Spin-off "AERO MATERIALS" launches with nanomaterials

Kiel University start-up launches a material on the market that consists almost entirely of air and can be controlled electrically

23-Sep-2025 - With a material that consists of more than 99.9 percent air, the new start-up "AERO MATERIALS" aims to optimize technical motion sequences and air pressure systems. The extremely lightweight material was developed over a decade at Kiel University (CAU) in Professor Rainer Adelung's working group. ...

Towards energy-efficient brain-like computers

Researchers identify key mechanisms and novel materials for biologically inspired information processing

04-Jan-2024 - Every search engine query, every AI-generated text and developments such as autonomous driving: In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, computers and data centres consume a lot of energy. By contrast, the human brain is far more energy-efficient. In order to develop more powerful ...

Battery researcher Valeria Nicolosi receives the Diels-Planck Medal

13-Oct-2023 - Valeria Nicolosi, Professor of Nanomaterials at Trinity College Dublin, is awarded the Diels Planck Medal of KiNSIS for her pioneering work in energy storage. This is the tenth time that the interdisciplinary network "Kiel Nano, Surface and Interface Science" at Kiel University has honoured ...

Muscles for soft robots inspired by nature

Materials researchers significantly improve the performance of hydrogel actuators

08-Sep-2023 - Robots made of metal and other solid materials are already widely used in industry. But they are too rigid and cumbersome for fine-motor activities and interaction with people, such as in nursing or medicine. Intensive research is therefore already being carried out into robots made of soft ...

Airy material with explosive power

New method for the generation of controllable electrical explosions

17-Nov-2021 - Theoretically, it only takes 450 grams of this material to lift an elephant: "Aerographene" owes this ability to its unique structure at the nano level. Visually similar to a black foam, it actually consists of a finely-structured tubular network based on graphene with numerous cavities. This ...

Nano coatings with many functions

Materials scientists synthesize nanoscale gradient copolymers with contradictory properties for the first time

05-Nov-2020 - Materials that simultaneously have contrasting properties – for example, they are soft on the one hand and hard on the other, the transition is gradual - could enable completely new applications like gradual anti-reflective lenses. In nature, such merging properties are indeed common, for example ...

Controlling adhesive material remotely with light

Bioinspired intelligent material transports micro-objects

26-Jan-2017 - Adhesive mechanisms in the natural world, as used by geckos and other animals when they walk upside down on the ceiling, have many advantages: they are always strongly adhesive - and without any glues or residues. Scientists at Kiel University are researching how these mechanisms can be ...

Manipulation of the characteristics of magnetic materials

18-Nov-2016 - Magnets are not everywhere equally magnetized, but automatically split up into smaller areas, so-called magnetic domains. The walls between the domains are of particular importance: they determine the magnetic properties of the material. A research team of material scientists from Kiel University ...

Research team can bond metals with nearly all surfaces

09-Sep-2016 - Through this "nanoscale-sculpturing" process, metals such as aluminium, titanium, or zinc can permanently be joined with nearly all other materials, become water-repellent, or improve their biocompatibility. The potential spectrum of applications of these "super connections" is extremely broad, ...

Tin follows zinc: stretchable ceramics made by flame technology

09-Jun-2015 - Synthesizing nanoscale materials takes place within high-tech laboratories, where scientists in full-body suits keep every grain of dust away from their sensitive innovations. However, scientists at Kiel University proved that this is not always necessary. They have successfully been able to ...