The aim of the PoC-ID project is to develop new micro- and nanoelectronic-based sensing and integration concepts for advanced miniaturised in vitro diagnostic devices. The project addresses the increasing demand for rapid and ultra-sensitive point-of-care diagnostics to reduce healthcare costs and increase the quality of life with a focus on infectious diseases, one of the world’s leading causes of morbidity and death. Interdisciplinary collaboration using the technology and expertise of the consortium members will be applied to develop and test a breakthrough PoC prototype for the diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infections and host responses in the paediatric context. PoC-ID will enable new types of point-of-care diagnostics for virtually any type of complex liquid sample. Applications are disease diagnosis, monitoring of therapeutic responses, clinical research of pathogen-host interaction and personalised medicine. The platform technology can easily be adapted to a variety of diagnostic or biosensing purposes, such as in health/environmental monitoring or food quality testing. PoC-ID will combine the detection of both pathogens and host responses leading to more accurate diagnosis as compared to the current standard which is focused on detection of pathogens only. This novel approach will support prevention and control of pathogen spread and enable faster and more personalised patient treatment. Improved performance in terms of robustness, sensitivity and selectivity will be reached by a combination of innovative nanomembrane technology, molecular engineered capture molecules and two novel sensing concepts. Further advances will be realised in terms of usability and speed of data-analysis arising from the integration of sensors, read-out electronics and microfluidics into one user friendly point-of-care (PoC) platform. Costs of the new disposable sensors will be ultra-low at high volumes, thanks to designing into microelectronics production flows.

ITS-THIN embodies the vision of a disruptive technology: Ultrathin Carbon Nanomembranes (CNMs) of ~1 nm thickness enabling an unprecedented efficient water separation technology inspired by the highly efficient biological filtration processes found in nature. The CNM sub-nm functional pores will enable efficient removal of small molecules and ions from water streams. Due to the extremely high areal pore number density (~1 sub-nm pore per square nanometer) constituting up to 40% of the membrane, CNMs enable a hitherto non-attainable separation efficiency compared to existing membrane technology. CNMs are mechanically stable, can withstand harsh environments and their size can be scaled to industrial demands. In laboratory scale (membrane areas of square micrometer) experiments, CNMs show an extraordinarily high rejection of organic molecules, anions and cations, with a concomitant high-water flux. In ITS-THIN we will take advantage of the disruptive potential and develop and demonstrate the CNM-based technology in two types of demanding water separation applications: Pressure driven water polishing for ultrapure water (UPW) production and osmotic cold-concentration (CC) for pharma and food & beverage applications. The academic partners in ITS-THIN provide the experimental and theoretical basis for understanding the transport phenomena as well as the physical-chemical properties of CNMs and the industrial partners enable cost-effective CNM production, modular integration and market-targeting technology implementation. Thus ITS-THIN spans the entire value chain from concept to technology.

The project described in this FET Innovation Launchpad proposal aims to bring ultrathin carbon nanomembranes (CNMs) as a gamechanger to the market of demanding water separation applications. It follows-up on the scientific results in the FET Open project ITS-THIN, in which CNM Technologies as a 2D-materials specialist and BLUE-tec as a water treatment process developer participate. Together these companies now wish to join forces to prepare for the production and sales of CNM based composite membranes. The proposed project THINtoBIG results into a conclusive business plan to be able to raise funds and find investors for production, marketing and sales of CNM-composite membranes.

This project is the second in the series of EC-financed parts of the Graphene Flagship. The Graphene Flagship is a 10 year research and innovation endeavour with a total project cost of 1,000,000,000 euros, funded jointly by the European Commission and member states and associated countries. The first part of the Flagship was a 30-month Collaborative Project, Coordination and Support Action (CP-CSA) under the 7th framework program (2013-2016), while this and the following parts are implemented as Core Projects under the Horizon 2020 framework. The mission of the Graphene Flagship is to take graphene and related layered materials from a state of raw potential to a point where they can revolutionise multiple industries. This will bring a new dimension to future technology – a faster, thinner, stronger, flexible, and broadband revolution. Our program will put Europe firmly at the heart of the process, with a manifold return on the EU investment, both in terms of technological innovation and economic growth. To realise this vision, we have brought together a larger European consortium with about 150 partners in 23 countries. The partners represent academia, research institutes and industries, which work closely together in 15 technical work packages and five supporting work packages covering the entire value chain from materials to components and systems. As time progresses, the centre of gravity of the Flagship moves towards applications, which is reflected in the increasing importance of the higher - system - levels of the value chain. In this first core project the main focus is on components and initial system level tasks. The first core project is divided into 4 divisions, which in turn comprise 3 to 5 work packages on related topics. A fifth, external division acts as a link to the parts of the Flagship that are funded by the member states and associated countries, or by other funding sources. This creates a collaborative framework for the entire Flagship.