▪ Design and fabrication of circular materials for industrial applications: design, fabrication and characterization of polymer-based materials for applications in packaging and circular economy. The activity covers the entire value chain ranging from the synthesis of polymer matrices, their processing to the development of samples and functional prototypes. The materials studied include biobased and/or biodegradable polymers and their mixtures; polymeric and biopolymer matrix composites reinforced with particles and/or fibers. New composites are designed, able to incorporate fillers in the form of particles, including glasses, metals, organic and bio-based materials. The technologies used include single and twin-screw extrusion, injection molding, additive manufacturing (FDM, SLS, SLA).
▪ Recycling of polymeric materials for industrial applications: PET recycling for the bottle-to-bottle process; recycling of monomaterial flexible packaging based on MDOPE/AlOx/PVOH/LDPE structures; recycling of short carbon fibers for the manufacturing of automotive components.
▪ Development of sustainable cementitious materials incorporating inorganic waste (vitrified slag from waste-to-energy plants) and organic waste (plastic waste and biochar), through the selection and characterization of waste materials and the assessment of their integration into cementitious matrices.
▪ Design, fabrication and characterization of special glasses for photonics and sensing applications, glasses for biomedical applications, both in massive form and in thin layers. This activity has enabled the development of multi-component silicate glasses photosensitive, active and exchangeable by ion exchange from molten salts. Tin doped glasses were fabricated and tested for the inscription of fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) stable at high temperatures. Therefore, both active and passive tellurite glasses, phosphate glasses doped with rare earth ions and heavy metal oxide-based glasses for non-linear systems were designed, fabricated and characterized.
▪ Bioresorbable glasses and optical fibres: Daniel Milanese, based on a collaboration in biomedicine, designed a phosphate glass able to combine excellent optical properties with the ability to dissolve inside the human body (bioresorbability). This activity has allowed the realization of the first example of bioresorbable optical fibre and the first example of FBG in a bioresorbable optical fibre (collaboration with Hellas-FORTH, Greece). The optical properties of the bioabsorbable fibres have also been confirmed by employing them for diffuse optical spectroscopy in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano.
