Use of real-time polymerase chain reaction to test antiviral effectiveness

28-Oct-2020

The need for everyday objects with antiviral surfaces is high due to the COVID 19 pandemic. It is known that the material composition of an object has an influence on the viability of viruses on surfaces. This is where the work of the Fraunhofer IFAM comes in: In cross-disciplinary research ...

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19-Oct-2020

Innovative insulating materials made of shape memory polymers are 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 ...

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Replacing harmful solvents with pressure change technology

06-Oct-2020

Germany generates around 38 kilograms of plastic waste per capita each year. In a joint project with the University of Stuttgart and LCS Life Cycle Simulation, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and the Fraunhofer Institute for Process ...

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No petroleum-based synthetic components needed

05-Oct-2020

A new type of plastic made of reclaimed waste readily degrades in less than a year. The substance that will soon serve to manufacture and break down mainly disposable products in an ecofriendly way goes by the name of polyhydroxybutyrate. This material can be produced on an industrial scale in a ...

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Value creation by combining electrochemistry with biotechnology

21-Aug-2020

Time for climate protection is pressing. One approach to tackle this challenge is to use the greenhouse gas CO2 as a raw material for chemicals. To this end, the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, together with partners from science and industry, has pursued a ...

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12-Aug-2020

In the field of photovoltaics, intensive research is being carried out to continually improve solar cell efficiency. Increasingly, the focus is on tandem photovoltaics, in which high-performance solar cell materials are brought together in various combinations in order to use the solar spectrum ...

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Almost no evidence of brittleness

29-Jul-2020

Regeneratively produced hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier, which will be used in future applications as fuel cells and cars and will supplement natural gas as an energy source. But atomic hydrogen often induces brittle behavior in metals at high temperatures. Lukas Gröner of the Fraunhofer IWM, ...

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Environmentally friendly fuels for shipping: biogenic additives

06-Jul-2020

There is movement in the fuel market for ocean-going vessels. Targets to reduce ex-haust emissions require new sustainable ways of producing diesel and heavy fuel oil. What could these paths look like? What are the new raw materials? Researchers at Fraunhofer UMSICHT succeeded in mapping the ...

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Diesel and gasoline sourced from renewables produces a lot less greenhouse gas

07-May-2020

The combustion of conventional fossil fuels accounts for a large share of global CO2 emissions. A great deal of criticism is levelled against cruise and merchant ships for polluting the environment with sooty waste gas and toxic heavy fuels. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for ...

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Computational models based on molecular structure properties

15-Apr-2020

Lubricated shafts, bearings and gears only run 'like clockwork' when the components slide on a perfect lubricating film, generating as little friction, wear and energy loss as possible. To achieve this, engineers need to know the behavior of the lubricant film in the so-called tribo-contact, ...

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