belongs to
belongs to
CNR-IFN is committed to the global research efforts in developing ground-breaking solutions to tackle the climate crisis and answer the increasing need for green energy in modern societies. The research of CNR-IFN interest in Environment and Energy covers different aspects spanning from the generation, storage and utilization of energy and natural resources, to the assessment of sustainable interaction between the environment and the energy technologies.
The activity of CNR-IFN includes:
The activity covers all the steps from the identification of novel materials for sensing to the device engineering and fabrication; material systems include glass and ceramic based meta-structures with novel functionalities produced by radiofrequency sputtering or sol-gel technology. Fabrication methods also include femtosecond laser writing and devising novel photonic solutions for manufacturing.
The material systems under investigation include organic, inorganic and hybrid composites for photovoltaics (e.g lead free perovskites), bio-fuels for bio-energy and quantum batteries.
CNR-IFN offers state-of-the-art tools for material characterization via advanced microscopic and spectroscopic techniques able to provide complementary characterization of materials morphology and photo-physics. Ultrafast spectroscopy and precision optical spectroscopy based on frequency combs, over a broadband range of the electromagnetic spectrum extended from XUV to the far-infrared (THz) range, have been successfully applied to monitor energy and charge transfer processes at the base of the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices, and of the photocatalytic activities of composites for energy production and pollutant destruction (e.g. TiO2 nanocomposites).
The interactions of energy technologies with the environment, resulting in water and air pollution are under investigation through advanced microscopic techniques with chemical sensitivity for the identification and characterization of micro- and nano-plastics.