Project description
Anti-counterfeiting identifiers with smart carbon nanostructures
The threat of fraud is omnipresent. It also concerns important documents such as travelling IDs and paper money. To ensure basic security, new and more robust technologies must be applied. The use of nanocomposite carbon-based substrates is promising. Its properties offer novelty, up-to-date complex solutions. The EU-funded PROTECHT project will develop advanced anti-counterfeiting identifiers using the latest scientific knowledge. These will be based on polymer nanocomposites comprising innovative carbon nanostructures that offer an optical response. This system will enable designing security tags, layers and fibres set in barcodes, very economical in production, and to be used in ID documents or banknotes in any country.
Objective
In a global world, identity frauds are an important issue to ensure security throughout the EU and its member states. Improved protection systems have made more difficult counterfeiting ID documents, but all currently adopted solutions are potentially subject to fraud.
This is the reason why radically novel security strategies are required to ensure security for the next decades.
The PROTECHT project (Providing RObust high TECHnology Tags based on linear carbon structures) aims at developing advanced knowledge-based anticounterfeiting tags based on polymer nanocomposites containing novel carbon nanostructures.
The unique optical response of such systems allows to design security tags, layers and fibers embedding barcodes to be implemented in ID documents as well as banknotes.
These barcodes can be produced through low cost manufacturing techniques and thus bear strong commercial potential even for the implementation in low income countries.
This proof of concept is devoted to the exploration of the development path to be pursued to take the unique PROTECHT technology to the market.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotHost institution
20133 Milano
Italy