Launched in October 2023 under the umbrella of the Graphene Flagship, GRAPHERGIA, an EU-funded project, has entered its third year with significant momentum. Over the course of Year 2 (October 2024–September 2025), the consortium of 11 partners from six European countries has turned early concepts into tangible technological advances, paving the way toward sustainable and scalable graphene electrode manufacturing to unlock the potential of textile-integrated energy devices and next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
As the project moves closer to demonstrator validation, Year 2 has been marked by breakthroughs in materials, device integration, life-cycle sustainability, and innovation community-building with the launch of the GRAPHERGIA Hub.
Keep reading to discover what our innovators highlight of this second year of collaborative research, events and conferences, scientific papers and meetings!
From the outset, GRAPHERGIA has embodied a strong collaboration across research institutions, SMEs, and industrial partners, the core of the project, coordinated by the Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences of Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), based in the Greek city of Patras.
“GRAPHERGIA has been a true team effort since the kick-off at FORTH (Patras), delivering advances across the value chain. With SME support, our materials partners matured laser-assisted graphene for smart textiles and Li-ion batteries, progressed gel electrolytes for micro-flexible supercapacitors, and developed energy-harvesting layers with integrated power-management electronics. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) / Safe and Sustainably by Design (SSbD) and exploitation teams translated these results into scalable, greener pathways, while professional dissemination amplified our impact.” – Spyros Yannopoulos, Director at FORTH.
This convergence of materials innovation and system integration has enabled the development of advanced energy-harvesting technologies suitable for wearable electronics, space applications, and beyond.
Textiles that Power Themselves, Micro-flexible Supercapacitors and “Charge-as-You-Go” Clothing
One of the project’s major and proudest highlights during Year 2 was the integration of graphene-based energy harvesting layers directly into textiles, a feat led by our partner Adamant Composites in collaboration with our coordinator FORTH. In words of Despoina Batsuoli, Head of Advanced Materials Division at Adamant Composites: “This milestone showed not only the technical feasibility but also the potential for scalable, real-life applications. It reflects the strength of our collaborative approach, where material innovation meets functional design to shape the future of sustainable smart fabrics.”
Similarly, BORN Knitting Engineers explored how energy harvesting complements existing expertise in textile design. “At BORN, we see great potential in integrating energy harvesting into textiles, because it opens the door to truly self-powered textile solutions”, explained Michael Schneider, it CEO.
Another major development came from German Aerospace Center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft – und Raumfahrt E.V. (DLR), where research into polymer gel electrolytes culminated in the assembly of high-performing, micro-flexible supercapacitors.
“DLR has successfully adapted own developed ionic liquid (IL) incorporated polymer gel electrolytes and unified these with the laser deposited graphene electrodes of GRAPHERGIA to build high performant micro-flexible supercapacitors. Thus, our mission of seamlessly integration of energy harvesting onto the clothing and fiber composites is fulfilled leading to realization of the “charge-as-you-go” lifestyle for everyone, as well as the structurally integrated sensors for aerospace applications.” – Apurba Ray, Research Scientist, and Bilge Saruhan, Senior Scientist and Group Leader at DLR.
Graphene for New Space Applications
GRAPHERGIA’s energy storage technologies have also progressed significantly, with promising results from Pleione Energy, achieved in collaboration with FORTH, demonstrating enhanced performance of graphene-based Silicon Carbide (SiC) electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). “As we now prepare a CubeSat-compatible demonstrator, these findings mark an important step towards high-efficiency energy storage solutions, which are essential for meeting the high-power demands of modern new space applications“, shared Athanasios Masouras, COO at Pleione Energy.
The adaptation of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to textile applications also took a leap forward through the work of the ESYCOM Lab part of the Université Gustave Eiffel. Philippe Basset, Professor at ESIEE Paris, a school of engineering of the French university and ESYCOM Lab Director, explains that in 2025 they successfully applied the GRAPHERGIA new TENG system optimisation criterion to a class of conditioning circuits particularly suited to transducers with low capacitance variation. “This is exactly the case with textile-based TENGs”, he remarked.
Sustainability as a Core (Eco)-Design Principle and a Thriving GRAPHERGIA Hub Community
Sustainability is not a side goal for GRAPHERGIA, it is built into every layer of the project. In Year 2, the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) was tailored to reflect the project’s cutting-edge technologies. In fact, it was one of the “hot topics” discussed during our workshops at the Graphene Week 2025.
“During the second year of GRAPHERGIA the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), addressing environmental, social, and economic aspects, was adapted to the specific features of the innovative products under development, with data gathered through close partner collaboration. This integrated approach delivered quantitative insights that supported process optimisation and revealed sustainability-related competitive advantages, thereby enhancing the overall value of the project.” – Matteo Maccanti, Environmental Researcher and LCA Analyst at Next Technology Tecnotessile.
But outreach and collaboration have been pivotal to GRAPHERGIA’s progress. In 2025, the launch of the GRAPHERGIA Hub offered a space for ongoing knowledge exchange, innovation and community engagement in advanced materials, smart e-textiles and next-generation Li-ion batteries, providing access to the project’s resources and webinars. “We bring together researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to connect and shape a graphene-empowered energy harvesting and storage future. This community dynamisation wouldn’t be possible without the Graphene Flagship, an initiative with which GRAPHERGIA maintains a close ongoing collaboration”, explained Laura Argilés, Marketing Manager at AUSTRALO.
Additionally, our dissemination and exploitation efforts amplified the project’s visibility across industry events, publications, and digital platforms, translating technical and research advances into future commercial pathways.
Looking Ahead: Demonstrators and Industrialisation
With the foundation laid of the first two years of GRAPHERGIA, the focus now shifts toward our three demo cases, and a credible path to manufacturable, scalable energy solutions.
- DEMO CASE #1. All-in-one self-charging textile capable of energy harvesting and storage
- DEMO CASE #2. Self-powered structurally integrated sensor for aerospace structures
- DEMO CASE #3. Advanced graphene-based LIB module prototype for space applications
As stated by Spyros Yannopoulos, our coordinator:
“We now focus on validated demonstrators and a credible route to manufacturable, sustainable, textile-integrated energy devices and LIBs.” – Spyros Yannopoulos, Director at FORTH.
Year 3, starting now in October 2025, promises to build upon the progress achieved, showcasing GRAPHERGIA’s technologies in action and advancing Europe’s leadership in green, graphene-enabled energy systems.
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If you want to learn more about the GRAPHERGIA research activities during 2024 and 2025, read the Graphene Flagship Annual Report.