Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

The fabrication of personalised prostheses tailored on each patient is one of the major needs and key issues for the future of several surgical specialties. Moreover, the production of patient-specific anatomo-functional models for preoperative planning is an important requirement in the presence of tailored prostheses, as also the surgical treatment must be optimised for each patient. The presence of a prototyping service inside the hospital would be a benefit for the clinical activity, as its location would allow a closer interaction with clinicians, leading to significant time and cost reductions. However, at present, these services are extremely rare worldwide. Based on these considerations, we investigate enhanced methods and technologies for implementing such a service. Moreover, we analyse the sustainability of the service and, thanks to the development of two prototypes, we show the feasibility of the production inside the hospital.

Two-photon polymerization (2PP) is an innovative technology that in recent years showed a tremendous potential for three-dimensional structuring of photopolymers at the submicron scale. It is based on the nonlinear absorption of ultrashort laser pulses in transparent photosensitive materials. 2PP has been so far exploited in various fields, including photonics, microfluidics, regenerative medicine and MEMS prototyping. The versatility of this technology relies also on the photomaterials; indeed, polymers are easy to process, low cost and they allow the tailoring of their chemical and mechanical properties. 2PP nanotechnology is here exploited to produce micro and nanostructures that can be easily customized both in the geometry and in polymer functionalization. In particular, atomic force microscopy tips are fabricated on top of commercial cantilevers to demonstrate the technology feasibility and customizability. Moreover nanoporous membranes that can be fabricated by 2PP as a single custom product or as a mould for mass production through replica moulding are realized to evaluate the scalability of the fabrication process.

This work investigates the potential of surface nano-coatings on the heat transfer surface of heat exchangers, in order to improve their overall efficiency in terms of pressure drop and heat power exchanged. The work started from the consideration that, due to the increasingly strict international standards, the machines will be provided with optimized engines with new and improved devices to reduce the exhaust emissions (liquid cooled EGR valves, new catalytic converters and DPF systems) which reduce inevitably the space in the engine compartment. In this paper it is studied the feasibility of the coating processes and the adaptability of deposition techniques to the industrial production process of cross flow heat exchanger fins. The innovative exchanger performance, investigated using dedicated test rigs, shows that the results are influenced by the coating technology.

The work starts from the consideration that most of the power losses in a hydraulic pump is due to frictional losses made by the relative motion between moving parts. This fact is particularly true at low operating velocities, when the hydraulic lift effect must be able to maintain a minimum clearance in meatus to limit the volumetric losses. The potential of structured coatings at nanoscale, with super-hydrophobic and oleophobic characteristics, has never been exploited before in an industrial application. The work studies the potential application of nano-coating on piston slippers surface in a real industrial case. The aim is to develop a new industrial solution to increase the energetic efficiency of hydraulic pump used in earthmoving machines. The proposed solution is investigated using a dedicated test bench, designed to reproduce real working conditions of the pump. The results show a reduction of friction coefficient while changing working pressure and rotation velocity.

Electrospinning is a versatile and promising technology for the production of polymer-based nanofibres. Composite nanofibres suitable for filtration of air and water have been developed by merging biopolymer processing and sol-gel techniques using electrospinning technology. A fine control of large-scale nanofibre formation is required to achieve reliable transfer of electrospinning-based processes into relevant industrial environments. The main goals of this work were the production of innovative multifunctional filter media (high-efficiency filtration, biocidal, self-cleaning, photo-catalytic, reactive, adsorbent properties) by integrating nanofibre membranes with inorganic nanoparticles and developing an electrospinning plant integrating sensors able to detect electrospinning fault and electrostatic alteration during the process.

Lab-on-chips (LoCs) are microsystems capable of manipulating small amounts of fluids in microfluidic channels. They have a huge application potential, from basic science to chemical synthesis and point-of-care medical analysis. Polymers are rapidly emerging as the substrate of choice for LoC production, thanks to a low material cost and ease of processing. Two breakthroughs that could promote LoC diffusion are a microfabrication technology with cost-effective and rapid prototyping capabilities and also an integrated on-chip optical detection system. This chapter proposes the use of femtosecond laser micromachining combined with microinjection moulding as a novel highly-flexible microfabrication platform for polymeric LoCs with integrated optical detection, for the realization of low-cost and truly portable biophotonic microsystems. We demonstrate a LoC for the relevant application of non-invasive and contactless mechanical phenotyping of single cancer cells.

This chapter reports the progress on the fabrication of thin film CIGS-based solar cells by means of the low temperature pulsed electron deposition technique. The innovative and multidisciplinary approach aims to solve the main issues preventing a possible industrial scale up of the process, i.e. the need of a fast, reliable and automated process, suitable for both static and dynamic deposition of CIGS solar cells on flexible substrates. The final goal is to open new opportunities, particularly in the emerging field of the building-integrated photovoltaic.

The reduction of CO emission from cement industry represents a priority task in the roadmap defined for the year 2020 by the European Union (EU) Commission for a resource efficient Europe. Several research projects have been undertaken aimed at developing non-hazardous materials as partial substitute of clinker in cement formulations, but also new, low-carbon, cements fully replacing clinker. Among the new cementing materials, Si–Al geopolymers seem the most promising, in terms of CO emission and mechanical and thermal properties. In this chapter, mechano-chemical processing of kaolin clays to produce metakaolin (MKA) for the synthesis of Si–Al geopolymers is proposed as an alternative process to replace thermal treatments performed at 650–850 °C. Results obtained show that the mechano-chemical process is also suitable to make low cost blended Si–Al geopolymers where 40% of MKA is replaced by mechano-chemically activated volcanic tuffs. The compatibility of mechano-chemistry with industrial production was investigated by building a prototype milling system that was tested in a small industrial facility producing zeolites from industrial wastes. The degree of automation allowed the prototype to work unattended for 10 months. Based on the results obtained from these tests, a milling system for a full scale production of mechano-chemically activated rock materials was designed, and its performances analysed.

Natural biomaterials are more and more used for the development of high technology solutions, setting the scene for a bio-based material economy that responds to the increasing demand of environmentally friendly products. Among natural biomaterials, silk fibre protein called silk fibroin (SF) produced by the Bombyx mori L. insect, recently found a broad range of applications in biomedical field. SF substrates display remarkable properties like controlled biodegradability, flexibility, mechanical resistance and optical transparency, solution processability. These properties combined with the water-based extraction and purification process make SF a promising material for sustainable manufacturing enabling to partially replace synthetic, plastic-based and non-biodegradable material use. The use of SF interfaces in biocompatible electronic or photonic devices for advanced biomedical applications has been recently highlighted. However, the use of a natural biomaterial is challenging due to the complex nature of the biological molecule, and it requires to tightly control biomaterial properties during all the manufacturing steps. In this work, we show the results obtained by in loco production of raw-material, defining the best condition for selection and growth. The assessment and standardization of extraction/purification methodology are reported with reference to the high purity and remarkable performance in terms of chemo-physical property and biocompatibility of the obtained SF products. Finally, we demonstrate the fabrication, characterization and validation of microfluidic and photonic components of a lab-on-a-chip device for biodiagnostic based on biomanufactured SF.

This chapter investigates research priorities for factories of the future by adopting an approach based on mission-oriented policies to support manufacturing innovation. Missions are challenging from a scientific and technological point of view and, at the same time, are addressing problems and providing results that are understandable by common people. Missions are based on clear targets that can help mitigating grand challenges. Based on the results of the Italian Flagship Project , this chapter proposes seven missions while identifying the societal impact, the technological and industrial challenges, and the barriers to be overcome. These missions cover topics such as circular economy, rapid and sustainable industrialisation, robotic assistant, factories for personalised medicine, internet of actions, factories close to the people, and turning ideas into products. The accomplishment of missions asks for the support of a proper research environment in terms of infrastructures to test and demonstrate the results to a wide public. Research infrastructures together with funding mechanisms will be better addressed in the next chapter of this book.