Funding: European Union, Clean Sky Joint Undertaking 2, Horizon 2020 Programme (Grant Agreement 738085)
Partners: Imperial College (Project Coordinator), Chalmers University of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and IMDEA Materials Institute
Region: Europe
Project period: 2017 – 2020
Principal Investigator: Dr. Juan José Vilatela (juanjose.vilatela@imdea.org)

This project will develop revolutionary lightweight electrical energy storing composite materials for future electric and hybridelectric aircraft. Building on previous research in novel lightweight supercapacitor composites, structural battery and structural energy generating composite materials are to be realised for aeronautical application and demonstrated on the systems level. Such demonstration ranges from table-top demonstrators for structural batteries and energy harvesting materials to aircraft component demonstrators for structural supercapacitors.

The SORCERER team has an outstanding scientific record of accomplishment in research covering all aspects of structural power composites development and manufacture namely: multifunctional matrices (SPE) and carbon fibres (i.e. constituents), separator materials and designs, structural electrodes, connectivity and power management and materials modelling and design. The project will build on these experiences to adapt current structural power composites solutions for aeronautical applications as well as develop new materials and devices for the aircraft application. By the end of the project each technology (i.e. structural supercapacitor, battery and power generation device) will have matured and as a result been brought-up at least one step on the TRL scale. In particular, the developed devices will be demonstrated on the systems level. For all structural battery and power generation composite materials this will be the world’s first demonstration on that level of complexity.