We believe in our responsibility to contribute to engineering solutions that make a difference in our lives both in our region and globally.
With our efforts and activities, we respond to the following societal challenges:
- How can we promote climate neutral energy generation and consumption?
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How can we implement integrated, sustainable and customised smart production?
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How can we enable people to better carry out effective technology-driven innovation?
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How can we use advanced technology to create better health?
Learn more about our projects:
ENERGY
Smart PhD: X-ray and neutron scattering studies metal oxide interlayers for photovoltaic applications
PhD projekt ved Mariam Ahmad
Use of various X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to study the composition, structure and electronic properties of these metal oxides and their interfaces with organic active layer materials to understand their role in organic solar cells.
Funding provider: Undervisnings- og Forskningsministeriet
Leadpartner: ESS SMART fyrtårn: Aarhus Universitet, prof. Brummerstedt Iversen
Project end date: 31 Dec 2022
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Read more about Mariam's project on AAU's homepage
Solid PhD: Fluid dynamics in power electronics cooling
In this project, we study the multi-phase flow of cooling fluids containing nanoparticles in microfluidic heat exchangers and porous materials. These so-called nanofluids can significantly raise the heat transfer coefficient and will increase the reliability and efficiency of in various applications and devices. We will study performance limiting factors such as particle agglomeration and sedimentation of different suspensions. In addition, we aim at monitoring the phase-transition process with neutron imaging in model devices.
Funding provider: Styrelsen for Forskning og Videregående Uddannelser
Project end date: 29 Feb 2024
Person in charge: Till Leißner
SOLID's homepage
About the PhD project
X-Power
X-Power is a network of leading testing facilities for reliability in power electronic components and systems.The project’s mission is to support fundamental research as well as applied research in the field of reliability of power electronics. The idea is to provide Danish and international industries a unique solution for testing from power electronic devices to complicated systems.
Project partners: AAU, DTU, SDU, Force Technology
Project end date: 31 Dec 2023
Person in charge: Horst-Günter Rubahn
More about X-Power on AAU’s homepage
Citysolar
In this H2020 Research and Innovation action project, new semi-transparent solar modules are made from organic and perovskite tandem solar cell devices that are tuned to harvest infrared and ultraviolet parts of the sunlight but at the same time to be transparent for visible light. Combined with new light-management and module integration routes, this will pave the way for new high-efficiency photovoltaics windows.
Funding provider: EU H2020 RIA
Project partners: CNR-ISM (lead), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Uni Tor Vergata, CNRS, H.GLASS, ENI, Brilliant Matters, KAUST
Project end date: 31 Dec 2023
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Project description on the H2020 page
ArtPlast
The ArtPlast concept is based on replicating the successful light harvesting and conversion processes in plants and developing a platform technology where more and more bio-inspired features can be added, opening for a wealth of new application areas. More specifically, we will synthesise an artificial chloroplast using organic semiconductor-based nanoparticles that facilitate photosynthetic processes in the same way that nature has so delicately perfected, thus providing an efficient and stable material system for green energy technologies – H2 evolution and solar electricity generation.
Funding provider: Carlsberg Young Researcher Fellowship & DFF Green Transition
Project partners: Aarhus University, IPCP of Russian Academy of Sciences, University of Oxford, Karlstad University and University of Glasgow
Project end date: 31 May 2024
Person in charge: Vida Engmann
Industrial roll-to-roll manufacturing of solution processed, non-fullerene based organic photovoltaics
The aim of this PhD project is the fabrication of long-lasting and large-scale organic photovoltaics based on high-efficiency NFA systems in a roll-to-roll operational environment. The focus will be on the evaluation of new material systems for possible industrial use which includes optimisation of the device architecture, layer morphology, coating uniformity and long-term stability. Optical, electrical and morphological characterisations will be performed to understand charge carrier dynamics of the studied NFA systems. This project is an industrial PhD project at Armor solar power films GmbH and conducted in collaboration with SDU.
Project end date: Jun 2023
University supervisor: Prof. Dr. Morten Madsen
Industrial supervisor: Dr. Sebastian Meier
DEVICES
CheckNano
Nanoparticles make their way into a broad range of products and help to optimise everyday life, but the tiny particles can also end up taking their toll on our health. In his Interreg Deutschland-Danmark project, we will test products for possible harmful particles. For this we are developing a quick test for detecting potential harmful nanoparticles.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project end date: 31 Dec 2021
Person in charge: Jacek Fiutowski
Compliant PV
Mechanical and photochemical stabilisation of flexible organic solar cells with special focus on additives for photochemical stabilisation and additives for the enhancement of mechanical characteristics.
Funding provider: Villum Fonden
Project partners: AU (prof. Ogilby) and DTU (prof. Ladegaard Skov)
Project end date: 30 Sept 2020
Person in charge: Morten Madsen/Vida Engmann
RollFlex
An innovation project centre for roll-to-roll (R2R) processed devices with focus on the development of flexible energy solutions via R2R processes, among them organic solar cells. A cross-border cooperation that includes Danish and German university partners as well as industry partners with SDU (lead), Kiel University (CAU), Stensborg A/s and Phi-Stone AG as main partners and a large number of companies as network partners.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project end date: 31 Dec 2020
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
ReactPV
In this project, novel reactively sputtered metal oxide films will be developed and integrated as contact layers in organic, hybrid and silicon photovoltaics for the first time. By utilising composition- and microstructure-tuned metal oxides, high work function layers that are robust to standard PV production and operation treatments will be developed, resulting in PV modules with so far unseen performance and stability.
Project partners: SDU (lead), UC Berkeley, LBNL Berkeley, IMEC, Aarhus Universitet og Sorbonne University of Paris.
Project end date: 31 Mar 2022
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Impulse OPV
This VILLUM Experiment addresses the fundamental limitation on the solar cell efficiency by exploring a method for exploiting a great fraction of low-energy sunlight photons that are transmitted and lost in traditional solar cell designs. The possibility of conducting plasmon-enhanced molecular up-conversion of sunlight inside an organic solar cell will be investigated. We aim at redefining the theoretical maximum efficiency of organic photovoltaics (OPV) by frequency up-conversion and subsequent absorption of photons with energies below the absorption threshold of OPV. The method applies the quantum properties of the light absorbing molecules in converting two low-energy photons into a single high-energy photon. This novel approach could significantly increase the efficiency of OPV, making this low-cost lightweight technology an important contributor in the transition to renewable power sources.
Funding provider: Villum Fonden
Project end date: 16 Jun 2021
Person in charge: Jonas Sandby Lissau
More about the project on Villum's homepage
2Impresz
The project will implement energy saving measures in existing school buildings across the NSR to reduce energy consumption and costs and increase comfort. Students of participating schools will be engaged through a cross-border energy challenge initiative. The behavioural change programme is supported by the adoption of energy efficiency measures at schools. School stakeholders and 2imprezs experts will cooperate to work out technical and financial solutions needed to evolve to energy-efficient schools. At least three schools which have already taken all necessary energy efficiency measures, will raise their ambitions and strive to become near zero-energy schools by implementing renewable energy techniques.
Funding provider: Interreg North Sea Region
Project end date:30 Nov 2021
Persons in charge: Morten Madsen/Lise Kanstrup
Project description on Interreg North Sea Region homepage
Hybridelektrolyse-superkondensator
In this project, new supercapacitor technology is upscaled to full industrial scale using roll-to-roll (R2R) technology. The project is led by InnoCell, who developed the supercapacitor system in focus, and the R2R upscaling and device testing is carried out at SDU NanoSYD and SDU CIE, respectively.
Funding provider: Industrial Electronic Innovation VLEAN
Project end date: Sept 2021
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Tuning the photostability of organic photovoltaics components
In this collaboration between Copenhagen University (prof. K. V. Mikkelsen, prof. M. Brøndsted Nielsen), Aarhus University (prof. P. Ogilby) and University of Southern Denmark, the stability of organic solar cells is addressed via synthesis and integration of new organic molecules that are designed to be inherently stable, i.e., they degrade less when exposed to typical stress conditions such as light, heat and the ambient environment.
Funding provider: DFF FTP research project 2
Project end date: 30 Jun 2024
Persons in charge: Morten Madsen/Vida Engmann
Powering Internet of Things with ambient solutions – PIloT
In this collaborative project between DTU Energy (lead prof. N. Pryds) and University of Southern Denmark, the focus is on developing a new family of miniaturised devices that can harvest energy from the environment, store it in the next-generation batteries and use it to power IoT devices. These hybrid energy devices include batteries, thermoelectric devices, electro-chemo-mechanical and photovoltaic devices.
Funding provider: DFF FTP research project 3
Project end date: 30 Jun 2025
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
The stretchable OLED display (industrial PhD)
Bendable OLED devices can be realised by fabricating the OLED layer stack on top of a flexible substrate – typically some type of plastic. The fabrication of a stretchable device is, however, more challenging since most of the device materials only tolerate relatively moderate levels of strain. At NanoSYD, we are working on the development of a new type of stretchable OLED based on a substrate with microscopic surface waves, which flatten out when the sample is stretched. This allows the OLED device to be installed on 3-dimensional surfaces and objects. This project is made in collaboration with Polyteknik AS.
Project end date: 31 Aug 2023
Person in charge: Jakob Kjelstrup-Hansen
Read more about the OLED research at NanoSYD
Methodologies for hyperspectral thermal imaging (industrial PhD)
Hyperspectral imaging combines two-dimensional imaging and spectroscopy. A hyperspectral image therefore includes a third dimension, which represents the optical spectrum in each pixel. One approach to realise a hyperspectral imaging system is to combine a broadband camera sensor with a tunable optical bandpass filter. The main goal of this project is to develop a hyperspectral thermal camera for thermal inspection of buildings. The additional spectral data available in a hyperspectral image compared to an image from a regular thermal camera will allow us to determine the temperature of objects more accurately. The project is made in collaboration Newtec Engineering A/S.
Project end date: 31 Oct 2021
Person in charge: Jakob Kjelstrup-Hansen
HEALTH
Celltom – Molecular cell tomography for enhanced cancer surgery
Celltom’s aim was to enhance cancer diagnostics by combining state-of-the-art microscopy techniques on both sides of the Danish-German border and between hospitals and universities. University of Lübeck provided state-of-the-art optical microscopy techniques for diagnostics, whereas the Mads Clausen Institute used the ORION helium ion microscope with a far higher resolution to validate the optical techniques.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Partners: Universität zu Lübeck, SDU, Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lübeck (MML), Odense Universitetshospital (OUH), Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) Lübeck
Project end date: 31 Mar 2020
Person in charge: Jakob Kjelstrup-Hansen
Access & Acceleration
The project aims at simplifying access to medical innovation (access) and to speed up (accelerate) this innovation. To facilitate this goal, a platform and a database are being developed.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project end date: 31 Mar 2022
Person in charge: Horst-Günter Rubahn
Access & Acceleration homepage
Medical Microtechnology (MMT)
Education across borders – this is the goal of the planned Danish-German joint education. Medical Microtechnology is the name of international study programme, which in future will create core competences and specialisations in health and life sciences in the Danish-German Interreg programme region. The project will strengthen cooperation between research institutions, industry and healthcare providers in the field of health technology.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project partners: Technische Hochschule Lübeck, Universität zu Lübeck, SDU-MCI and 8 network partners
Project end date: Mar 2023
Persons in charge: Jakob Kjelstrup-Hansen/Till Leißner
Mundbind 2.0
The Mads Clausen Institute is known for its expertise in smart materials and microtechnology solutions. In this project, we use these skills to integrate unique nanomaterials into face masks for effective viral protection. We focus on the fact that these new nanomaterials can send a reliable signal when a virus is tied while simultaneously deactivating it. This opens up for possibilities within an effective combination where the virus is not only bound to a smart material but also detected by a sensor. The long-term vision is a face mask that alerts the user when he is in contact with the virus.
Project end date: 30 Sept 2021
Persons in charge: Roana de Oliveira Hansen/Yogendra Kumar Mishra
INNOVATION
Access & Acceleration
The project aims at simplifying access to medical innovation (access) and to speed up (accelerate) this innovation. To facilitate this goal, a plattform and a database are being developed.Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project end date: 31 Mar 2022
Person in charge: Horst-Günter Rubahn
Access & Acceleration homepage
AmiNIC industrial postdoc
Our main goal is to optimise the biosensor developed by AmiNIC in collaboration with SDU to enable accurate measurements of low levels of cadaverine and use this to predict the expiry dates of meat. Very small differences in cadaverine levels at an early stage of deterioration mean large differences in the expiry date. It is therefore a strict requirement that the biosensor allows measurements with high accuracy of low level of cadaverine in a systematic and reproducible manner. This postdoc researcher will examine sensor surfaces and modify them to achieve the same functionalisation conditions in all manufactured sensors.Project end date: 31 Dec 2021
Person in charge: Roana de Oliveira Hansen
CantiLin
Annually, 137,500 tonnes of meat are discarded in Denmark, of which 43,000 tonnes of fresh meat and fish are discarded just because the shelf-life date has been exceeded, and even if it might still be fresh. Since the production of 1 kg of meat or fish has a climate impact of 3-29 kg CO2, 43,000 tonnes of discarded fresh meat and fish are equivalent to emissions of about 650,000 tonnes of CO2. Three researchers from the Mads Clausen Institute at the University of Southern Denmark, two researchers from Fraunhofer ISIT in Germany and the company AmiNIC ApS want to develop a new type of biosensor that makes it possible to accurately predict the shelf life of newly produced meat products. The research group has previously worked together and has already developed a cantilever-based sensor to measure the concentration of the gas carcass in meat so that it can be determined whether the meat is suitable for food. However, this sensor cannot determine with sufficient accuracy very small concentrations of cadaverine, which is essential, if it is to predict the shelf-life of freshly produced meat. In this way, the parties will invent a new type of sensor that solves the problem of lack of linearity when reading signals that currently characterise microcantilever-based biosensors.Project end date: 31 Dec 2023Person in charge: Roana de Oliveira Hansen
PAANEE
Water quality impacts human, crop and livestock health, yet current water quality tests either only give a snapshot of water quality or can’t distinguish between harmless and deadly bacteria. We propose PAANEE, a cyber-physical water quality monitoring system able to measure and analyse groundwater quality 24/7. When our AI-based module predicts deadly bacteria, PAANEE initiates bacteria testing. PAANEE will be low-cost, driving interest in water quality by sharing data online and open to all.
Project end date: 31 Dec 2023
Persons in charge: Jacek Fiutowski/Roana de Oliveira Hansen
CheckNano
Nanoparticles make their way into a broad range of products and help to optimise everyday life, but the tiny particles can also end up taking their toll on our health. In his Interreg Deutschland-Danmark project, we will test products for possible harmful particles. For this we are developing a quick test for detecting potential harmful nanoparticles.
Funding provider: Interreg Deutschland-Danmark
Project end date: 31 Dec 2021
Person in charge: Jacek Fiutowski
R2R: A new production method
Set-up of roll-to-roll (R2R) technology for the development of, e.g., green energy technologies with focus on low cost and mechanically flexible technologies.
Funding provider: BHJ Fonden
Project end date: 31 Dec 2021
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Development of smart materials: from basic research to production
In this project, thin-films are produced from new nanomaterials, upscaled through roll-to-roll (R2R) printing processes and are then integrated into completely new energy, sensors and optoelectronics components. One of the main objectives of the project is to produce new organic photovoltaic cells through industrial R2R printing processes and, through the implementation of new material research, to increase their performance and lifetime.
Funding provider: Bitten og Mads Clausens Fond
Project end date: 31 Dec 2022
Persons in charge: Horst-Günter Rubahn/Morten Madsen
NanoTrain
For years, scientists have dreamt of nanomachines and nanorobots which allows precise interactions with nanoscale objects. Various types of nanomachines have been invented and tested, however, many of the key bottlenecks remain. In the NanoTrain project, we aim to develop a fully programmable nanomachine, with an own efficient and directional propulsion system that can take onboard arbitrary cargoes and be easily controlled, e.g., by external magnetic fields. Our concept based on sequential capillarity-assisted particle assembly approach (sCAPA) can open up new possibilities for building nano-scale devices such as fully controlled shuttles devices for targeted delivery.
Project end date: 31 Dec 2022
Person in charge: Jacek Fiutowski
PRODUCTION
R2R: A new production method
Set-up of roll-to-roll (R2R) technology for the development of, e.g., green energy technologies with focus on low cost and mechanically flexible technologies.
Funding provider: BHJ Fonden
Project end date: 31 Dec 2021
Person in charge: Morten Madsen
Development of smart materials: from basic research to production
In this project, thin-films are produced from new nanomaterials, upscaled through roll-to-roll (R2R) printing processes and are then integrated into completely new energy, sensors and optoelectronics components. One of the main objectives of the project is to produce new organic photovoltaic cells through industrial R2R printing processes and, through the implementation of new material research, to increase their performance and lifetime.
Funding provider: Bitten og Mads Clausens Fond
Project end date: 31 Dec 2022
Persons in charge: Horst-Günter Rubahn/Morten Madsen