| Country | Italy |
| City | Florence |
| Tier | Core (Tier I) |
| Primary ecosystem | High-temperature thermo-optical / solar-energy materials |
| Relevant unit | Smart and Solar Energy Materials Lab |
| Publicly linked people | Elisa Sani |
| Signature envelope | 0.2 – 50 µm · spectral emittance up to 1000 °C |
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.
Transmittance · reflectance · spectral emittance · absorption — across an unusually wide spectral range.
The laboratory is open to researchers from other institutions through the RISEnergy transnational-access programme (Horizon Europe, grant agreement 101131793), where it is listed as facility CNR-IMA1. The facility page lists a UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer (0.18–3 µm), an FT-IR spectrometer (1.2–55 µm) and a high-temperature furnace for emissivity measurements at roughly 570–1200 K, for the characterisation of solar absorbers and thermal emitters. Access is free of charge and, according to the laboratory, can be in person or remote. The fifth call closes on 18 November 2026; see the news item.
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.
Every claim in this profile traces to the external sources listed above. Profile follows the research-map methodology. Last verified: 2026-04 (directory revision 2026-06-11).