Advanced Materials Characterisation supporting Safe and Sustainable by Design

Advanced materials innovation increasingly depends not only on performance optimisation, but also on the ability to generate robust, interpretable, and regulatory-relevant evidence regarding safety, sustainability, and functionality across the product lifecycle. This webinar presents recent developments in advanced materials characterisation and associated digital knowledge infrastructure developed within the ACCORDs Horizon Europe project, using graphene-based materials as a central case study.

The presentation will discuss approaches for integrating physicochemical characterisation, metadata capture, protocol documentation, FAIR data management, and traceable evidence generation to support research reproducibility, regulatory readiness, and industrial decision-making. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of interoperable digital infrastructure, ontologies, and structured workflows for linking material properties, biological interactions, exposure considerations, and sustainability assessment.

Building on this foundation, the webinar will explore the application of Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) methodologies to two industrially relevant case studies:

1. Graphene-based advanced materials, and

2. PFAS substitution strategies in high-performance coating applications.

The session will examine how integrated evidence workflows combining advanced characterisation, predictive modelling, exposure assessment, lifecycle considerations, and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) can support safer innovation and reduce the risk of regrettable substitution.

Finally, the webinar will discuss emerging business drivers, market expectations, and evolving regulatory frameworks shaping the future deployment of advanced materials and PFAS-free alternatives including SSbD guidance development and increasing demands for transparent and defensible evidence generation across industrial value chains.

Speakers: 

Barry Hardy (Edelweiss Connect)

Dr. Barry Hardy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Edelweiss Connect where he is leading its team supporting the development of new integrating solutions in industrial product design and safety assessment and the translation of research methods to industrial practice. Example recent commercial developments include the creation of the SaferWorldbyDesign platform (https://www.saferworldbydesign.com/), and the development of the SaferSkin (https://saferworldbydesign.com/saferskin/) and EdelweissData products (https://saferworldbydesign.com/edelweissdata/). He is currently leading the development of risk assessment knowledge infrastructure and solutions, including new approach methods, SaferbyDesign, sustainability and next generation risk assessment solutions (https://www.risk-hunt3r.eu).