Press releases | News

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, member of the German Bundestag and leader of the parliamentary group Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, visited IKTS at its Hermsdorf site. It was the native Thuringian’s first visit to the ceramics research institute.

To ensure that micro combined heat and power (CHP) plants will function efficiently and environmentally friendly with regenerative fuels in the future, researchers at Fraunhofer IKTS, together with partners from industry and science, have developed a new, fuel-flexible biomass CHP technology for the power range from 25 to 150 kW as part of the Horizon2020 project FlexiFuel-SOFC.

The speedy reduction of worldwide CO2 emissions is one of the most pressing and challenging tasks of our time. Alongside the strategy of avoiding CO2 emissions altogether, there are a number of technologies which transform unavoidable CO2 into valuable products. But these so-called power-to-X processes are currently still inefficient and expensive. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Dresden have developed reactors based on ceramics, which use CO2 and water vapor to produce raw materials for the chemical industry in a much more efficient and climate-neutral way.

The expansion of onshore wind turbines is stagnating. This is mainly due to rarely suitable areas and protests by residents. Wind turbines on the open sea are an alternative – but the production of offshore energy is currently much more expensive. This is also due to the higher maintenance costs. Fraunhofer IKTS has developed a measuring system that is permanently installed on the foundation structure of offshore plants to permanently monitor it. This reduces the effort required for cost-intensive on-site operations and thus the mainte-nance costs.

Cardiovascular stents are special implants used to widen blood vessels that have become constricted as a result of calcium deposits. In some cases, the body’s immune system can reject these implants in a process known as foreign-body reaction. In a joint project with partners, Fraunhofer researchers in Dres-den have now developed enhanced coatings that substantially improve the bio-compatibility of stents.

Almost 30 participants from media, business and science accepted the invitation of the Thüringer Erneuerbare Energien Netzwerk e.V. (Thuringia Renewable Energy Network - ThEEN) and the Bundesverband Energiespeicher (German Energy Storage Association - BVES) and informed themselves about current storage technologies, Thuringia's strengths in research and ongoing economic initiatives during a one-day press trip through Thuringia.

Imagine a truck tarp that can harvest the energy of sunlight! With the help of new textile-based solar cells developed by Fraunhofer researchers, semitrailers could soon be producing the electricity needed to power cooling systems or other onboard equipment. In short, textile-based solar cells could soon be adding a whole new dimension to photovoltaics, complementing the use of conventional silicon-based solar cells.

Dr. Mathias Herrmann was honored with the JECS Trust Award for his scientific publications and the appointment as ECerS fellow during the 16th Conference of the European Ceramic Society ECerS in Turin.

To date, little is known about what happens to microplastic in the sea. The MICRO-FATE project is expected to bring about a change to this situation. The international team of researchers intends to find out where microplastic accumulate in the ocean, how it is degraded and the effects it has on the environment. A five-week expedition on the research vessel SONNE across the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver to Singapore marks the start of the project. Their most important objective is to take and conserve samples for upcoming laboratory analysis in addition to performing initial experiments. Fraunhofer IKTS investigates on bord the changing properties of plastic particles due to weathering and fragmentation.

The DKG is the ceramic society with the largest number of members in Europe and one of the oldest professional associations in the world. For more than 100 years, the DKG has been the forum for all technical and scientific questions concerning ceramics. The society maintains a unique network of applicators, manufacturing industry, research, science, and teaching. The main topics of the DKG are research and development, education and training, organization and execution of events as well as support of ceramic art and culture.