four years with a budget of more than 16 million euros, co-funded by LIST, the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, the Ministry of the Economy and active members from industry. In particular, it will include an investment of 3 million euros from LIST for new industrial technologies to complement the composite platform provided by the Materials Department.

Contact:Damien Lenoble

Over the past six years, LIST and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have collaborated to achieve pioneering results in the areas of materials research, understanding structure-property relationships and data science.

Delivering outstanding results

Initiated in 2017, the largest Public-Private-Partnership to date in Luxembourg with a budget of about €50 million has led to impressive Science & Technology impacts in the areas of Materials as well as Data Science: 94 scientific publications and contributions to conferences, as well as 17 trade secrets and 14 patents.

These achievements have been implemented in many day-to-day operations at Goodyear, as well as LIST in various areas. For example, Goodyear has deployed

• A break-through capability helping enable a data-driven tire development process
• Wear prediction and leak detection algorithms for tire intelligence solutions
• A large number of unprecedented analytical capabilities
• A new approach in optimising the type and quantity of resins, contributing to a secure raw materials supply.

Our partner is also considering the upscaling of proof-of-concept, bio-based reinforcement fillers (lignin and cellulose) and their use in high-value added products.

Contact:Damien Lenoble

LIST has developed a proprietary technology providing freedom from the intermittent nature of variable renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, but from ocean’s waves as a source of electricity in the water electrolysis process. This proof of concept has strong economic potential with regard to hydrogen production costs, while minimising the strategic dependence on critical metals and scarce land resources used in variable renewable energy.

This device was exhibited to local industrial stakeholders at the TechDay at the Maison des Arts et des Etudiants in Belval on 15 June 2022. It aims to convince local players of the robustness of the technology in order to move towards the next stage of a full-scale demonstrator in the marine environment. A recent visit by politic players has already enabled us to discuss the potential of this technology "made in LIST".

Contact:  Jérôme Polesel