The Physical-Chemistry and Nanotechnologies sector is placed in a highly interdisciplinary field in which different metrological skills relating to physics, chemistry, and biology converge in the development of innovative materials and measurement methods for the physio-chemical characterisation of complex systems, including those at the nanoscale.

The main research activities within the sector concern

• metrology for biosafety, for the identification, characterisation and disinfection of microbiological contaminants in complex matrices and on surfaces of industrial interest;
• food metrology, for the detection and quantification of organic/inorganic chemical contaminants and food allergens, and for the authenticity of made-in-Italy products;
• metrology applied to methods and materials for nanotechnologies for the development and characterisation of nanostructured materials to support highly sensitive measurement methods, e.g. SERS), for the development of measurement methods aimed at identifying micro/nanoparticles in complex matrices (e.g. micro/nanoplastics), and for the production of nanomaterials with active properties e.g.g antibacterial).

The transversal objective of the sector is also the development of mathematical-statistical algorithms for classification systems and for the creation of databases to support the automation and digitalisation of the analytical results.

The sector's activities are directly related to the new IMPreSA infrastructure in which advanced analytical techniques and metrological skills are integrated to develop and apply reference methods and materials and standardised procedures for characterising food and material matrices and objects in contact with food.