Biologized Materials and Structures

Freely following the guideline “working with the achievements offered by Mother Nature”, the IKTS group “Biologized Materials and Structures” develops

• biomimetic, personalized bone replacement materials,
• bioinspired mineralization processes,
• Living (Building) Materials (LBM) as well as
• sustainable “green manufacturing” technologies (i.e., cold sintering processes) and provides
• expertise regarding structural engineering processes, Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs) and scientific state-of-the-art.

The working group "Biologized Materials and Structures" offers its expertise to its research partners and customers in joint projects. We are glad to develop new ideas with you and jointly open up new subject areas and industrial applications in both feasibility studies and specific product developments.

Research and cooperation offer

• Patents on Freeze Foaming and porous bone replacement materials/material mixtures
• Biocompatible and biodegradable bone replacement materials
• Personalized implant structures
• Research in bioceramics and biopolymers in combination with cellular materials
• Bioinspired material synthesis
• In-situ mineralization and biologization
• Development of LBM (Living Building Materials) within and outside biomedical application fields e.g., as sustainable building and construction materials
• Process development of Freeze Foaming, near-net-shape forming techniques and bio-based additive manufacturing incl. (inline) material diagnostics
• Structural design and testing of Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs), e.g., for gas exchange/storage/substance separation within and outside biomedical applications.

Selected publicly and Fraunhofer funded projects

• “Hybrid-Bone" – Development of customizable ceramic bone replacement materials and structures for improved regeneration in the craniofacial region
• "FingerKIt" - Remobilization of finger joints via AI-based reconstruction and generation of patient-specific ceramic implants
• "BioCarboMin" - Development of living bio concretes via in-situ carbonate mineralization of microorganisms
• "BioCarboBeton" - Development of living construction materials via in-situ carbonate mineralization using microorganisms
• "ArtEnamel" - Bioinspired production of artificial enamel via in-situ nano-mineralization.
• "ProDIA"- H2020-NMP-PILOTS-2015 (Production, control and Demonstration of structured hybrid nanoporous materials for Industrial adsorption Applications; ID 685727)
• "HCCAT"- H2020-NMBP-2016 (Solid Catalysts for activation of aromatic C-H bonds; ID 720996)

Selected publications

Wagner, J., Luck, S., Loger, K., Acil, Y., Spille, J. H., Kurz, S., Ahlhelm, M., Schwarzer-Fischer, E., Ingwersen, L.-C., Jonitz-Heincke, A., Sedaghat, S., Wiltfang, J., Naujokat, H. (2023). Bone regeneration in critical-size defects of the mandible using biomechanically adapted CAD/CAM hybrid scaffolds: An in vivo study in miniature pigs. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcms.2023.11.007.

Reinhardt O, Ihmann S, Ahlhelm M and Gelinsky M (2023). 3D bioprinting of mineralizing cyanobacteria as novel approach for the fabrication of living building materials. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 11:1145177. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1145177

Ahlhelm, M.; Latorre, S.H.; Mayr, H.O.; Storch, C.; Freytag, C.; Werner, D.; Schwarzer-Fischer, E.; Seidenstücker, M. Mechanically Stable β-TCP Structural Hybrid Scaffolds for Potential Bone Replacement. J. Compos. Sci. 2021, 5, 281. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs5100281.

Piscopo, C. G., Polyzoidis, A.; Werner, D.; Ahlhelm, M.; Richter, H.-J. Breakthrough Screening of Porous Materials: A Simple and Effective Tool for Database Generation. ChemistrySelect 2020, 5, 1 –6.

Ahlhelm, M.; Werner, D.; Maier, J.; Abel, J.; Behnisch, T.; Moritz, T.; Michaelis, A.; Gude, M. Evaluation of the pore morphology formation of the Freeze Foaming process by in situ computed tomography. J. Eur. Cer. Soc. 2018, 38, 3369–3378., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2018.02.031.

Ahlhelm, M.; Werner, D.; Kaube, N.; Maier, J.; Abel, J.; Behnisch, T.; Moritz, T.; Michaelis, A.; Gude, M. Deriving Principles of the Freeze-Foaming Process by Nondestructive CT Macrostructure Analyses on Hydroxyapatite Foams. Ceramics 2018, 1, 7.

Ahlhelm, M., Schwarzer, E., Scheithauer, U., Moritz, T., Michaelis, A. Novel Ceramic Composites for Personalized 3D Structures. J.Ceram.Sci.Tech., 08[01] (2017), pp. 91-100. http://www.ceramic-science.com, DOI: 10.4416/JCST2016-00093

Ahlhelm, M.; Günther, P.; Scheithauer, U.; Schwarzer, E.; Günther, A.; Slawik T.; Moritz, T., Michaelis, A. Innovative and novel manufacturing methods of ceramics and metal-ceramic composites for biomedical applications; J Eur Cer Soc, Vol 36, Issue 12 (2016), 2883-2888.

You can find further publications in the publication list of Matthias Ahlhelm.