Zinc-air rechargeable batteries are a promising alternative for sustainable energy storage, thanks to their high energy density and the use of abundant materials with low environmental impact, as well as their safe operation. However, they still have some technological limitations that prevent their current capacity from being completely satisfactory, especially because of the degradation that occurs at the cathode and corrosion of the anode, which ultimately limit both the reversibility and a long battery life. The proposed methodology allows to protect the (electro)catalytic centers. In this way, it is intended to extend its useful life, improving both its behavior in real conditions, and solving the existing problems in the electrodes. Thus, based on this technology, new electrodes will be manufactured that will later be tested in pre-industrial battery prototypes

The need of using high performance lightweight materials is pushing the aerospace industry to incorporate aluminium alloys in many parts of the aircraft. But all aircraft components, and especially those of landing gears, need to be able to withstand friction and corrosive environments while continuing to operate at optimum levels. Nowadays most landing gear parts made of aluminium alloys are protected against corrosion by surface anodising and multilayer painting. The treatment is usually carried out on Cr(VI) based compounds. To date, there is not any Cr-free accepted protecting treatment for Al 7000 series alloys that fulfils the aeronautics requirements, so, it is necessary to develop an environmentally and Cr-free acceptable alternative process. The main objective of ECOLAND project is to face the research of a suitable REACH compliant anaphoretic electrocoating treatment (including both the optimal pretreatment method and anaphoretic electrocoating application conditions) that can replace the currently used anodising + painting treatment for protection of Al 7000 series alloys in aeronautic applications. This anaphoretic electrocoating will allow a reduction of emissions, saving of coat and improvement of corrosion protection. The following improvements will be aimed from the ECOLAND Cr-free project: • The lifetime of the anaphoretic electrocoating system shall be 25 % longer than the lifetime of traditional. • It is expected a minimum of around 30% cost and 45% energy consumption reduction in manufacturing compared to currently available systems. • Thanks to the new coating systems more complex geometry parts could be coated and so landing gears might be designed lighter than currently ones. • The production time to be shortened in a 55%. • A decrease of the risk of mechanical failure due to the reduction of the alloy exposure time to acids. • VOCs emissions will be reduced in a 50%.

The REINTEGRA Project focuses on development of dismantling and recycling procedures for integral welded panels, that are under development for new lightweight and cost-effective aircraft structures within the Eco-Design for Airframe (EDA) activity in the Clean Sky programme. This project will investigate different cutting strategies, ranging from cutting only for size reduction to full separation of all materials, and determine their influence on recyclability of 3rd generation of Al-Li alloys. Furthermore, the need to eliminate primer and topcoats and different decoating methods will be investigated. The separated metallic fractions will be processed in a pilot melting facility and the produced metallic alloys characterised in order to establish a ranking in terms of costs, environmental impact and effectivity, that allows to select the best option for recycling Laser Beam Welded (LBW) and Friction Stir Welded (FSW) panels. Also, a recycling compatibility tool (software) will be developed to determine compatibility of different Al-Li alloys, filler material and coatings. First, the theoretical composition of mixed materials per weld length will be calculated and then, this composition will be corrected with experimental data from remelting tests regarding element fading/enrichment. The results will be compared with commercial alloys and the recycling compatibility with primary alloys estimated. The aim is to valorize as much as possible of the valuable alloying elements. The proposed new procedures for dismantling and recycling will be tested both, at coupon level and at live panel dismantling experiment, in which materials will be identified, sorted and pre-treated. The separated metallic fractions will be processed in a pilot melting facility and the produced metallic alloys characterised. Materials and energy flows, emissions and waste generation will be inventoried during the new End of Live process tested and provided to TM for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)