The Programmable Materials research cluster CPM is developing the scientific and technological foundations for materials that can replace entire high-performance systems thanks to their molecular structure and macroscopic design.
The Fraunhofer IAP contributes to the molecular understanding of programming processes in polymers and the 2D scale-up of polymer-based films (membranes) for the cluster. The core competencies important for the cluster are membrane forming and production, shape memory polymers, programmable hydrogels and release kinetics as well as switchable polymer materials.
In the field of programmable material transport, 2024 saw the development of technology for the demand-driven release of active substances for the construction sector. A demonstrator was built for this purpose in collaboration with Fraunhofer IWU. If masonry gets damaged and cracks, microcapsules can release a protective substance at the boundary surface. These microcapsules are specially tailored to the material, i.e., the mortar.
In the field of programmable friction, a concept has been developed that releases liquids electrically. Tribologically stressed coatings showed lower coefficients of friction than commercially available solid film lubricants. Detailed investigations were also carried out on optically switchable lubricants whose properties change when exposed to light. These are of particular interest for sheet metal forming. An oil-miscible switching material based on castor oil has also been successfully synthesized. This renewable, environmentally friendly raw material source represents an important milestone since base oils for lubricant formulations used in forming are normally based on hydrophobic mineral oils.
A novel system has been developed in cooperation with Fraunhofer ICT that can provide protection against hypothermia in buildings, greenhouses, and even during transport processes. The system reacts autonomously to temperature changes in its environment by means of an actuator element made of shape memory polymers which contracts when heated and expands when cooled. The crystal nuclei attached to it are extracted from a switchable phase change material as part of a regeneration process and brought back into contact with the phase change material at lower temperatures. This results in a controlled release of heat. Provided that successful scaling can be achieved, such systems could ensure that the ambient temperature in residential buildings, for example, does not fall below a predefined threshold value, which is essentially determined by the lower trigger temperature of the shape memory polymer.
Cooperation with industry has been further advanced in order to strengthen the application relevance of programmable materials. Application scenarios were discussed with industrial customers during the so-called Serendipity Days. These took place against the backdrop of plans to extend the cluster beyond 2026 as an independent cooperation project of several Fraunhofer institutes in accordance with the Fraunhofer research and financing model.
The Cluster of Excellence brings together the expertise of six Fraunhofer Institutes with the aim of designing and producing programmable materials. Together, they specialize in materials and processes on the molecular to the macroscopic scale. They collaborate with partner institutes to develop programmable materials in two core areas that focus on transport properties and mechanical material properties, i.e., properties that are difficult to alter in conventional materials and are therefore of particular interest. The goal of this Fraunhofer cluster is to program logic into materials for targeted modification or adaptation, for example, with respect to shape or optical or mechanical properties. The cluster aims to understand, design, and engineer the internal structure of materials, taking into account the different scales, from the molecular level to chemical and structural properties (especially at interfaces) and macroscopic objects. Functional component design is thus enabled through the mastery of the complex (internal) material structure and the programming of material properties.
Fraunhofer Institute for 