Technology Transfer Department

Application sectors

Problem to solve

The topic of materials is absolutely primary in the international research landscape. It is the fundamental building block on which to build and develop any innovative activity in any field: energy, environmental, construction, technology in general. This, then, is one of the reasons why materials research, at any level, is a cross-cutting topic involving different technologies, different studies, different professions. Innovation in materials must not and cannot, therefore, disregard the tools useful for validating the path of novelty undertaken. These tools are embodied in the characterization techniques that constitute an overall useful tool to know the material, its characteristics and properties , the ways in which these vary over time. Thus, the users are all those who use innovative materials for their applications; in the specific case applications in energy, structural, and environmental fields

Description

The characterization and durability laboratory for energy materials aims to study and validate materials developed for, among other things, energy production, conversion, storage, and transportation. Cross-cutting skills are developed on materials for wind power, hydrogen storage, mobility, and in-depth knowledge of materials that can enable better use of nonrenewable energy resources similarly to the types of materials useful for “mitigating” environmental impact in the building and automotive sectors. The laboratory is able to acquire and transmit in-depth knowledge on a wide range of materials such as, for example, metals, organic and inorganic hybrid materials, and functionalized polymers, understanding their characteristics and properties and, in this way, evaluating and selecting materials for energy, with particular reference to storage. The study of properties is then complemented by the capabilities to investigate the variation of the main characteristics of materials over time and as a consequence of environmental stresses, through the durability domain. The provided climatic chambers are able to simulate with a reduced time frame all possible environmental stresses to which materials may be subjected during their useful life: temperature, humidity, ice, rain, UV, sun exposure, chemical attack.

Research group involved