CNR-INO — Istituto Nazionale di Ottica

Snapshot

Why it matters internationally

CNR-INO represents a very important convergence of optics, materials characterization, and thermal emittance, particularly for solar-energy materials. The Smart and Solar Energy Materials Lab spans 0.2 to 50 µm and measures spectral emittance as a function of temperature up to 1000 °C, explicitly listing transmittance, reflectance, thermal emittance, and absorption among the investigated properties. CNR-INO matters because it shows how emissivity research can be embedded within a broader optical- science institute while remaining technically serious — especially where high-temperature emittance is functionally linked to solar-selective behavior, receiver design, and energy conversion.

Scope of activity

Relevant unit

• Smart and Solar Energy Materials Lab (CNR-INO). Broad optical characterization integrated with high-temperature emittance measurement; spectral reflectance and high-temperature thermal-emittance characterization of ceramics and ultra-high-temperature materials.

Radiative properties measured

Transmittance · reflectance · spectral emittance · absorption — across an unusually wide spectral range.

Capability envelope

• Wavelength: 0.2 µm to 50 µm (UV through far-IR).
• Temperature: spectral emittance vs. temperature up to ~1000 °C.
• Methodology: broad optical characterization combined with high-temperature emittance measurement — allowing the same material to be characterized coherently across solar-absorption, thermal-emission, and intermediate wavelengths.

Application domains

• Solar-energy materials
• High-temperature solar receivers
• Ultra-high-temperature ceramics
• Selective absorbers
• Energy conversion

IR-EMPOWER contributions

• Elisa Sani — spectral emittance of ceramics for high-temperature solar receivers.

Why CNR-INO is a reference pole

For solar-thermal applications the same material must behave very differently at solar wavelengths (high absorption) and at thermal-emission wavelengths (controlled emittance). Measuring this behavior coherently requires a lab that can span the whole range from the UV to the far-IR on the same samples at realistic temperatures. CNR-INO’s 0.2–50 µm envelope up to 1000 °C makes it one of the natural European anchors for solar-selective materials research that depends critically on emissivity engineering.

External sources

• Smart and Solar Energy Materials Lab (CNR-INO)