The National Research Council (CNR) is Italy’s premier Research Institution, encompassing 89 specialized Institutes. Among these, the Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB) is the principal institute dedicated to the research and development of advanced polymeric materials, composite materials, and biomaterials, as well as biomacromolecules, green chemistry and chemistry for life sciences.
The activities of the IPCB are carried on in laboratories distributed throughout the national territory: Pozzuoli as head office, and Naples/Portici, Catania and Lecco as secondary headquarters.
Through a multidisciplinary approach, IPCB integrates cross-cutting competencies, encompassing the entire spectrum from material extraction/synthesis and processing to the validation of novel materials within relevant environmental contexts. This holistic strategy is designed to address the technological, economic, and environmental challenges faced by contemporary society.
The research activities of the IPCB-CNR are:
Sustainability:
- Extraction, characterization and modification of natural bio-polymers;
- Development of novel applications of bio-based polymers in the agricultural, food and non-food sectors;
- Development of novel processes for recycling and reusing polymer-based materials.
- Advanced materials
- Synthesis and functional modifications of polymers;
- Polymeric materials, composites and nanocomposites with tailored structural and functional properties.
- Health and nanomedicine
- Polymers, nanomaterials and nanostructures for tissue engineering and regenerative/therapeutic medicine, Biointerfaces, Bioprinting;
- Structural characterization of glycoproteins for biomarkers identification
Knowledge and technology transfer; Outreaching
The research support office, transversal to the Institute’s research activities, operates with a network organization, activating and supporting cooperation processes between companies, research centers and university institutions to encourage research-business exchange and offering support to the scientific community as concerning:
- Project management
- Technology transfer (patents, spin offs, facilities)
- Third mission (alternation between school and work and public engagement)
- Communication (website and social channels IG, X, FB, Linkedin)
IPCB Role in ReLEAF:
- Contribution to the identification of the optimal working parameters for obtaining the most suitable polymeric materials to be used for manufacturing bio-based fertilizers
- Development of micro-encapsulated bio-based fertilizers at lab-scale
- Development of biopolymer-based controlled delivery systems for microbial-based biostimulants at lab-scale
- Structural, chemical, thermal analysis and mechanical characterization of the developed agricultural delivery systems