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MaterialProof

RISC-V zkVM-based material certification verification with selective disclosure.

MaterialProof

Created At

ETHGlobal Trifecta - Zero Knowledge

Winner of

Brevis - Best use of Brevis SDKs (Pico or Zk Coprocessor) 1st place

Project Description

MaterialProof is material verification system that enables manufacturers to cryptographically verify material certifications while preserving their intellectual property. The system solves the critical problem in construction where materials must meet specific standards (fire ratings, load capacities, etc.), but verification typically involves easily-lost paper documentation or proprietary information manufacturers want to protect.

My solution uses zero-knowledge proofs via Pico (a RISC-V based zkVM) to allow selective disclosure of material properties. Manufacturers can register their material certifications with cryptographic proofs that verify compliance without exposing proprietary details like chemical compositions. Contractors scan QR codes to instantly confirm materials meet required specifications.

The project consists of two core components:

  • A verification backend that processes material certifications, separating public properties (like tensile strength) from private properties (like specific chemical compositions)
  • A proof generation system that creates zero-knowledge proofs verifying all properties meet standards, without revealing the private values

MaterialProof benefits specialized construction materials where compliance is critical (structural components, fire-rated materials) by providing a framework for tamper-proof verification. My implementation demonstrates how zero-knowledge proofs can enable selective disclosure in material certification, allowing manufacturers to prove compliance with standards while protecting proprietary formulations and processes.

How it's Made

The system consists of three main components:

Pico RISC-V zkVM Implementation:

  • Leverages Pico zkVM (RISC-V-based zero-knowledge virtual machine) as our core ZKP technology
  • Rust implementation with serde for serialization
  • Custom material property verification logic running inside the zkVM
  • Proof generation directly in the Pico SDK, providing both the verification logic and ZKP generation
  • Integration with Pico's ProverClient for generating secure, verifiable proofs
  • Configurable threshold validation for different material standards

API and Integration Layer:

  • Warp web framework for RESTful API endpoints
  • JSON-based communication protocol between components
  • Verification result generation with cryptographic attestations
  • Support for public and private material properties

Next.js Frontend Application:

  • QR code generation functionality for instant material verification
  • API integration with the Pico RISC-V backend

The most technical challenge was integrating Pico's zkVM with our material certification data model. We had to design a custom serialization approach that could separate public properties (like tensile strength) that anyone can see from private properties (like chemical composition) that remain hidden but cryptographically verified.

We also created a flexible threshold verification system that works across different material types (steel, aluminum, etc.) against various industry standards like ASTM specifications, allowing the same verification infrastructure to work with different classes of construction materials.

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