The SAFARI project aims to develop new 2D materials using sustainable and safe processes. The project focuses on creating hybrid formulations of MXenes and Graphene (Gr), which are known to possess unique and desirable properties such as thermal stability electrical conductivity. The goal of the project is to develop sustainable and safe materials that can be used in a wide range of applications such as biosensors, conductive ink, and EMI shielding. The SAFARI project begins with the preparation of precursor compounds known as MAX phases. These compounds are then used to produce two types of MXenes (Ti3C2 and Cr2C) which are further functionalized to enhance their properties and increase their affinity with Graphene. The resulting 2D hybrid materials are created using two different methods, and their structural, morphological, and functional properties are thoroughly examined. One of the main strengths of the SAFARI project is that is allinged with the SSbD principles. Thus assessment of the toxicological and eco-toxicological profiles of the new materials through a range of tests and assays will be conducted. In conclusion, the SAFARI project represents a significant step forward in the development of 2D hybrids with MXenes/Graphene for use in a wide range applications.

Safe and sustainable innovation requires a good understanding of the potential health and environmental risks along the life cycle of a product. In the absence of specific and integrated regulatory guidelines for the management of risks associated to the use of nanomaterials (NMs) and nano-enabled products (NEP), numerous organizations have produced guidance documents with the aim of covering the obvious management gaps that exist in the different application domains (workers, consumers, environment). There is still a need to provide industry with easy to use and integrative guidance with clear workflows exploiting the most relevant resources for each evaluation case, so that industry can efficiently manage the potential risks associated to NMs and NEPs. The challenge now is to distil and integrate available resources (methods, models, frameworks and tools) to reduce their complexity, costs and delocalization. To address this challenge SAbyNA will develop an integrative user-friendly Guidance Platform with optimal workflows to support the development of safe-by-design of products (NMs and NEPs) and processes over the whole life cycle. A panel of safe-by-design strategies and risk mitigation measures will be incorporated in the Guidance workflow with hierarchies and decision trees to facilitate the identification of most suitable approaches for each case. SAbyNA will also develop specific modules of such Guidance Platform tailored to the Paints and 3D-printing industry, to showcase how usability can be increased by targeting specific industrial sectors. A continuous dialogue with different stakeholders and end-users will maximize the added value of the SAbyNA Safe-by-design Guidance Platform, which will also be demonstrated in real life industrial case studies.

A major challenge for the global nanotechnology sector is the development of safe and functional engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and nano-enabled products (NEPs). In this context, the application of the Safe-by-Design (SbD) concept has been adopted recently by the nanosafety community as a means to dampen human health and environmental risks, applying preventive safety measures during the design stage of a facility, process, material or product. However and despite its importance, SbD prescriptions are still in their infancy, and are hampered among other things by the lack of comprehensive data about the performance, hazard and release potential of the great variety of NEPs in use. SbD4Nano addresses that problem creating a comprehensive new e-infrastructure to foster dialogue and collaboration between all actors in the supply chain for a knowledge-driven definition of SbD setups that optimize hazard, technical performance and economic costs. Our project developes a validated rapid hazard profiling module, coupled to a new exposure-driven modelling framework to reduce toxicity. This safe-born material also undergoes a cost-benefit analysis algorithm to find the best compromise between safety and a industrially convenient technical performance. Finally, a new software interface where product information can be exchanged between the supply chain participants is the tool that wraps up, finishing the collaborative spirit of SbD4Nano between regulators, researchers and industry. Coherently with its goals, our SbD4Nano project is international and open-scienced in essence, with the clear aim of impacting the EU policies as well as directly and clearly benefiting the citizen.

Manufacturing and functionalising materials at the nanoscale leads to a whole array of nanomaterials (NMs) varying in e.g. size, morphology and surface characteristics. Apart from expected benefits, distinctive properties of NMs may also affect (environmental) health risks. Safety assessment requires sufficient information for each NM, but testing every unique NM for their potential adverse effects is virtually impossible. More efficient ways to obtain safety information are needed, which could be achieved by applying grouping and read-across approaches to NMs. On a conceptual level, regulatory accepted approaches for grouping and read-across for NMs already exist, but actual application remains difficult as the required knowledge is not systematically brought together, lacks data curation or is still missing. GRACIOUS will address this urgent need by developing a framework for grouping and read-across based on physicochemical, release, exposure, environmental fate, toxicokinetic and toxicological information. This framework will be delivered as a practical e-tool, fit-for-purpose for various key (regulatory and industrial) stakeholders, who will be engaged from the start of the project. To develop the framework, GRACIOUS will build upon currently available approaches by collating, curating and assimilating existing and new knowledge on intrinsic and extrinsic physicochemical properties in relation to their (environmental) health risk. The resulting framework will support safe innovation by enabling considerations of safety a.o. via grouping and read-across in industrial decision making at various stages of product development. For regulators and policy makers, GRACIOUS will facilitate actual application of grouping and read-across of NMs to enable risk analysis of NMs without extensive testing.