Neža Sodnik received the Award for best poster presentation, titled Electrochemical Detection of Benzisothiazolinone on Screen-Printed Electrodes, at the 9th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry—South-East Europe. The symposium took place in Novi Sad, Serbia, from June 3rd to 7th, 2024.
Prof Annalisa Chiocchetti – Seminar
Precision medicine is a groundbreaking approach to disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. This method stands in contrast to the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to medicine, where treatments and medications are developed with the average patient in mind. Nevertheless, we are far from it, and continued research, investment in healthcare infrastructure and policies are essential for realizing the full potential of this approach. This will take a long time and will not be achievable by 2030 as initially hoped. Great efforts have been undertaken to identify alternative approaches. One, involves organ on chip technology, that allows to model individual variability on a small 3D cell culturing platform. Will this be the answer to the huge unmet clinical need of selecting the right drug for the right patient? A tentative response in this lecture.
Prof Annalisa Chiocchetti, PhD in Biology and in Medicine, full Professor of Immunology at University of Eastern Piedmont. She has documented experience in immunology and in the development and pre-clinical characterization (in-vitro, in vivo on animal models and clinical trials) of recombinant proteins and antibodies for immune system modulation (switching on and off). She has expertise in high-throughput analysis. Supervisors of 15 PhD students and several Master thesis. Scopus Author ID: 6603151027 H-Index 24, 1542 citations.
With the final INSPIRES project (EIT RawMaterials) meeting, the members of the Nanostructured Materials Department (Dr. Benjamin Podmiljšak, Dr. Tomaž Tomše, and Prof. Dr. Spomenka Kobe) in the consortium of 11 partners reported on the achieved goals. The INSPIRES project in the RIS Slovenia region has demonstrated a successful example of a circular economy without waste. Through radical eco-innovations in the recycling of permanent magnets, with a focus on the easily accessible resource of motors in household appliances, we have developed new automated processes for dismantling waste appliances and recovering magnets from them. We have established recycling methods and tested new circular economy pathways with key industrial partners within the region (Kolektor, Gorenje, Domel, ZEOS, Surovina). We have analyzed their sustainable performance in terms of economic and environmentally sound life cycles. Knowledge and technologies from non-RIS regions (recycling technology was provided by the German partner University of Pforzheim) contributed to the refinement in the Slovenia region. The Brussels-based partner CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) effectively communicated the project’s achievements to decision-makers for further action.
RE-ENGINEERING PERMANENT MAGNETS FOR THE GREEN TRANSITION:
EU PROJECT GREENE KICKS OFF
Bohinj, Slovenia: On 4th and 5th June, a consortium of 15 European partners led by the Slovenian Jožef Stefan Institute kicked off GREENE, short for SINGLE-GRAIN RE-ENGINEERED Nd-Fe-B PERMANENT MAGNETS, an EU project with a funding of €8 million. Over a four-year period, partners will develop high-energy Nd-Fe-B based magnets, innovatively re-engineering them at the single grain level to minimize the overall Rare Earth (RE) content, thus reducing environmental impact and supply dependencies for these critical raw materials.
Rare-earth element (REE) permanent magnets based on Neodymium Iron Boron (Nd-Fe-B) are vital components of high-tech products enabling a green energy future, like e-vehicles and wind turbines. With the advancement of the green transition, magnet demand is increasing drastically – supply, however, is under threat. The EU is dependent on imports, mainly from China, and geopolitical tensions, environmental issues connected to the extraction of these raw materials, as well as the lack of a thriving European magnet industry present significant challenges.
Permanent magnets based on NdFeB are highly valued due to their outstanding properties. They are complex materials consisting of multiple phases and their overall performance is determined by a high remanence, reflected in magnet strength, and a high intrinsic coercivity, making them resistant to demagnetization. Their maximum energy product is thus composed of both remanence and coercivity. The need to operate at temperatures over 100 °C in applications like traction motors in electric vehicles means that a high coercivity is usually prioritised over a high remanence, which negatively affects power output linked to remanence. In conventionally sintered magnets, NdFeB grains are microscopic and the regions between the grains are called grain boundaries. When exposed to a demagnetizing force, demagnetization begins at the grain interfaces with the grain-boundary phase before rapidly spreading, influencing the magnet’s coercivity.
This is where GREENE comes in: GREENE partners aim to push the boundaries of material science by developing Single-Grain Re-Engineered Nd- Fe-B permanent magnets with a new grain-boundary interface, thus allowing for a reduction of REE content. The new GREENE magnets will be more resource-efficient, offering a roughly 20% increase in coercivity, 10% in remanence, and 20% in overall maximum energy product. As a first step, novel grain boundaries and interfaces will be created using micromagnetic simulations and computational thermodynamics. Following an initial testing phase, the technology will then be applied to isolated grains from recycled and fresh streams to develop a new form of Nd-Fe-B magnet. By the end of the project, the magnet manufacturing system will be set up in an actual operational setting.
To achieve this ambitious undertaking, 15 European partners with outstanding expertise in their respective fields have joined forces, including leading material scientists, magnet manufacturers and recyclers, lifecycle analysis experts as well as end user representatives. Several of them have already cooperated in predecessor projects like SUSMAGPRO, INSPIRES and REEsilience.
“GREENE aims to develop essential technologies, knowledge, and materials within the EU, boosting Europe’s independence and industrial competitiveness in line with industry needs. It is set to make significant scientific advances, contributing to the growth of green technologies. Thus, the next four years will be crucial for research in permanent magnets,” states Prof. Kristina Žužek, Coordinator of GREENE.
GREENE Partners at the Kick-off Meeting
GREENE Consortium:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the HaDEA can be held responsible for them.
