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To give hope to those affected by bone defects: This is what researchers from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Kiel, the University of Leipzig, University Medicine Rostock and Fraunhofer IKTS aim to do. As part of the “Hybrid-Bone“ project, they are developing personalizable ceramic bone replacement materials and structures for improved regeneration in the craniofacial region. Administratively supported by Starter GmbH, “Hybrid-Bone“ is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 1.5 million euros over a period of three years.

Printed electronics are a key technology in many industrial sectors. In collaboration with the Group of Dr. Denys Makarov, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf HZDR, IKTS researchers are now demonstrating considerable progress in development and thus opening up a new type of application: Using low-cost, readily available materials and industrially relevant high-throughput processes, they are able to print flexible magnetoresistive sensors for contactless switching.

In the future, an extremely simple and robust electric drive shall be used to transport small satellites through space at low cost – using the fuel iodine. In the iFACT project, European researchers want to develop an iodine-based ion propulsion system and conduct extensive material tests over the next two years. Their aim is to establish an iodine-material compatibility library and an efficient European ground test infrastructure.

For the growing market of electric mobility, Europe must develop its own innovative battery concepts and production chains in order to increase its international competitiveness. This is the goal with which ASTRABAT is now launching. In this major European project, 14 partners from eight European countries are joining forces.

Within the framework of the EU joint project “MiDiCoat“, coating systems made of titanium carbon nitride and aluminum oxide are to be further developed over the next three years in such a way that they can be used for tools in the high-speed machining of metals for longer periods of time without the use of lubricants that are hazardous to the environment and health.

Hydrogen plays a key role in the search for future energy sources that reduce CO₂ emissions and provide a stable energy supply. The joint project "Neo-PEC" therefore aims to develop a tandem module that will be able to produce green hydrogen in a clean and cost-effective manner, thus enabling a decentralized hydrogen supply using an energy carrier which is transportable according to demand. With the help of the module, water is directly split into hydrogen and oxygen by photo-catalytic means (Photo Electro-Catalytic (PEC) Water Splitting). This novel technology does not require expensive electrolyzers and is scalable as required. For the three-year project "Neo-PEC", 3.4 million euros are being made available to the participating partners Fraunhofer IKTS, IST and CSP within the framework of the Fraunhofer internal funding program PREPARE.

The Fraunhofer IKTS advises the world's leading certification body for agriculture GLOBALG.A.P. on the revision of its certification standards for "Good Agricultural Practice". The Institute is contributing its expertise in the areas of water treatment, nutrient recycling, closed-loop and cognitive agriculture.

For the agricultural sector, large quantities of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphor, are needed in order to attain sufficient yields per hectare. On the one hand, these nutrients are cost-intensive and are chemically produced or respectively extracted, processed and transported with partly considerable environmental consequences to be used as so-called “mineral fertilizers” by farmers.

The Fraunhofer Center for Energy Innovation CEI at the University of Connecticut UConn was founded on July 25, 2013. The aim of the center is to further advance innovative technologies for energy storage, management and distribution, hydropower utilization and fuel cell development through contract research. Especially in the field of environmental technologies, Fraunhofer CEI and Fraunhofer IKTS have been cooperating closely for years.

The newly founded Senodis Technologies GmbH presented itself for the first time at the Hightech Venture Days 2019. The first product to be marketed by the spin-off of Fraunhofer IKTS in Dresden, Germany is the Ceracode technology developed at IKTS for individual marking and data acquisition in hot metal forming.