The Group [G1. Design of Functional Materials] carries out R&D activities focused on the use of transversal methodologies applied to the development of different materials endowed with specific functionalities that allow their use in multiple target applications and in several technological sectors (e.g., pharmaceuticals, biomedical, cosmetics, agriculture, environment, catalysis, paper, textiles and coatings/surfaces). The common thread of these activities is always a Product Engineering approach based on systematic procedures guided by the functionalities and performance pre-specifications of the target products (preferably translated in terms of sets of physical-chemical and morphological properties). The specific approaches adopted involve the synthesis, manipulation, and characterization of materials (organic, inorganic, alloys, composites) at the molecular scale (e.g., molecular grafting, self-assembly) and/or at supramolecular scales, namely through the chemical and/ or physical modification of natural/synthetic materials, or by the synthesis/structuring of new materials (eg.,(nano)particles; liposomes; (nano)capsules; aerogels, cryogels and other porous materials; (nano)fibers and nanocelluloses; hydrogels, multi-responsive materials, films and membranes, coatings, etc.). These approaches are already designed in light of some of the new paradigms of Chemical Engineering, such as Nanotechnology, Molecular Simulation, Chemistry and Green Engineering, Circular Economy, and Sustainability.