The research conducted at CREA focuses particularly on specific sectors of materials (materials of industrial and biomedical interest, micro and nanomaterials), agrifood, environment, and cultural heritage.
To carry out research activities, CREA leverages the long-standing experience of professors from the University of Siena, experts in the pharmaceutical industry sector, researchers, and young university students who are entering the research world.
The research activity serving businesses and universities, carried out by CREA, is divided into several lines:
- Biomedical sector: research on biomaterials or materials compatible with interventions on the human body; development and preparation of biodegradable materials with innovative characteristics;
- Agro-food sector: research and consolidation of beneficial properties of phytochemicals; enhancement of the health and nutritional properties of traditional and innovative foods through the extraction, isolation, and characterization of active ingredients and useful nutraceutical components; knowledge useful for innovation and development in the agrifood sector of existing and new businesses;
- Pharmaceutical sector: development and validation of pharmaceutical formulations, such as vesicles that are widely used by pharmaceutical industries as vehicles for targeted drug delivery;
- Nanotechnology sector: research and development of the properties of nanoparticles such as magnetic or photocatalytic metal oxides; nanostructured coatings of materials to improve their properties or impart new ones;
- Industrial sector: quality control; analysis of production processes with resolution of any issues; analysis of raw materials and the final product; development of materials in various sectors from manufacturing to mining, from the food industry to the pharmaceutical industry. CREA has all the necessary equipment and expertise to characterize surface morphology, coatings, defects, and corrosion in almost any type of sample or material. Thus, it can evaluate a design process, identify contaminations, and measure critical dimensions on a small scale;
- Environmental sector: analysis of environmental and health problems caused by increasing pollution levels by researching new methods to eliminate or reduce pollutants and heavy metals from water and soil;
- Cultural heritage sector: definition of protocols for the restoration of historical artifacts and art objects.
