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Long-lasting batteries play an integral role in the energy turnaround and thereby in particular the electric transport turnaround. The German branch of battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology GmbH (CATL) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS are jointly developing models at the industrial site Erfurter Kreuz to predict the lifetime of batteries, which will serve as a basis for optimized battery production. The cooperation, which started in 2020 with the “BattLife” project, is now being continued and expanded in the project “BattForce”.

At around 28 %, the production of crude steel via the blast furnace route accounts for a large proportion of industrial CO₂ emissions in Germany. This is why steel producers are working intensively on converting steel production to the direct reduction process. As one of the pioneers in this field, Salzgitter AG has already been working for six years in a consortium with the Fraunhofer Institutes IKTS, ISI and UMSICHT on how low-CO₂ crude steel production can be realized using green hydrogen. In the two successive research projects “MACOR” and “BeWiSe”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), it has already been demonstrated that this approach can reduce CO₂ emissions by at least 95 %. Supplemented by further measures, CO₂-free steel production is thus possible. The technical conditions for a changeover and questions of acceptance were also investigated. As part of its SALCOS project, Salzgitter AG plans to convert conventional steel production via blast furnaces to the direct reduction process using hydrogen by 2033. Construction work for the gradual conversion has already begun and one third of the steel production capacity will already have been transformed to the low-CO₂ process by 2026.

The balcony power plant is booming. But where to put the electricity generated when nothing is being consumed in the household? This is where rechargeable stationary energy storage systems come into play. Dual-ion batteries (DIB) do not contain any harmful metals and are made of materials that are available in Germany. This novel technology promises lower costs, safety, independence as well as sustainability.

In the “KlimProMem” project, climate-neutral processes in the feedstock industry are being further developed – specifically, CO₂ is to be separated from flue gases of waste incineration plants using membrane technology and soda ash production is to be used as a CO₂ sink. For this purpose, membranes, plant and process concepts are being tested to enable climate-neutral and energy-efficient production of important basic materials. For gas separation, carbon membranes are being developed at Fraunhofer IKTS and scaled for use in large plants. In field trials, the developments of the project partners will be integrated and tested in two waste incineration plants. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting the project as part of the funding objective “Avoidance of climate-relevant process emissions in industry (KlimPro-Industrie)” with approximately 1.5 million euros over three years.

Today, fruit and vegetables are transported thousands of kilometers to Germany. A team at Fraunhofer IKTS now wants to bring horticulture to the cities with efficient and compact water, energy and gas management – and thereby strengthen regional self-sufficiency.

Fraunhofer IKTS and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) plan to cooperate closely in industrial technology and innovation research. On September 18, 2023, Prof. Alexander Michaelis, director of Fraunhofer IKTS, signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Dulig and representatives of the Saxon Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport SMWA and the Saxony Trade & Invest Corporation with the Korean project management organization in Seoul.

Multi-material 3D printing with technical materials has huge potential. For example, functionalized or functionally graded products can be printed within a single process in a resource-saving manner. This significantly shortens the process chain and reduces manufacturing costs compared to conventional production routes. In order to commercialize this promising technology, the developers of the multi-material jetting technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS founded AMAREA Technology GmbH. The spin-off has been active since February of 2023. The entrepreneurs act as system developers on the market and sell both the printing technology and the newly developed printing materials. The possibilities extend beyond technical ceramics: metals, hardmetals, glasses, composites, cermets and even polymers can be processed.

Aircraft fuel consumption can be reduced by lowering drag and wing weight. This is the goal set by the partners in the EU project HERWINGT on the road to climate-neutral aviation. The aim is to create a short-haul aircraft for up to 100 passengers that produces 50 % fewer emissions by 2035.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed an extremely heat-resistant ceramic-based ink. For the first time, this enables metal components processed in the automotive industry at temperatures over 1000 ºC to be marked with a code. The code can be scanned and is linked to a database in which all the manufacturing parameters for the component in question are stored. The advantages of the technology are not simply the ability to detect production glitches and defective components at an early stage. It also opens up wide-ranging possibilities for designing process chains in the industry more efficiently and reducing their carbon footprint significantly. Even component forgeries can be prevented by means of special additives in the ink.

Silicon carbide is a popular industrial material for many applications. The extremely hard, heat-resistant material is used for refractory components and semiconductors, for instance. But its production is energy-intensive and emits a lot of carbon dioxide, as well as producing large amounts of by-products and waste products. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS have developed RECOSiC^©, an especially environmentally friendly recycling process that turns these by-products and waste products back into high-quality silicon carbide. This new process improves yields and also reduces the dependency on suppliers of raw materials.

In the WeBoat project, researchers are working on green technologies for water treatment in aquaculture. As a result, the project helps reduce environmental pollution and protects native aquatic species.

As part of the “Battery 2020 Transfer” initiative, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will fund the “PCEforNB” project (polymer-ceramic electrolytes (PCE) for medium-temperature Na-batteries) for three years and with 1.7 million euros. In the project, novel polymer-ceramic electrolytes for solid-state sodium batteries are being developed. As a promising post-lithium technology, the sodium battery has an important role to play in meeting the increasing demand for stationary storage. The aim of the research project is to consistently develop this technology further with a cost-effective, safe and long-lasting electrolyte. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Institutes for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and for Applied Polymer Research IAP as well as the Humboldt-Universität of Berlin.

Prof. Alexander Michaelis was honored with the Rieke Ring of the Deutsche Keramische Gesellschaft e. V. (German Ceramic Society) for his many years of commitment to the DKG. The award ceremony took place on March 29, 2023, at the 98th DKG Annual Conference in Jena.

Fraunhofer IKTS spin-off Nicoustic secures 25 MNOK (~2.3 m€) for piloting a vessel level monitoring system. The non-intrusive technology is based on Guided Ultrasonic Waves.

Minister President Kretschmer visited the Thallwitz pilot plant today to find out in person about the Saxon initiative to develop regional CO₂ sources for a resilient chemical and fuel industry.

In the EU project AddMorePower, characterization and modeling techniques are to be developed under the leadership of Fraunhofer IKTS in order to qualify new materials for power semiconductors and thus strengthen the European semiconductor industry.

As of January 1, 2023, Fraunhofer IKTS has integrated the Freiberg research group Circular Carbon Technologies KKT. By doing so, the institute aims to leverage further synergies in electrolysis, hydrogen and power-to-X technologies and to develop sustainable carbon sources for circular economy.

On January 8, 2023, Fraunhofer IKTS, Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) Co, LTD and European SOC producer ELCOGEN agreed on a close development collaboration in the fields of hydrogen and fuel/electrolysis cells.

How can an economic, social and ecologically sustainable structural change be achieved in the former opencast mines near Helmstedt? How can jobs in this region be safeguarded and new ones created? Which innovations are necessary in order to strengthen the agricultural enterprises in the region in the long term? These questions are being addressed not only by politicians and the people and companies of the Helmstedt region, but also by the scientists of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

The international research project CARE-O-SENE (Catalyst Research for Sustainable Kerosene) was granted 30 million euros in funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Additionally, the industrial consortium partners contribute 10 million euros. The aim of the project is to develop novel, next-generation Fischer-Tropsch catalysts and thus to optimise the production of sustainable kerosene – or Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – on an industrial scale.

If we look at all of the business sectors in Germany, industry requires the largest amount of water. This makes access to efficient technology for cleaning and recycling water all the more important for this sector in particular. Ideally, this technology should also allow energy and valuable raw materials to be retrieved so that they can be reused in production. In order to address all of these issues in a practical way, researchers at Fraunhofer have been developing a testing and technology platform. It is located on-site at a large wastewater treatment plant, where the wastewater from one of the largest chemical parks in Europe is treated.

Using substrate waste from mushroom production and sewage sludge compost, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and its partners Veolia Klärschlammverwertung Deutschland GmbH, the Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy of TU Dresden as well as the Institut für Holztechnologie Dresden gemeinnützige GmbH have made a landfill site in the Leipzig area flourish. In the future, the researchers also want to use their new recultivation technology to vegetate open-cast mines and old mining dumps – and, as a welcome side-effect, significantly reduce energy consumption in German mushroom cultivation facilities.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and the Altech Group establish the joint venture Altech Batteries GmbH to commercialize the ceramic solid-state battery cerenergy^® developed at Fraunhofer IKTS. In the coming years, a cerenergy^® battery factory is to be built at the Schwarze Pumpe site in Saxony.

At the Sensor Space Summer School of Fraunhofer IKTS, students from grade 7 and up build their own heart monitor.

In collaboration with TU Dresden, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a process for obtaining valuable, high-purity ethyl acetate from whey. This can be used, for example, to produce environmentally friendly adhesives, thereby replacing conventional ethyl acetate extracted from fossil-based raw materials. It also eliminates the need for costly disposal of the molasses produced during whey processing.

More than 20 companies from the Erfurter Kreuz e.V. initiative are working together in the CleanEFX interest group to supply the commercial area at Erfurter Kreuz with energy and process heat in a climate-neutral manner. Even before the current geopolitical changes, the project idea was initiated in several workshops by companies and research institutions. The goal is to combine the existing infrastructures at the industrial park, to use process media in sector coupling and to find synergies among each other and in the region. The regional, sustainable energy solution has already inspired other companies and found renowned support in business and politics.

Triple Perfect: Equinor Ventures joins forces with Fraunhofer IKTS and experienced spinoff management and investment company CoFounder – resulting in the foundation of new deep tech venture “Nicoustic”. The new company provides offshore pressure vessel monitoring technology using guided ultrasonic waves.

Patients with severe respiratory or lung diseases require intensive treatment and their lung function needs to be monitored on a continuous basis. As part of the Pneumo.Vest project, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a technology whereby noises in the lungs are recorded using a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors. The signals are then converted and displayed visually using software. In this way, patients outside of intensive care units can still be monitored continuously. The technology increases the options for diagnosis and improves the patient’s quality of life.

To convert food scraps and other biological waste back into usable materials, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, together with industry and research partners, built a facility in Thallwitz near Leipzig that is unique worldwide. It produces synthetic fuels and biogenic waxes from biogas – not only from the contained CO₂. The biogas is obtained from old fats used in catering and food production. If required, a ceramic electrolyzer can be connected, which also provides the required substances for the process using electricity from renewable energies. IKTS now intends to further develop the innovative plant concept for industrial-scale production in cooperation with a Leipzig-based company.

Research into new, forward-looking approaches to a safe and sustainable water supply is being promoted in Thuringia in the long term. The Thuringian Water Innovation Cluster (ThWIC), jointly initiated by the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, prevailed in the final round of the Clusters4Future competition and will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 2023 onwards. This means that over the next nine years, up to 45 million euros in funding will flow into the development of new water technologies and research into how society deals with this increasingly scarce resource.