New Materials and Processes

28. January 2020

New Materials and Processes

FAU’s Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Engineering are renowned for their exceptional strength in new materials research and related process technologies. New materials and processes are expected to catalyse scientific breakthroughs and push forward technological boundaries in emerging fields including energy and environment, information technologies, lightweight materials and in life sciences. In highly interdisciplinary research projects scientists and engineers from up to three faculties and 8 departments (chemistry and pharmacy, chemical and biochemical engineering, electronic engineering, information technology, mechanical engineering, material sciences and engineering, mathematics and physics) are closely cooperating.

The research activities in this area are mainly focused on the development of functional and structural materials which are constructed hierarchically from atoms and molecules to the functional particulate level and to the macroscopic scale. New research approaches which cover a wide range of length and time scales are required in order to bridge the gap between atomic and molecular architecture and component design. This applies to structural, property and process analyses, modelling, simulation, and optimisation as well as to processing and manufacturing technologies. FAU researchers are leaders in the fields of carbon allotropes and 2D-materials (e.g. graphene and black phosphorous), ionic liquids, particle technology, functional nanostructured thin films (e.g. solar cells), catalysis, self-organisation of nanostructures, bioactive and cellular materials. In particular, macroscopic material properties are tailored by microscopic design of interfaces.

 

Outstanding Activities

Exzellence Initiative

Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials (EAM)
Excellence Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)

Collaborative Research Centres (CRC)

DFG CRC 814: Additive Manufacturing
DFG CRC 953: Synthetic Carbon Allotropes
DFG CRC/TRR 103: From Atom to Turbine Blade – Scientific Foundation for a New Generation of Monocrystalline Superalloys
DFG CRC/TRR 73: Manufacturing of Complex Functional Components with Variants by Using a New Sheet Metal Forming Process – Sheet-Bulk Metal Forming
DFG SFB/TRR 225: From the fundamentals of biofabrication towards functional tissue models

Research Training Groups (RTG)

DFG RTG 1161: Disperse Systems (2005-2015)
DFG RTG 1229: Stable and metastable multi-phase systems for elevated service temperatures (2006-2015)
DFG RTG 1896: In-Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-rays and Scanning Probes
DFG RTG 2423: Fracture across Scales (FRASCAL)

Research Units (RU)

DFG RU 1600: Chemistry and Technology of the Ammonothermal Synthesis of Nitrides
DFG RU 1878: funCOS Functional Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces

Research buildings

Successful approval of two research buildings according to paragraph 91b Abs. 1 (GG):

Interdisciplinary Centre for Functional Particle Systems (FPS, inauguration in 2012)
Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructural Films (IZNF, completion in 2018)

Interdisciplinary Centres

Center for Nanoanalyis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM)
Interdisciplinary Center for Functional Particle Systems (FPS)
Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM)
Interdisciplinary Center for Interface-Controlled Processes (ICICP)

Close connections exist between the University and transfer centres

Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP)
Central Institute for Scientific Computing (ZISC)
The Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern)
Energy Campus Nürnberg (EnCN)
Application Center VerTec

Cooperation with non-university research institutions

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS)
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology (IISB)
Helmholz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN)
Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH

Outstanding achievements by contributing scientists

Scientists from the research area have received numerous, highly visible national and international awards. The most important awards are:

15 ERC Grants have been granted, the most prestigious science grant in Europe
4 scientists have been honoured with the DFG Leibniz Award, the most important research award in Germany
4 scientists have been listed as Highly Cited Researchers a total of ten times (Clarivate Analytics)

Contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Peukert

Professor

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Chair of Particle Technology (Prof. Dr. Peukert)

Room: Room 1.323
Cauerstraße 4
91058 Erlangen

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirsch

Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy
Chair of Organic Chemistry II (Prof. Dr. Hirsch)

Room: Room 04.052
Nikolaus-Fiebiger-Str. 10
91058 Erlangen