Press releases

23 percent of global energy consumption can be attributed to friction losses. Components with reduced friction therefore represent an important contribution to conserving resources and achieving climate protection targets. In the case of plastics, reduced friction can also reduce microplastics in the environment. With the development of microcapsules filled with liquid lubricants for plastics, the Potsdam Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP and the Plastics Center SKZ in Würzburg are supporting these goals. Their self-lubricating plastics achieve up to 85 percent less wear. Since March 2021, the successful research project has been continued for two years.

The idea is that private customers will, in the future, be able to produce the hydrogen they need using small wind turbines. Lightweight construction ex perts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, at BTU Cottbus and an industrial partner are now developing the key technologies re quired: small, efficient rotors and safe tanks.

"Packaging made from bio-based plastics has long been established. We are now supporting the further development of these materials for new areas of application. If in the future the market also offers plant-based materials for technically demanding tasks such as vehicle construction, the bioeconomy will take a decisive step forward," explained Uwe Feiler, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in Potsdam today. The occasion was the handover of a grant to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP. The Fraunhofer IAP wants to develop a composite material that consists entirely of bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) and is significantly easier to recycle than conventional fiber composites.

Only a few atomic layers determine whether a surface is water-repellent, printable, paintable, adhesive or antibacterial. The surface of many products is therefore specifically modified. Thanks to a new X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP can now analyze surfaces even more precisely, which is helpful when developing a process or determing sources of failures. Companies and partners benefit not only from the new analytical capabilities at Fraunhofer IAP, but also from the extensive expertise in material development, which facilitates the interpretation of data and the tuning of a manufacturing process.

On January 1, 2021, the new Emmy Noether Group "Next Generation Antimicrobial Polymers" started its work at the University of Potsdam in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP. The goal is to develop antimicrobial polymers that can replace antibiotics.

The wastewater treatment plant is turned into a vegetable farm, bio-based substances recovered from waste are being utilized to prevent oxidative spoilage in food packaging or provide environmentally-friendly and safe water-repellent coatings on functional textiles. In the EVOBIO project coordinated by Fraunhofer IGB, 19 Fraunhofer Institutes are working on solutions for a sustainable economy by developing new concepts that utilize material flows in bioeconomy process cycles to produce optimized materials for innovative products.

Fraunhofer consortium to jointly develop therapies and platform technologies against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Innovative insulating materials made of shape memory polymers are beeing developed and tested by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP, for Chemical Technology ICT and for Building Physics IBP within the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Programmable Materials CPM. The high-tech foams are to be used as functional materials, for example in the field of construction.

The development of efficient and gentle methods for the diagnosis of breast cancer based on blood is the focus of the new "Nanocellular Interactions" working group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP. The group has been headed by Dr. Neus Feliu Torres at the CAN site in Hamburg since July 1, 2020. She is one of five "high potentials" that Fraunhofer was able to attract in 2019 with its "Attract" program. Using the "Liquid Biopsy" process, which she intends to develop in the LIBIMEDOTS project, it should be possible to monitor the status and course of breast cancer patients' disease in real time.

The technical hurdles to recycling clothing made of cotton have been too high in the past, but now a team of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP and a Swedish company have cleared that obstacle. They are the first to produce a viscose filament yarn made of recycled cotton. This fiber can even serve to mass-manufacture textiles.