Functional Nanomaterials is a multidisciplinary department dedicated to the research and development of nanostructured materials with differentiated and customized functional characteristics in order to create improved performance products, with wide-ranging applications in different sectors: health, protection & well-being, construction & architecture, automobile & aeronautics.

The department relies on following scientific-technological competences:

- Synthesis and functionalization of nanostructured materials, for development of new functional materials at nanometer scale – nanoparticles, nanocomposites, nanocapsules – providing materials with functional properties and improved performance. Possibility of customization for specific applications of different industrial sectors, and delivery in compatible quantities with its use in industrial processes);

- Functional coatings at nanometer scale, where different surface modification technologies – cleaning, activation and deposition – are explored using atmospheric / ozone plasma, and wet(nano)coatings technologies, such  as ultrasonic deposition), allowing the functionalisation of a multiplicity of surfaces of several substrates (rigid and flexible), And promoting the necessary characteristics and properties for the demanding requirements of its final use, without compromising its intrinsic properties;

- Eco-sustainable processes, focusing on minimizing the use of resources - water, energy, chemicals – by exploiting eco-efficient technologies (plasma / ozone and ultrasonic deposition), as well as the potential for by-products recovery from different industries as a raw material for the development of nanomaterials and / or functional nanocoatings, in a perspective of industrial symbiosis.

The Functional Nanomaterials department encompasses transversal skills and technologies in different development stages of innovative products with customized functional properties and improved performance, namely in the R&D strategy for the development of (multi)functional materials at nanometer scale, of surface modification processes, which allow the incorporation of differentiated characteristics in diverse materials, ensuring the maintenance of their intrinsic properties, and the evaluation and validation of the innovative product performance, both during its development, and final validation in real environment. Throughout the development, and during the industrial implementation phase of the developed solutions, special focus is given to compliance with all safety procedures involved in the handling of nanomaterials.