Featured researches
UNDERSTANDING HOW CARNIVOROUS PLANTS CATCH PREY HELPS DEVELOP NEW MATERIALS
An international team of researchers, coordinated by the University of Milan and with the collaboration of the ICMATE Institute, studied how the leaf of the carnivorous plant Drosera Capensis is able to bend when it is stimulated, for example, with a drop of milk. The interdisciplinary approach has combined biophysical studies with structural microscopy of the leaf, quantitative analysis of factors such as auxin involved in cell growth and computer simulations that allowed the creation of a metamaterial that encompasses all biological properties observed in the plant. This study, in addition to allowing the creation of a new metamaterial, led to the understanding of the mechanism used by the leaf to bend over the prey, correlating it to the structural properties of the cells that make up the leaf itself.
News & Events
Agreement for cooperation ICMATE - AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
A new agreement for cooperation between ICMATE e AGH University of Science and Technology - Faculty of Foundry Engineering, Krakow, Poland is now active.
Marco Musiani appointed Honorary Member of the International Society of Electrochemistry
Marco Musiani, research director at ICMATE CNR Padova, has been appointed Honorary Member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) by the Executive Committee of the Society, which has approved a proposal of the seven ISE Presidents in charge from 2005 to 2018. ISE Honorary Members are appointed primarily in recognition of their contribution to the Society. The ISE By-Laws limit to ten their maximum number, at any time.
KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION
Editor’s choice in Journal of Cultural Heritage, Volume 35C, 2019
The definition of the authenticity of artworks has undergone a slow process of development: with time, connoisseurship — the traditional practice of attributing detailed artistic identities to works of art on the basis of a comparative analysis of stylistic and formal components — has lost its position of technical leadership. In fact, currently, trust in the expert eye is increasingly subjected to the “objective” outcomes ensured by new and more rigorous techniques of scientific analysis of materials. However, this approach risks being somewhat reductive and incomplete.
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS
The main activities of Lecco unit of CNR – ICMATE on the subject of thermoelectricity are the material synthesis and the development of new material processing techniques. The development of the activity starts from the synthesis of materials with different techniques ranging from traditional melting to powder metallurgy (mechanical alloying, solid state reactions), going down to powder sintering and material transformation using techniques typical of metallurgy (extrusion, rolling, wiring,…) conveniently set to achieve improved properties in the final samples.
The research activity focuses on the characterisation and physico-chemical modelling of liquid-air and liquid-liquid interfaces in the presence of surfactant and other anphiphilic species, in relation to basic and applicative aspects.
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Synthesis and biological evaluation of metallic compounds of Technetium-99m and Rhenium-188 for theranostic applications in Nuclear Medicine
Radiopharmaceuticals (RP) are drugs containing radioactive isotopes of certain elements, used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis and/or therapy. The systemic administration of 'target' specific RPs, which provides a specific distribution of the radionuclide to tumor sites is an interesting opportunity for the diagnosis and the therapy of tumors/metastases. The development of a 'target-specific' RP is conditioned by the availability of appropriate radionuclides, efficient labelling procedures that leaves unaltered the biological property of the native molecule and reliable targeting vector.
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Copper (I) complexes as potential anticancer agents
Since the discovery of the antitumor activity of cisplatin cis-[PtCl2(NH3)2] for the treatment of several human tumors, thousands of platinum and other metal–based compounds have been tested for their potential antitumor properties in the last 40 years. Aim of this search is to overcome the drawbacks of Pt(II) derivatives such low specificity, high toxicity and inherited and/or acquired drug resistance.
