Abstract
STIGMA perseguirà lo sviluppo di rivestimenti polimerici intelligenti piezocromatici, utilizzando nano- e micro-materiali mecanoluminocromici dispersi in un legante polimerico. I materiali attivi saranno Polimeri di Coordinazione Ibrida (HCP) a base di rame, un nuovo tipo di additivi mecanocromici per rivestimenti polimerici intelligenti, che potrebbero aprire un'ampia gamma di possibilità, derivanti dalla versatilità chimica e la varietà degli HCP. I rivestimenti saranno in grado di rilevare sia forze di compressione continue che impatti, mostrando un cambiamento rilevabile delle proprietà ottiche. Utilizzeremo metodi di luminescenza a livello micro- e macroscopico, metodi di rivestimento e caratterizzazione polimerica, sintesi degli HCP e modellizzazione computazionale per ottenere una comprensione approfondita delle nostre osservazioni. I rivestimenti piezocromatici applicati su componenti strutturali contribuiranno a ridurre i costi di manutenzione dei materiali e i tempi di ispezione e a prevenire guasti catastrofici, con un forte miglioramento della sicurezza delle infrastrutture e dei trasporti.
Results achieved
STIGMA project has boosted the cooperation among four research at UniBO and one at PoliTO: prof. Damiano Genovese (photochemistry), prof. Chiara Gualandi (polymer chemistry), prof. Lucia Maini (Inorganic and Structural Chemistry), prof. Daniele Fazzi (Computational Chemistry) and prof. Rossella Arrigo (material engineering). We isolated one material showing the best performance in mechanochromism and stability for material processing conditions; we obtained hybrid coatings and quantitatively investigated their properties, reaching an in-depth understanding of their functional behavior and also of their intimate molecular mechanism. Concerning the latter point, full description of the mechanochromism mechanism has been achieved in STIGMA correlating experimental and computational data. This has led to the precise description of the potential energy surfaces (PES) of ground and excited states of the cluster of length five CuI units ((CuI-3BrPY)5), both singlet and triplet. These data exhibit a very good match with all experimental data, from the structural information obtained by XRD to the energy of the transitions as obtained by photochemical studies. From the large set of data obtained we have found that, in stark contrast with what is well established in the literature of similar CuI metallorganic compounds, we do not observe triplet cluster centered (3CC) excited state, a breaking point well highlighted in the manuscript. The results of STIGMA research have been already partly published and disseminated. In peer reviewed high IF journals: • one accepted article on experimental observation of mechanochromism under impact (Materials Today, Shining under stress: hybrid coordination polymer as a multifunctional solution for mechanoluminochromic materials - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2025.11.034), • one review article published in 2024 (“Fluorescence Methods to probe Mass Transport and Sensing in Solid-State Nanoporous Membranes” by H. Samet Varol, Dila Kaya, Emma Contini, Chiara Gualandi and Damiano Genovese published in the journal RSC Materials Advances Mater. Adv., 2024,5, 8351-8383), • one article in preparation on the theoretical framework for full understanding of mechanochromism in CuI-3BrPY HCP. IP protection: • we filed a patent application on the use of HCPs as coating for early detection of damage on composite materials (“Materiale composito meccanoluminocromico e procedimento di rilevazione e/o monitoraggio dell’integrità strutturale di un manufatto rivestito di tale materiale composito”). Societal impact dissemination: • our young researchers have actively participated to two editions of “European Researchers’ Night” (the first took place on 27 September 2024 in Bologna, and the second in September 2025, promoted by the European Commission - Delivery D12). • Furthermore, we have produced a video published on the Chemistry department’s social media to disseminate to the broad public the research developed in STIGMA project (Materiali intelligenti: meccanocromici e fotoresponsivi - YouTube).Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Damiano Genovese
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician"
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 224.980,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 157.355,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
30/11/2023
End Date:
29/11/2025
