BRUSSELS / BELGRADE – Serbia has launched three new projects within the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme in 2021. One of the project is aiming at producing Lithium-free batteries, decreasing the costs and risks of using Lithium-based technologies.
Science for Peace and Security (SPS) was launched as early as 1958. The Programme provides various forms of funding and expert advice for security-relevant activities and involves NATO-member and partner countries.
SPS is available to Serbia since 2007, after it became a part of NATO Partnership for Peace Programme, which currently gathers 20 partner countries.
Applications for funding must be submitted jointly by a NATO country co-director and a Partner country co-director. In 2021, researchers from Serbia have submitted applications with colleagues from NATO members ranging from the Western Balkan countries to United States.
On 9 July, Science for Peace and Security tweeted that the Scientists from Serbia, North Macedonia and United States had launched new programmes to develop innovative multi-protective textile materials.
“These textiles will provide superior protection for military personnel against nerve agents, microorganisms, radiations, and fire”, NATO SPS tweeted.
This week scientists from 🇲🇰, 🇷🇸 & 🇺🇸 launched a new #NATOSPS project to develop innovative multi-protective textile materials!
These textiles will provide superior protection for military personnel against nerve agents, microorganisms, radiations, and fire. pic.twitter.com/yCbhbczeox
— NATO SPS Programme (@NATO_SPS) July 9, 2021
A month earlier, SPS released country flyers which highlighted that Serbia was leading nine activities within the Programme, two of which had been launched in the first half of 2021.
The project “Carbon-Based Batteries and Supercapacitors”, aims to develop a new generation of Lithium-free batteries and supercapacitors, based on biomass-derived, low-cost and eco-friendly carbon nanotechnology.
“Therefore, the project aims at developing more sustainable electrochemical storage systems, which can decrease the cost and safety issues of Li-ion technology. The results are expected to show the potential of non-lithium systems to compete with the performance of the state-of-the-art Li-ion technology, reducing prices and improving safety”, the flyer reads.
The project is led by scientists and experts from Serbia and NATO Member States Slovenia and Montenegro.
Another project, “Smart Patch for Life Support Systems”, was launched in 2021 is led by scientists from Serbia, Slovakia, Belgium, and North Macedonia. It aims to design and develop a wearable real- time monitoring system constructed as a patch-like device.
“It will be capable of collecting and analyzing information on vital parameters, such as respiration, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure or body temperature. The system will identify and communicate the level of stress, onset of respiratory disorders or cardiac events of personnel in action, and help team leaders improve decision-making and resource allocation in emergency situations”, the description reads.
Moreover, the system will set alarms for wounded victims to help prioritize individuals for medical treatment and increase their chance of survival after large-scale terrorist attacks.
Since 2007, scientists from Serbia have worked on dozens of projects, including those focused on defense against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents and the fight against terrorism, as well as raising the profile of women in peace and security.
NATO Program projects have also helped produce seismic maps for the Western Balkans, improved the protection of the Sava River’s water resources, while Serbian and German scientists are working to develop decontamination and demining robots.
In February this year, Dr Željka Antić, Associate Research Professor at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences was promoted by the Science for Peace and Security Programme on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. She is participating in an SPS multi-year project aimed at developing a new technology to detect and recognise explosives’ vapours in large areas. The project also involves research teams from the United Kingdom and the United States.