SMARTNET (“Soft materials advanced training network”) is an ITN at the interface of chemistry, physics, and biology, and deals with the science and technology of molecular soft materials. Soft matter (e.g. gels, emulsions, membranes) is of great societal and economic impact in fields such as food industry, cosmetics, oil extraction and increasingly in high value areas such as biomedicine and nanotechnology. Soft matter is formed when fluids are mixed with molecular additives, giving rise to molecular level structuring. Polymers and inorganic materials have been widely used in this context, but are unlikely to meet future performance requirements for high-tech applications. SMARTNET is focused on conceptually novel approaches towards the next generation of soft matter, based on self-assembling small molecules as promising alternatives to existing systems. The design of molecular components and control of self-assembly processes allows for organization across length scales leading to emergent properties and functions, and will impact on 21st century health care, biomedicine and energy-related technologies. SMARTNET provides a unique multidisciplinary training opportunity and a step change in understanding and exploitation of these systems. A competitive advantage will be achieved by close integration of world-class expertise in molecular design, self-assembly and nanofabrication, photo-chemistry and -physics, multiscale modeling, state-of-the-art scattering and spectroscopy, with application areas such as biomedical, opto-electronic and catalytic materials. SMARTNET consolidates, through international and cross-disciplinary coordination and integration of 9 teams, leading EU research efforts in the area of supramolecular soft matter and offers unique opportunities to the highest level of training-through-research projects.

SMILEY aims to develop and apply a 'bottom-up' approach to build nano-structured devices with smart multi-functional properties: bio-mineralization, self-assembly, self-organization are an ensemble of concomitant phenomena, inspired by nature, that will be properly directed to generate elementary nano-sized building blocks organized in macroscopic devices for application in EHS (Environment, Health, Safety) Biomedical and Energy fields. SMILEY will exploit the ability of such a cascade of biologically-inspired processes to form complex hybrid nano-composites, starting from abundant and environmentally safe raw materials such as natural polymers and fibres, whose characteristics and organization are mediated by the activation of control mechanisms and structural confinement conferring defined functionalities to the final devices. The processes of self-assembling and mineralization, scaled at pilot plant, will be directed and adjusted to obtain 3-D porous hybrid nano-composites to be used as: i) filters for air purification from nano-particles; ii) biomedical devices exhibiting high mimesis with human hard tissues, addressed to dental regeneration; iii) fibrous integrated photovoltaic devices. The control mechanisms inherent in the whole process will allow to establish a technological platform based on highly repeatable, scalable and cost-effective technology for the manufacturing of multi-functional devices with huge economic, environmental and social impact. This will also represent a proof of concept for further development of smart devices obtained by biologically-inspired self-assembling processes; in this respect, roadmaps addressing wider industrial exploitation will be prepared, basing on the knowledge gained in the development of SMILEY.

This research activity aims to demonstrate an economically viable and scalable nano-manufacturing method using a modified Chemical Vapor Deposition technique and a nano pattern transfer method based on silicon nanomembrane technology for the fabrication of nanostructured polymeric device components for electronics and photonics. The multidisciplinary nature of the proposed research will fuse science and engineering to overcome technological roadblocks for heterogeneous integration of polymeric materials into conventional micro- and nano-fabrication processes. The economically viable and scalable nano-manufacturing methods will enable the use of polymeric materials in conventional & future device designs opening new opportunities for electronic and photonic applications. The research will also address the need for novel polymeric materials with better chemical and thermal stabilities, and scalable processes that can take advantage of these chemistries to fabricate electronic/photonic devices reliably at low temperatures and at a reduced cost. The proposed method of integration of polymeric nanostructures into conventional nano-fabrication processes is scalable to a wafer size process and can also be optimized for roll-to-roll processing. The proposed work will advance the use of polymeric materials in semiconductor manufacturing in a real and significant way.

The overall objective of the proposed project is the development of novel optoelectronic and photonic devices based on ordered arrays of GaN/AIGAN and InGaN/GaN nanorods. The mechanisms of spontaneous nucleation and growth of such nanorods on Si substrates, under specific experimental conditions, have been recently clarified and understood. However, the realization of true devices relies on the achievement of ordered arrays of nanorods by localization of the epitaxial growth on predetermined preferential sites. This challenging issue would be tackled by controlling the growth of such heterostructures by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) growth on nanomasks and nanopatterned substrates, and by the subsequent processing of the nanodevices arrays. Ordered growth following a predefined pattern is a critical step to allow subsequent applications. Nanomasks and nanopatterning will be achieved by e-beam lithography and dry etching. Three different devices will be developed as demonstrators, namely, arrays of nanophotodetectors in the IR, white light nanoLEDs, and nanocolumnar Solar Cells. It is worth to remark that all these devices are beyond the state-of-the-art and will benefit from the very high and unique crystal quality of nanorods. Other advantages of such nanostructures are a wide absorption surface and the capability to exploit Photonic Crystal effects for light extraction. The objectives of this project, being very ambitious, are perfectly feasible because all devices are based on the same basic structure of nanorod arrays (building block). The project, aside from very relevant scientific aspects, will offer the young researcher a full training program on technological and complementary issues.

We plan to use supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly as a tool to organize p-conjugated molecules of the family of the phthalocyanines in a controlled way, in order to build well-defined, nanometer-sized functional objects. More concretely, we want to synthesize phthalocyanine-like molecules that are able to aggregate by p-p stacking interactions forming stable nanowires or nanoparticles. These assemblies are expected to have unprecedented physical properties, which will be studied both in solution and in the solid state, our final goal being the incorporation into nanoscale devices for organic photovoltaics, data storage or sensors that yield an enhanced performance and/or derive in novel potential applications.

Major interest exists and research activities have grown over the last decade to investigate the development of renewable energies generated from natural sources, especially in the area of solar cells (or photovoltaics, PV), a high priority area of research in the European Research Area (ERA). Central to addressing this challenge is the development of novel materials with tunable optoelectronic properties. However, one class of materials that has received almost no attention at all is the aniline-based materials (polyaniline and its lower oligomers). The proposed research focuses on the design and synthesis of Self-Organising Liquid-Crystalline OligoAnilines for Photovoltaic Applications, making use of newly developed synthetic approaches to produce such tunable materials. Several series of oligomers with new architectures, liquid-crystalline properties and varied conjugation architectures and lengths will be produced. These will be characteristed and combined with suitable inorganic semiconductors. The nanoscale morphology of such photoactive blends will be optmised, and utilised to produce proof-of-concept photovoltaic devices. This research will open unexplored avenues through its interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, i.e., it will rely on modern synthetic organic chemistry, chemicophysical analyses of optoelectronic properties, morphologies and structure relationships, self-assembly in the solid state, device fabrication and testing. It is expected that the research and training outcomes of this proposed research will impact across the mentioned range of disciplines, and contribute highly trained researchers and knowledge to a high priority area for both society and research within the EU as well as on an international level.

Carbon nanotubes grown by chemical vapour deposition or carbon arc method are fairly cheap but contain a considerable amount of defects and therefore the electrical and mechanical properties are far below their theoretical limits. In the laser ablation technique, nanotubes are produced under much better control of carrier gas flow and thermal gradients, but throughput is low and lasers are expensive. In channel spark ablation thermal gradients and gas flow are similar, but the process is much cheaper. The Arc-Jet method improves the flow conditions in the carbon arc (Kraetschmer) generator by injecting the carrier gas through a nozzle into the electric arc. The consortium will set up generators for channel spark ablation (Bologna), laser ablation (Stuttgart), and Arc-Jet production (Shanghai) and compare the products from these methods. To this end procedures for quality control and quality standardisation will be developed. These methods are based on optical and Raman spectroscopy, X- ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis, as well as on mechanical investigations and electrical and thermal transport measurements (on pressed pellets, entangled films, and composites). The Austrian company AT&S Austria Systemtechnik AG is one of the largest producers of printed circuit boards. There is a general tendency to make these boards 'smarter' and to transfer passive electronic elements (resistors and capacitors) from the chips to the boards. AT&S envisages to use the nanotubes produced in this project for electronic elements integrated into their boards. AT&S has just started a subsidiary in China so that both the Chinese daughter and the European mother are likely to benefit from this project. The present project will produce high quality nanotubes at much larger quantities than presently available and at prices which are more than two orders of magnitude lower. We expect this to lead to a considerable breakthrough in #

One dimensional nanotubular structures have a wide range of applications due to their unique physical and chemical properties that are different from the bulk materials. Metal and semiconductor nanotubes are being used as sensors, optoelectronic devices or transistors. Furthermore, polymeric nanotubes have great potential as biomedical devices due to the biocompatible nature of the polymers used. However, they are not as widely studied due to the difficulty of fabricating the nanotubular structures using common thin film deposition techniques. In this research, we propose to use initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) to fabricate polymer nanotubes. iCVD technique has been shown to successfully deposit polymer thin films while keeping the chemical moieties of the monomers intact. Furthermore, the crosslinking density and the wall thickness of the nanotubes can easily be tuned using iCVD as opposed to other techniques, such as solution-based techniques where the polymer should be soluble. Our proposal aims to develop nanocarrier systems of polymer nanotubes for various potential applications. A wide range of stimuli responsive polymers (SRP) will be used to fabricate the nanotubes and the mechanical and response characteristics of these nanostructures as a function of crosslinking density will be explored. In the next stage, coaxial nanotubes with both layers made of SRPs will be fabricated and the effects of the interaction between the layers on the release mechanism will be studied. The results of these studies will help us better understand the dominant mechanisms during uptake and release and thus enable us to fabricate the nanocarriers according to the response desired. Furthermore, these nanotubes with improved performance will have significant impact as drug delivery systems or sensors.

The aim of the project is to perform advanced theoretical and computer simulation studies of nonuniform fluids involving complex molecules. It comprises of three work packages: (i) fluids in contact with tethered layers formed on surfaces and in pores, (ii) substrate driven self-assembly of supramolecular structures formed by complex organic molecules, and (iii) substrate induced self-assembly of nanoparticles with chemical dichotomy.

Integration of magnetic functionalities into electronic circuits requires the use of low cost, scalable methods focusing on the manipulation of magnetic moments by electric fields, as opposed to external magnetic fields. Spin polarized carriers can exert a torque to control the magnetization orientation. These carriers can be injected from ferromagnets (FM). They can also originate from the spin-orbit interaction, by using the Rashba, Dresselhaus and spin Hall effects. Ultimately, one may take advantage of the spin-textured states at the surface of topological insulators (TIs), a recently discovered new state of matter. The later 'spin-orbit torques' (SOTs) were recently observed in heavy-metal/FM and semiconducting structures. However, the mechanisms in play are under fierce debate, which is hindering technological progress.