Materials Chemistry

18. January 2024

Rudolphina Experts: Drinking water supply

Clean and reliable water: Looking to the sky for answers

Airborne treasure: The atmosphere is an often overlooked reservoir of fresh water. Materials chemist Robert Woodward and his team developed a novel approach to tap into this precious resource in even the driest locations on Earth.

14. November 2023

Materials for the energy transition

Supercomputer, Schrödinger and the energy revolution

How can we sustainably scale up the production of hydrogen and synthetic fuels for the post-fossil energy world? Advances in materials science could hold the key. Physicist Georg Kresse and his team use computer simulations to enable the necessary breakthroughs.

7. November 2023

Guest article by

Jia Min Chin

Rudolphina Experts: Materials inspired by nature

Where nature shows science new ways

When looking for inspiration for the development of new materials, it is worth taking a look at nature. In her guest article, materials chemist Jia Min Chin reveals the tricks that flora and fauna have in store for the materials of the future.

19. October 2023

Electrochromic materials

A chemical signature of authenticity

A new smart ink based on electrochromic materials could not only prevent the forgery of event tickets, but also facilitate the monitoring of sensitive products and resources such as blood reserves. The applications for this innovative material are almost endless, says one of the developers, chemist Laura Maggini.

11. October 2023

New Materials

What the future is made of

New materials are considered very promising for solving the acute challenges of our time, but they also create new problems. We take a closer look at those materials that have shaped us and those that are yet to come.

21. May 2021

Cellulose

Foam without plastic

The production of degradable materials, ranging from packaging to insulating material, is one of the major challenges of our time. In an EU project, Alexander Bismarck from the Department of Materials Chemistry is developing polymer foam made from cellulose – using the cultural technique of bread baking.