Project summary Alta Formazione Regione Toscana. MELA: Metasurface based lidar sensor for agrifood. MERIDIAN: Materiali polimerici biodegradabili a basso impatto ambientale

Regione Toscana supports joint projects with local enterprises, with the aim of applying advanced knowledge (as from photonics and bio-based materials) to societal challenges such as environmental sustainability. CNR-NANO has been involved in two projects: MERIDIAN - Low environmental impact biodegradable polymer material, and MELA - Metasurface based Lidar system for agrifood. In this Colloquium, two researchers involved in the projects will illustrate their key scientific and technological achievements.

In detail, the content will be as follows:

MERIDIAN project – The circular economy aims to replace linear waste models with closed-loop systems that minimize resource depletion. Current polymer technology is shifting focus from simple performance to the entire life cycle, including end-of-life management. While many plastic substitutes are compostable, they often require industrial facilities to degrade, otherwise contributing to microplastic pollution. Furthermore, existing biodegradable matrices like PHAs are often expensive and mechanically weak. To solve this, CNR-NANO, LMPE, and UNIPI are developing versatile, bio-based materials designed to biodegrade in natural conditions while maintaining high mechanical performance. By incorporating natural fillers from agro-industrial waste, the project reduces costs and enhances sustainability. These materials are targeted for packaging, single-use plastics, and the ballistics sector, preventing microplastic accumulation and supporting the local circular economy.

MELA project – Crop and soil monitoring through air- or satellite-based LIDAR sensors is emerging as a technology capable of great accuracy, ultimately leading to improved agricultural yield and to reduced usage of pesticides. However, LIDARs are quite challenging to be effectively integrated in aerospace environments, due to size and power consumption limitations. Within MELA we designed a LIDAR beam steerer based on metasurfaces, i.e. active arrays of nanoscale pixels embedding nanostructured active optical materials.