This proposal describes the third core project of the Graphene Flagship. It forms the fourth phase of the FET flagship and is characterized by a continued transition towards higher technology readiness levels, without jeopardizing our strong commitment to fundamental research. Compared to the second core project, this phase includes a substantial increase in the market-motivated technological spearhead projects, which account for about 30% of the overall budget. The broader fundamental and applied research themes are pursued by 15 work packages and supported by four work packages on innovation, industrialization, dissemination and management. The consortium that is involved in this project includes over 150 academic and industrial partners in over 20 European countries.

The European cement industry has committed itself to contributing to climate protection measures and therefore to curbing its CO2 emissions. CO2 capture technologies, although an essential part of all CO2 reduction scenarios, are not yet ready for large-scale deployment in the cement industry. Hence, the primary objective of CEMCAP is To prepare the ground for large-scale implementation of CO2 capture in the European cement industry To achieve this objective, CEMCAP will - Leverage to TRL 6 for cement plants the oxyfuel capture technology and three fundamentally different post combustion capture technologies, all of them with a targeted capture rate of 90%. - Identify the CO2 capture technologies with the greatest potential to be retrofitted to existing cement plants in a cost- and resource-effective manner, maintaining product quality and environmental compatibility. - Formulate a techno-economic decision-basis for CO2 capture implementation in the cement industry, where the current uncertainty regarding CO2 capture cost is reduced by at least 50%. For successful large-scale deployment of CO2 capture in the cement industry, technologies must be developed beyond the current state of the art. In order to bring the most high-potential retrofittable CO2 capture technologies to a higher TRL level and closer to implementation, CEMCAP will - Describe the routes for the development required to close technology gaps for CO2 capture from cement and assist technology suppliers along the related innovation chains. - Identify and follow up minimum five potential innovations springing from CEMCAP research. Technologies suitable for CO2 capture retrofit are focused on in CEMCAP, because cement plants typically have a lifetime of as long as 30-50 years. However, the results from CEMCAP will enable looking beyond this horizon. Therefore, CEMCAP will - Create pathways for the low to near-zero CO2 emission cement production of the future.

The 2D Experimental Pilot Line (2D-EPL) project will establish a European ecosystem for prototype production of Graphene and Related Materials (GRM) based electronics, photonics and sensors. The project will cover the whole value chain including tool manufacturers, chemical and material providers and pilot lines to offer prototyping services to companies, research centers and academics. The 2D-EPL targets to the adoption of GRM integration by commercial semiconductor foundries and integrated device manufacturers through technology transfer and licensing. The project is built on two pillars. In Pillar 1, the 2D-EPL will offer prototyping services for 150 and 200 mm wafers, based on the current state of the art graphene device manufacturing and integration techniques. This will ensure external users and customers are served by the 2D-EPL early in the project and guarantees the inclusion of their input in the development of the final processes by providing the specifications on required device layouts, materials and device performances. In Pillar 2, the consortium will develop a fully automated process flow on 200 and 300 mm wafers, including the growth and vacuum transfer of single crystalline graphene and TMDCs. The knowledge gained in Pillar 2 will be transferred to Pillar 1 to continuously improve the baseline process provided by the 2D-EPL. To ensure sustainability of the 2D-EPL service after the project duration, integration with EUROPRACTICE consortium will be prepared. It provides for the European actors a platform to develop smart integrated systems, from advanced prototype design to small volume production. In addition, for the efficiency of the industrial exploitation, an Industrial Advisory Board consisting mainly of leading European semiconductor manufacturers and foundries will closely track and advise the progress of the 2D-EPL. This approach will enable European players to take the lead in this emerging field of technology.

Europe has somewhere between 150,000 and 500,000 landfill sites, with an estimated 90% of them being “non-sanitary” landfills, predating the EU Landfill Directive of 1999. These older landfills tend to be filled with municipal solid waste and often lack any environmental protection technology. In order to avoid future environmental and health problems, many of these landfills will soon require expensive remediation measures. This situation might appear bleak, but it does present us with an exciting opportunity for a combined resource-recovery and remediation strategy, which will drastically reduce future remediation costs, reclaim valuable land, while at the same time unlocking billions of tonnes of valuable resources contained within these landfills. However, the widespread adoption of Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM) in the EU, as envisaged by NEW-MINE, urgently requires skilled scientists, engineers, economists and policy makers who can develop cost-effective, environmentally friendly ELFM practices and regulatory frameworks. All this demands a European commitment to concerted, inter- and transdisciplinary research and innovation. The NEW-MINE project trains 15 early-stage researchers (ESRs) in all the aspects of landfill mining, in terms of both technological innovation and multi-criteria assessments for ELFM. The technological innovation follows a value-chain approach, from advanced landfill exploration, mechanical processing, plasma/solar/hybrid thermochemical conversion and upcycling, while the multi-criteria assessment methods allow the ESRs to compare combined resource-recovery/remediation ELFM methods with the “Do-Nothing”, “Classic remediation” and “Classic landfill mining with (co-)incineration” scenarios. By training the ESRs in scientific, technical and a range of soft skills, all based on a collaboration involving EU-leading institutes, they become highly sought-after scientists and engineers for the rapidly emerging ELFM and recycling industries.

This proposal describes the third stage of the EC-funded part of the Graphene Flagship. It builds upon the results achieved in the ramp-up phase (2013 - 2016) and the first core project (2016 - 2018), and covers the period April 2018 - March 2020. The progress of the flagship follows the general plans set out in the Framework Partnership Agreement, and the second core project represents an additional step towards higher technology and manufacturing readiness levels. The Flagship is built upon the concept of value chains, one of which is along the axis of materials-components-systems; the ramp-up phase placed substantial resources on the development of materials production technologies, the first core project moved to emphasise components, and the second core project will move further towards integrating components in larger systems. This evolution is manifested, e.g., in the introduction of six market-motivated spearhead projects during the Core 2 project.