Press releases | News

How can batteries be made safer and less dependent on critical raw materials? How can semiconductor and energy materials be recycled, and how can industrial processes be made sustainable through digitalization? Answers to these questions are being developed at the Fraunhofer Technology Center High-Performance Materials THM in Freiberg. At the end of the initial funding phase, Prof. Dr. Heike Graßmann, State Secretary at the Saxon State Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK), visited the site. She learned about the results achieved and the prospects for the joint research platform of the Fraunhofer Institutes IKTS and IISB.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS offi-cially opened its “Technology Platform for Circular Economy and Process Engineering TKV” at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen Chemical Park in the presence of Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister of Science, Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, and State Secretary Stefanie Pötzsch. The TKV is designed to support companies in developing and scaling efficient processes, testing them in an industrial setting, and bringing them to market. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of the State of Saxony-Anhalt is provid-ing 4.5 million euros in funding to support the establishment of the new research infrastructure.

To date, much of the food packaging on the market relies on multilayer composite films, which are difficult to recycle. Recyclable mono-material films offer a more sustainable alternative. However, they are generally considered more difficult to process because their seals are more susceptible to defects. As part of the OCTInline project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS have developed a testing system designed to address this very challenge. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the system enables real-time, non-destructive detection of seal defects during the packaging process, with resolution in the micrometer range.

Lime, a key component in cement, can be used for both interior and exterior plastering. However, the production of this versatile building material generates significant emissions. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Hermsdorf, Thuringia, are developing a membrane reactor that enables climate-neutral lime production while also recovering new raw materials.

Green hydrogen is seen as a key technology for the decarbonization of industry. As yet, however, shortcomings in the areas of production efficiency, cost and scalability have prevented it from making a breakthrough. Mihails Kusnezoff, Stefan Megel and Sindy Mosch from the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS have developed a high-temperature electrolysis stack that is setting new standards worldwide: It generates hydrogen with unprecedented efficiency, can also operate as a fuel cell and is designed for industrial-scale serial production. This technology has earned the three researchers the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for 2026.

In its 2022 condition assessment, the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) classified 8,000 highway bridges as requiring rehabil-itation. In other words, it is time to start continuously monitoring Germa-ny’s bridges. With the COMOBASE modular acoustic emission monitoring system, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS presents an innovative solution for continuous infrastructure monitoring, specially customized for the respective requirements and significantly more economical than conventional technologies.

The Central German Chemical Cluster (MDSV) is one of Germany’s most significant integrated chemical clusters, characterized with closely interconnected material flows between its member sites. A central component of the cluster is the steam cracker in Böhlen, which has been operated by DOW to date. This facility supplies large quantities of basic petrochemical chemicals such as ethylene, propylene, and aromatics. The planned decommissioning of the steam cracker by the end of 2027 presents the MDSV with a profound structural shift.

In a major milestone for innovation in Western Australia, Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Fraunhofer IKTS have officially opened a state-of-the-art joint research and innovation laboratory.

During her visit to Thuringia on March 10, 2026, Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär visited Fraunhofer IKTS in Hermsdorf to learn about current developments and strategic initiatives in the field of energy and environmental technology. It became clear that ceramic materials can become crucial building blocks on the path to new value creation in energy and environmental technology.

The project “BeaT – Renewing Vocational Training for the Automotive Transformation,” coordinated by Fraunhofer IKTS and implemented in collaboration with automotive thüringen e.V. and Friedrich Schiller University Jena, was presented as an exemplary initiative in the EU Commission's latest Good Practices Catalog Vol. 1.