The Laboratory of Advanced and Composite Materials, Nanomaterials, Nanoprocesses and Nanotechnology (R-NanoLab), https://r-nano.gr/, is based at the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).  It was initially founded as a research unit in 2007 and, since 2018 (Government Gazette, Issue B’ 699/02.03.2018), it has been an officially established Laboratory under the direction of NTUA Professor Kostas Charitidis. The Laboratory covers research and educational needs in the scientific field of the study and production of advanced materials, including advanced polymers, nanomaterials, composites and nanocomposites, both on a laboratory and pilot scale, as well as the characterization of their properties.

The Laboratory’s research team—comprising Chemical Engineers, Chemists, Materials Scientists and Engineers, Applied Mathematicians and Physicists, Mechanical Engineers, Mining Engineers and Physicists—has extensive experience in material design, production, and characterization. It includes four professors, seventeen researchers, fourteen PhD candidates and postgraduate students, as well as technical staff. Emphasis is placed on research for the development of new materials in an environment of strong interdisciplinarity and interaction between fundamental and applied sciences. A driving force for growth and innovation is the Laboratory’s connection with the market, seeking solutions to real-world needs.

Beyond its research output—evidenced by numerous publications in peer-reviewed international journals and participation in international conferences— R-NanoLab has, particularly in recent years, achieved a high success rate (~43%) in securing funding from national and European sources. Specifically, the Laboratory has participated in more than sixty research projects with a total budget of approximately €160 million, of which around €14 million corresponds to funding for NTUA.

Members of the research team participate in a large number of European networks and initiatives aimed at knowledge exchange and research collaborations, such as: the European Materials Characterization Council (EMCC), the European Materials Modelling Council (EMMC), the NanoSafety Cluster, the European Network for Pilot Production Facilities and Innovation Hubs, the Carbon Fibres & Advanced High Performance Composites Cluster, the European Technology Platform for Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies, and the Plastics Circularity Multiplier initiative for plastics recycling and circular economy.

The Laboratory hosts facilities for material synthesis, processing, and characterization, as well as pilot production lines at NTUA’s Zografou Campus and the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park. Specifically, it includes laboratory spaces for chemical analyses, electrochemistry, chemical vapor deposition reactions, advanced material characterization, 3D printing, a supercomputer equipped with simulation software, and pilot production lines for carbon fibers and polymer filaments for 3D printing.

The Laboratory produces organic and inorganic nanoparticles, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, graphene sheets and their oxides, magnetic nanoparticles and nanocarriers, either in their native form or after surface modification through chemical and other methods. These materials can be used in a wide range of technical applications, such as the production of antimicrobial and anticorrosive membranes/coatings, the enhancement of concrete with self-healing properties, the fabrication of composite components with desired mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties for automotive and aerospace applications, as well as innovative energy-storage systems. Thanks to their advanced properties, these nanoparticles have been employed in many research programs and are already being produced on a larger scale.

In addition to the synthesis of innovative materials, the Laboratory has developed a series of methodologies for advanced characterization of the above materials using high-precision techniques and instruments. Specific protocols are applied for the nanoscale characterization of nanomaterials and composite structures, for the study of mechanisms and phenomena that influence microstructure and determine the macroscopic properties of materials for a wide range of advanced applications. Within this framework, the Laboratory offers structural analysis services using optical microscopy, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray tomography, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, mechanical behavior and physical property studies using techniques such as nanoindentation, hardness testing, contact angle measurement, and electrochemical behavior investigation through cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and potentiodynamic polarization. All these experimental techniques are complemented by corresponding computational methods and mathematical approaches using advanced simulation software.

Finally, to facilitate the scaling up of laboratory processes and the application of the developed materials, the R-NanoLab research team has developed several supporting tools, including life-cycle assessment (LCA) of materials, safe-by-design methodologies, techno-economic evaluation and nanotechnology sustainability studies, as well as analyses of the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology and data analysis through machine learning. These activities aim to promote the wide adoption of these technologies, reduce production costs and time, support the development of the circular economy, and ultimately bridge the gap between research and industrial production.