WS.I

INNOVATION FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION

September 21 - 22

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

Giancarlo CICERO, Polytechnic University of Turin
Stefano BIANCO, Polytechnic University of Turin
Fabrizio PIRRI, IIT Center for Sustainable Future Technologies - CSFT@POLITO
Nicola LISI, ENEA

In recent years, the negative impact of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on our planet’s climate has motivated a progressive transition from a global energy scenario heavily reliant on fossil fuels to one based on environmentally benign, renewable energy sources. Several studies highlighted that advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnology have the potential to achieve a breakthrough in the development of novel applications for a sustainable future and for the energy transition. This workshop gathers contributions from both the academic and industrial world to strengthen their synergistic contribution to technological growth for sustainability.

Renewable energy sources produce energy following a mostly unpredictable pattern, linked to meteorological winds and clouds. However, the energy network is rigid and production must closely match consumption daily curves. That implies the necessity to store the mismatched generated energy for later use, a technologically advanced, industrially demanding and scientifically challenging task. Electrochemical energy storage can help to some extent but it is not suited for long term high power GW systems. Hydrogen can be seen as an ideal energy vector, that faces however the issue of storage and requires efficient generation and compression. 

While the long-term solution is abandoning fossil fuels for renewable sources, it has been shown that in the short-to-medium term conventional fuels will still be used and CO2 emissions will have to be compensated for. In this scenario, one of the most interesting and challenging strategies to mitigate the disastrous effect of carbon dioxide on earth’s climate, is to consider CO2 as valuable raw material to obtain value-added fuels and chemicals through its photo/electrochemical reduction (CO2RR). The key challenge for this application is to develop highly selective, stable, efficient, environmental-friendly and inexpensive photo/electrocatalysts.

Combining H2 and CO2 technologies is also emerging as a positive strategy for a progressive and economically sustainable energy transition, capable to reduce fuels’ impact on the environment, while still granting their use where necessary. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the scenario appears strategically suited for Italy, that has several mayor and technologically advanced gas industries, a capillary methane distribution system and erratic meteorological patterns while it has abandoned the alternative nuclear energy. 

LCA is finally vital to understand if technologies proposed by researchers are, however fascinating for the layman and for the legislator, overall counterproductive for the planet. 

In all the boiling mix of ideas that are currently emerging in the landscape, we suggest that a few major, plurennial, country size, research programs should be activated for exploiting some long term technological and scientific developments in the field. 

WS.II

EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES:

The new era of the intercellular communication

September 21

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE:

in definition

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have until recently been considered only cellular debris. Today they have been recognized as fundamental elements in intercellular communication.

They are a heterogeneous population of membrane-bounded vesicles that play important roles not only in cellular communication but also in preventing or promoting certain diseases, including infectious diseases, neurological disorders, metabolic alterations, and cancer. With this workshop, we want to highlight two fundamental aspects in the study of EVs: the techniques and innovative approaches for EVs isolation and characterization and give some examples of their role in the onset of diseases.

Considering the extreme heterogeneity of the EVs and the difficulty of establishing standard analytical procedures, in the first part of this workshop we will examine problems related to isolation, classification, and their characterization (morphological and biochemical). Furthermore, an example of isolation and use of EVs from milk will be provided as innovative possible carriers for the delivery of drugs or bioactive compounds.

The second part of the workshop will focus on the role of EVs in the development and progression of diseases, like cancer, metabolic diseases, etc… and their usefulness as biomarkers and diagnostic tools.

The workshop will end with a symposium dedicated to young researchers in the field of extracellular vesicles.

 
WS.III

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN UNMET CLINICAL NEEDS

FOR MAXIMUM HEALTH CARE IMPACT

September 21

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

Giovanni TOSI, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Marzia BEDONI, Don Gnocchi Foundation
Donatella PAOLINO, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro

In this day, different actors (academia, industry, regulatory) will discuss and describe the development of innovative and enabling technologies for facing unmet clinical needs, varying from diagnosis to therapeutic aims. In line with Horizon Europe pipelines, pathological focuses will be devoted on cancer, brain related diseases, cardiovascular pathologies.

A comprehensive overview of the recent and established innovation in health technologies will be highlighted with a special focus on several aspects strongly impacting on the success of innovation approaches and its application into clinical setting and shown by different sides of view, from design, to materials, characterization, production and scale up, ending to successful stories of yet approved and on market technologies.

 
WS.IV

BEYOND STATE OF THE ART, THROUGH SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES FOR MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

September 21

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

In definition

 
WS.V

MICRO AND NANOTECHNOLOGIES IN EMERGING LIQUID BIOPSY APPLICATIONS

September 22

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

Francesca FRASCELLA, Polytechnic University of Turin
Simone MARASSO, CNR-IMEM
Matteo COCUZZA, Polytechnic University of Turin
Laura FABRIS, Polytechnic University of Turin
Enzo DI FABRIZIO, Polytechnic University of Turin

Organic transistors like Organic Field Effect Transistor OFETs, Electrolyte-gated organic Transistor EGOFETs and Organic Electrochemical Transistor OECTs have recently attracted intensive investigation for several biosensing applications thanks their flexibility, biocompatibility, large-scale processability, sensitivity and intrinsic biological to electrical signal transduction capability. The first symposium "Organic transistors-based biosensors" will cover and discuss the most recent outcomes in this field, future perspective and limiting issues to overcome for practical applications.

In the last years the combination of nanofabrication, nanoplasmonics and SERS underwent a strong development. The possibility to obtain chemical and structural information, down to single molecule level, or nano aggregates, became a reality and helped in characterizing a wide category of novel materials that range from 2D materials, conductive polymers to biomolecules. In this second symposium "SERS and Nanophotonics" we will invite speakers, well known internationally in their own fields, that will update the audience on the state of the art of SERS activity worldwide.

 
WS.VI

FROM UNIVERSITY TO MARKET

U4I as a Driver for Technology Transfer

September 22

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

Hermes GIBERTI, University of Pavia
Francesco PERI, University of Milano-Bicocca
Giuseppe ROSACE, University of Bergamo

The ability to create innovation plays a central role in economic growth and quality of life but it is also increasingly important in addressing the many social challenges.

Therefore, in developing effective innovation-oriented R&D policies, it is crucial to understand how research-based expertise can contribute to prosperity and address social challenges.

Moreover, due to the difficulty of collecting all the necessary competencies in a single organisation, innovation integrates knowledge from many different fields (e.g., chemistry, physic, technology, design, economics), becoming a process of constant interaction between academic researchers and the market.

To ensure wide-ranging exploitation of the research and technological innovation results developed at the founding Universities, the University for Innovation Foundation (U4I) has organized the workshop entitled "From University to market: U4I as a driver for technology transfer."

Researchers from the Universities of Bergamo, Milano Bicocca and Pavia will present the results of scientific research, possibly already translated into innovative products, processes or services, promoting on this occasion the meeting between university research, business, and the market favoured by the stage provided by the NanoInnovation 2022 event.

 
WS.VII

AGRI-NANOTECHNIQUES

Nanotechnology-based Innovative Approaches in Agriculture

September 23

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE

Luca MARCHIOL, University of Udine
Giorgio Mariano BALESTRA, University of Tuscia
Flavia BARONE, ISS

With the world’s population expected to exceed nine billion by 2050, scientists are working to develop new ways to meet rising global demand for food, energy and water without increasing the strain on natural resources and the environmental pressure. Organizations including the World Bank, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, as well as the EU F2F and Green Deal strategies are calling for more innovation to address the challenges of the agri-food sector.

The development of AgriNanoTechniques has been started very recently; they will be implemented within the evolving science of precision agriculture, in which farmers use technology to target their use of water, fertilizer, plant protection products and other inputs. A second, broad potential application concerns the issues of reduction and valorization of agri-food wastes.

The introduction of nanotechnologies in agriculture still needs deepen basic and applied knowledge, however several promising results were achieved, so far. A huge development is taking place in this sector, therefore nanotech applications currently under development will soon be overtaken by other ideas that are expected to contribute to solve several issues in the field of sustainable agriculture.

NanoInnovation 2022 hosts the 6^th edition of the workshop “AgriNanoTechniques” co-organized by the Universities of Udine, Tuscia, and the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS). The workshop will be the forum for discussing the perspective of nanotechnologies in the primary sector among the stakeholders and scientific research.

WS.VIII

NEW SPACE

September 23

WORKSHOP COMMITTEE:

Marco DI CLEMENTE, ASI
Ennio CAPRIA, ESRF

Aerospace is definitely one of the fields where the impact of innovation is the most important. This is the direct consequence of the need for excellence related to the extreme conditions of operation, the very demanding specifications, the complexity of the equipment and the need for high level of reliability (very low rates of failure). In this section we will present and discuss two of the key technologies for the so-called “: New Space”: a) the use of COTS (components on the shelf) in electronic systems for space applications; b) the extensive use of metallic parts made by additive manufacturing for aerospace.

The New Space denomination indicates a change of paradigm within the business model of the space industry, characterised by a continued democratisation of space technology. This is mainly achieved with a constant decrease of the cost of the launching and of the satellite constellations and a consequent growing need for components with novel functionalities at lower costs. In this configuration the interest for COTS, i.e. components that are not especially conceived to operate in harsh radiative environments (RadHard), is growing considerably. As a consequence, the fact of properly characterising and understanding the limitations and the performance of standard components in a radiation environment gains momentum, with respect to the intention to design specific components dedicated for space. In this kind of perspective, the development of novel testing methodologies and the possibility to have access to opportune nuclear physics facilities to carry on some testing campaigns become strategic. A complete picture around this topic will be provided in the first part of the workshop.

Complementary to the aspects related to embedded electronics, the advanced manufacturing is another topic of primary importance for the future of the race for space. In this respect, Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the absolute game changer. AM offers the possibility to obtain unique shapes that can implement outstanding mechanical performances with reduced weight. Furthermore, AM is ideal when small series of pieces with very high added value are conceived, and when a continuous product development is envisaged. For these reasons, the second part of the workshop will be dedicated to the AM of metallic parts. The challenges related with the manufacturing will be discussed, but also the characterisation methodologies.