Innovative Functional Materials for Contactless Heating

The goal of the project is to develop novel contactless heating methods using superparamagnetic functional materials. To date, the project has focused on the characterization of 3D nanostructures. The findings provide an important foundation for the development of novel functional materials and future contactless heating applications.

The research results were presented at the Micro and Nano Engineering Conference (MNE 2025) in Southampton, EnFi 2026 in Hanover, and most recently at the Micro and Nano Engineering Conference (MNE 2026) in Interlaken. At MNE 2026, doctoral student Lukas Lehnert presented a poster titled “New Insights on Dielectric Characterization in the Nanospace using Electrostatic Force Microscopy.” The focus was on new approaches for the simple and rapid quantitative characterization of nanoscale 3D materials using electrostatic force microscopy.

Earlier this year, the paper “Revisiting Contact Potential Difference in Electrostatic Force Microscopy” was published in the Journal of Physics Communications (IOP). This work investigates the influence of the contact potential difference on the measurement signal and, through a deeper understanding of the electrostatic interaction between the sample and the probe tip, enables a more accurate characterization of 3D nanostructures, such as nanoparticles.

Another paper within the framework of the overall project has since been accepted for publication and is currently in the publication process. This paper investigates the influence of the size ratio between the probe tip and the nanostructure and uses this to determine the dielectric constant of nanoparticles simply and precisely. As part of the KoMBio project, Lukas Lehnert is pursuing a joint doctoral program with Hasselt University in Belgium. The collaboration with Hasselt University has a history spanning more than 15 years and has already resulted in several successfully completed doctorates.

The KoMBio project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The project began in February 2026 and, with three conference presentations and two publications to its credit, is making a significant contribution to the further development of materials characterization at the nanoscale. The findings will be used to develop novel contactless heating applications in analytics and for cancer aftercare.