Adhesive Comes Unglued on Command

Oxidation triggers debonding of mussel-inspired adhesive

23-Sep-2024 - Modern integrated microelectronic devices are often poorly repairable and difficult to recycle. Debondable adhesives play a key role in the transition to a circular economy with sustainable resources, less waste, and intelligent repair/recycling strategies. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a ...

Innovative plastic film material made from PLA bioplastic

Researchers receive the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 2024

14-Jun-2024 - Flexible, disposable plastic films used in shopping or garbage bags are made mainly from petroleum-based low-density polyethylene (LDPE). These films, however, come with a large carbon footprint and contribute to environmental pollution. A team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer ...

Novel anion-conducting membranes for electrolysis

Cost-effective and environmentally friendly

24-Jul-2023 - How to produce hydrogen cost-effectively and sustainably is one of the central questions of the energy transition. Highly conductive membranes for electrolyzers are a key component of hydrogen technology. A research team at Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, together with ...

4D printing: heat shrinks printed objects

Shrinkage behavior and curvatures can be precisely adjusted

02-Nov-2021 - Printed polymers that change shape once in a predefined way when heated? This is now possible thanks to a 4D printing technology developed in the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Programmable Materials CPM. The extent of the change in shape of the printed objects is drastic: they can shrink by up ...

Lacquering before polishing

Technical Coatings for Additive Manufacturing

05-Dec-2018 - Additive Manufacturing (AM) has many advantages: custom manufacturing, flexible production and easy customization, for example. Yet many products have a high surface roughness and porosity. The post processing of the thus fabricated parts is time consuming and often a significant cost factor for ...

Fire and flame for new surfaces

04-Nov-2016 - The printing, coating and bonding of plastics requires the surface to be pre-treated. Flame treatment is one way to achieve this so-called activation. It is currently being used in many industrial sectors and has considerable potential for development. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer ...

AMSilk and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research Join in the Development of New Spin Process for Spider Silk

09-Sep-2011 - AMSilk and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP) join forces in the current development of a novel spin process for making high performance fibers from AMSilk’s spider silk proteins. AMSilk is the first company able to deliver sufficient spider silk material for applications ...