Ingenious Electroactive Molecules, Surfaces and Devices at SmartMatLab

The SmartMatLab Centre is a recently acquired facility at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Milan (UniMi), which has been jointly funded by Regione Lombardia, Fondazione Cariplo, Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica and CNR ISTM (Institute of Molecular Sciences and Technologies). It is conceived as an advanced R&D infrastructure including a laboratory for the preparation of thin smart materials by different techniques and for their functionalization, and a laboratory for the characterization and testing of the so-developed advanced and smart functional materials in pre-applicative device mode, employing up-to-date instrumentation. The SmartMatLab Centre also offers training activities in advanced material science. SmartMatLab, run by a Centre Management committee, is hosted by the Department of chemistry of UniMi and involves more than 60 affiliated researchers from both UniMi and CNR, operating in several advanced research fields. An overview of the instrumentation available at SmartMatLab will be presented, together with a series of examples of the electroactive molecules, surfaces and devices which are currently under investigation and development. SmartMatLab is eagerly looking for both scientific partnerships and industrial collaborations! Acknowledgments The Regione Lombardia – Fondazione Cariplo joint SmartMatLab Project (Fondazione Cariplo grant 2013-1766) is gratefully acknowledged.