Progetti di ricerca

GRETA will lay the foundation of the first green, printed and flexible organic wireless identification tag operating at Ultra-High Frequency (UHF, 300 MHz – 1 GHz). The long-term vision is to enable remote powering and readout of tags up to… Leggi tutto meters distance range, as required in logistics and security, without the need of a battery and with drastically reduced lifecycle impact and costing with respect to any available passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. To achieve such overarching goal, GRETA aims at groundbreaking progress along two specific complementary actions: - Action 1: Removing present barriers preventing sustainability of printed organic electronics, by tackling the most environmental and economically impactful aspects, yet seldom addressed, of organics synthesis and processing. - Action 2: Demonstrating unprecedented UHF operation of printed organic electronics. Measurable objectives of GRETA are: Objective 1. Green synthesis and development of sustainable and biodegradable materials (Action 1); Objective 2. Sustainable inks formulations for large-area printing tools (Action 1); Objective 3. UHF electronics based on sustainable printed organic semiconductors (Action 2); Objective 4. Enable an eco-designed, printed UHF wireless tag with sustainable lifecycle. Objective 4 is dedicated to demonstrators of the entire effort: GRETA UHF tag, demonstrating rectification of a 400 MHz wave to enable a code generator, and GRETA UHF logic, demonstrating a sustainable printed integrated 4-bit shift register. GRETA perfectly matches the scope of the Call as it serves emerging digitalization needs in logistics, healthcare and security without adding e-waste, independent from the silicon industry and from any critical raw material, and delivering safe materials for the environment. GRETA will quantify its drastically reduced environmental impact with a full LCA, along a cradle-to-grave approach, anticipating end-of-life scenarios.

NanOcApps aims at developing a robust and high throughput method for the preparation of crosslinked nanocapsules in the kg range, at low cost and having flexible payload. The application spectrum for such formulations is vast. NanOcApps will focus on two… Leggi tutto proof of concept applications for specific industrial needs: controlled delivery/release of vulcanization curatives for rubber blends (VulcApps) and decorative cosmetics (DecApps). Such two products are expected to both provide immediate cash flow and spread the reputation of NanOcApps thus triggering further fund raising and widening of product portfolio. VulcApps enable homogeneous vulcanization in blends of rubbers with diverse affinity for components of the vulcanization package; proof of concept results on microcapsules are documented. DecApps will offer solutions to three major challenges of cosmetic industry: development of biodegradable materials, controlled release of components, special effects. Capsules production will be based on an original modification of the mini emulsion solvent evaporation method, while crosslinking will be realized through a facile and fully scalable approach: the prefunctionalization of cellulose (a cheap, renewable raw material) with a curing agent. Such an approach allows to encapsulate every water insoluble material, including liquids. At first process will be batch and designed to provide samples in the kg range, development will lead to continuous production in a flux reactor.