3D printing - Effects of 3D printing

AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES ON GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS

As part of the high-tech strategy, the German government has set itself the goal of encouraging increasingly short innovation cycles and thus changing the traditional structure of production and economy as a whole. One of these strategies is additive production. The production process known as 3D printing offers diverse possibilities for many industries, from the automotive industry to aviation and aerospace technology.  more about this project

Al melts - Iron content in contaminated aluminium melts

DEVELOPMENT OF A PROCESS TO REDUCE THE IRON CONTENT IN CONTAMINATED ALUMINIUM MELTS

Energy consumption during the production of aluminium is many times higher than during the production of other metals. The energy requirement is so high that aluminium smelters can generally only be operated economically in locations in which electrical power is very cheap and available in large quantities. Germany, like many other European countries, is therefore dependent on importing the raw material.  more about this project

BAUKERA - Product design using secondary raw materials

PRODUCT DESIGN USING SECONDARY RAW MATERIALS IN THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND CERAMICS INDUSTRY

Amounting to a total quantity of approximately 85 million tonnes, building rubble and secondary construction raw materials constitute one of the largest waste streams in Bavaria (this reflects the situation in 2008). Less than two thirds of that building rubble, which consists of bricks, concrete, and mortar, is actually recycled And only around 5% of the substances recycled are ultimately re-used in the form of high-quality materials used for the construction of buildings.  more about this project

Concrete Composite Material - Concrete composite construction material with latent heat storage capacity

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE CONCRETE COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH LATENT HEAT STORAGE CAPACITY FOR CLIMATE REGULATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The building industry is the third-largest final energy consumer in Germany. Above all, older buildings with their high heating requirements consume a large proportion of the energy. On the other hand, new office buildings often require lots of energy for cooling in summer.  more about this project

Bio-polymers - Biodegradable bio-plastics

THE BIO-BASED PRODUCTION OF BIODEGRADABLE BIOPLASTIC POLYBUTYRIC ACID

Plastics are useful and have become indispensable in our everyday lives. Packaging and plastic bags in particular are thrown away after a single use and pose a threat to our environment if disposed of carelessly, or even in the prescribed manner. Viewed on a global scale, carelessly discarded plastic waste is clustering together on the world’s oceans to form huge floating islands of waste, while microplastics resulting from the degradation of the waste are accumulating in the food chain.  more about this project

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CaLEnA - High-strength reinforced plastics

HIGH-STRENGTH REINFORCED PLASTICS ON THE BASIS OF CARBON FIBRES, CARBON NANOTUBES, AND INNOVATIVE ADDITIVES FOR AVIATION

In aviation, high-performance plastics are used due to their temperature resistance and mechanical properties. However the materials, which usually consist of duromers or high-performance thermoplasts, are expensive to produce and difficult to process, And comparatively cheaper standard plastics cannot fulfil the requirements of modern aviation.  more about this project

CERES - Chemical recycling of epoxy resin-based materials

CHEMICAL RECYCLING OF EPOXY RESIN-BASED MATERIALS

Lightweight construction requires materials that demonstrate high resilience and rigidity while having a low net weight, which is why fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) are used in automotive construction, aviation, and the production of wind turbines.  more about this project

CNT - Dispersing additive for carbon nanotubes

DISPERSING ADDITIVE FOR CARBON NANOTUBES

Plastics are among the most versatile materials. They are used in many industries. Additives are often added to plastics in order to, for example, improve their mechanical properties. This has included the attempt to use carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as strengthening additives for plastics, which has not succeeded so far due to the lack of interactions between the CNTs and plastics.  more about this project

Electrodes - Electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

LONG-TERM STABLE ELECTRODES FOR POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS

Electric mobility is playing an increasingly important role in the automotive industry. Either a battery or a fuel cell can be used as a drive. The latter have ranges and fuelling times which are comparable with those of conventional drives. Although polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells must be run on pure hydrogen as far as possible, they are nonetheless more economical in terms of space and less expensive than batteries.  more about this project

Gagendta+ - Recovering selected technology metals

MODULAR PROCESS CHAIN FOR DECENTRALIZED RECOVERY OF SELECTED TECHNOLOGY METALS

Technology metals and rare earth elements are important raw materials for high-tech industrialized nations. In particular, the elements gallium, germanium, neodymium, and tantalum, which are used in electronic devices, are considered especially valuable due to their high demand and limited availability.  more about this project

Graphite 2.0 - Secondary graphite from recycled carbon fibres

DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE EXTRACTION OF SECONDARY GRAPHITE FROM RECYCLED CARBON FIBRES

Used as a raw material in high-tech industry, graphite is actually a rare and sought-after mineral, which, up to now, has had to be imported into Europe from third countries. The aim of a new research project at Nuremberg Tech is to develop a process for the extraction (or recovery) of secondary graphite from recycled carbon fibres.  more about this project

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Heliotropic polymers

HELIOTROPIC POLYMERS AS MATERIALS FOR LIGHT-INDUCED MOTION

The term “heliotropy” comes from the Greek and translates, more or less, as facing the sun, and in plant physiology means plants, such as sunflowers, whose flowers follow the movement of the sun. This movement is caused by pressure changes in the plant cells. Against this background, polymers that are able to undergo shape changes due to light irradiation are termed heliotropic.

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Light Mixture - Adaptive lighting systems

LIGHT MIXTURE IN ADAPTIVE LIGHTING SYSTEMS WITH CHANGEABLE RADIATION CHARACTERISTICS

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have gone through a steep development curve in the last 15 years, with the result that no area of lighting technology is now conceivable without LEDs. The advantages of LEDs compared with traditional lighting such as bulbs, halogen or fluorescent lamps are their long service life and high light output ratio. The increased use of LEDs, however, also brings new challenges for lighting technology, for example when generating white light from additive colour mixtures.  more about this project

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Microalgae - Sustainable aquaculture

MICROALGAE FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE

Within the bio-economy, biological resources are used in the production of chemicals, resources, foodstuffs, animal feed, and energy. Those production processes make use of sustainable raw materials, without creating unusable by-products. For example, microalgae are capable of producing a wide variety of products: active agents for pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, fine chemicals, colorants, food supplements such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, food products for humans and animals and aquaculture, and even mass chemicals and bioenergy.  more about this project

NanoImp - Determining the electrical impedance of nano-powders

DEVELOPMENT OF A TEST RIG FOR DETERMINING THE ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE OF NANO-POWDERS FOR USE IN HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Electric motors based on fuel cells are one of the most promising drive concepts of the current era. In most cases, fuel cells are used with polymer electrolyte membranes. While these must be operated with hydrogen that is as pure as possible, they are smaller and more favourably priced than other types of cell.  more about this project

NanoFIM - Highly thermally insulating nanofibre insulation materials

HIGHLY THERMALLY INSULATING NANOFIBRE INSULATION MATERIALS FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT BUILDINGS

To improve the insulating effect of construction and insulation materials for new buildings and for the renovation of old buildings, the research project NanoFIM is developing a new class of nanofibre insulation materials. Using the new fibres for thermal insulation of buildings results in a huge saving of primary energy for heating, while at the same time unnecessary CO2 emissions are prevented.  more about this project

Netfit - Air filters in drinking water plants

INNOVATIVE FILTER FOR AIR IN DRINKING WATER PLANTS

For the preparation and storage of drinking water, the regulations concerning contamination and hygiene are particularly strict. For this reason, the air that comes into contact with drinking water must also be freed from dust, germs, and particles.  more about this project

POF-Control - Measurement, control, and switching

POLYMER FIBRE-BASED MEASUREMENT, CONTROL, AND SWITCHING

Since its foundation in 2001, the Polymer Optical Fiber Application Center (POF-AC) at Nuremberg Tech has pursued the objective of conducting applied research into polymer optical fibres (POF) in the fields of data transmission, sensor technology, and lighting technology.  more about this project

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PreBoneStructure - Structural analysis of bone

PREPARATORY WORK ON THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF BONES WITH REGARD TO BIONIC STRUCTURAL DESIGNS

In bionics, natural functional mechanisms are artificially reproduced in order to solve technical problems. The lightweight construction inspired by bone structure has already established itself in the construction industry. But lightweight construction is hugely significant for other sectors as well. Both in plant engineering and in the automotive industry, the trend is towards components with the lowest possible weight combined with high strength and rigidity.  more about this project

ProMet – Product-related metallurgy

PRODUCT-RELATED METALLURGY

Nuremberg Tech gears its research towards future topics, focal issues concerning the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, and social challenges. In the last few years, a number of competence centers have been founded at Nuremberg Tech for this purpose, including the Competence Center for Analytics, Nano- and Materials Technology (KAM).  more about this project

Silicones - Biodegradable silicones

BIODEGRADABLE SILICONES

During the past 50 years, silicones have been used in countless applications in industrial as well as domestic contexts. Due to their properties, which distinguish them from organic plastics, they are used as anti-foam compounds in detergents, in the food industry, and in cosmetics and hygiene products, such as shampoos.  more about this project

SmartOSE - Optical sensors

OPTICAL SENSORS FOR MONITORING EARTH STRUCTURES

In order to protect danger zones from the consequences of sinkholes or other georisks, safety devices containing integrated geoplastics are used. These building products, which are predominantly manufactured by textile engineering, are highly elastic and can be used permanently and cheaply to reinforce the ground.  more about this project

ST-POF - Switching using polymer optical fibres

SWITCHING THYRISTORS USING POLYMER OPTICAL FIBRES

As a result of the planned energy transition and the associated expansion in high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC), the optical switching of thyristors is set to occupy an important position within the electricity supply system in Germany. The particular benefit of these switchable semiconductor elements lies in the fact that triggering takes place without a galvanic connection to the load circuit.  more about this project

STAHE - Thermal analysis with high-resolution emission analysis

SIMULTANEOUS THERMAL ANALYSIS WITH HIGH-RESOLUTION EMISSION ANALYSIS

Research and development is not only the cornerstone of new technologies but also enables proven procedures to be designed in a more efficient and resource-saving way. Nuremberg Tech is using its research expertise to contribute to new and further development and to strengthen Nuremberg as a business location with industrial cooperation partners. The experience and skills of different teaching fields are bundled into different research areas.  more about this project

TOGRA - Resource-saving and energy-efficient bricks

RESEARCH INTO MORE RESOURCE-SAVING AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT BRICKS

The brick is the oldest building material in the world. Even on the walls of the Pharaohs’ tombs in Egypt, pictographic writing tells of brick manufacture, and today, vertically perforated bricks are still among the most popular materials for the construction of houses and flats. The brick is an all-rounder which combines a large number of outstanding material properties, such as excellent heat and noise insulation and high pressure strength, a pleasant interior climate and a particularly long lifespan.

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UFUS-POF - Colour-change sensors with polymer fibres

A UNIVERSAL COLOUR-CHANGE SENSOR WITH POLYMER FIBRES

In recent years, the use of polymer optical fibres (POF) has been examined primarily for the purpose of short-distance data communications, however their use in the field of sensor technology is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition. In the “Universal Colour-Change Sensor with Polymer Fibres” project, (funded by the Staedtler Stiftung) at Nuremberg Institute of Technology’s POF-AC, research is now under way to determine how colour-change reactions can be used to detect a variety of substances with the help of POF-based sensors.  more about this project

ZIM-Sorptio - Removing moisture from tile blanks

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW ENERGY-EFFICIENT PROCESS TO REMOVE MOISTURE FROM PRESS-MOIST BRICK BLANKS

Bricks are the oldest materials in the world, but even they are constantly developing. Along with roof tiles, porcelain, technical ceramics or floor tiles, bricks are also a ceramic product. The production method for bricks is similar and is made up of various process steps, namely the extraction of raw materials and the preparation, shaping, drying, and firing of the finished products.  more about this project