Developing sustainable materials with digital methods for key challenges
Fluorescent materials
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)
Research in this focal area develops and investigates novel materials for key societal challenges. Natural and life sciences collaborate closely on functional polymers, carbon-based and hybrid materials, and innovative glasses. Digital and automated processes, supported by AI and ML approaches, are fostered to accelerate the design of sustainable materials for (nano)medicine, energy conversion and storage, and environmental technologies.
"My research contributes to designing functional materials in ways that specifically influence biological processes, thereby creating the foundation for new, precise, and application-oriented approaches to treating diseases."
EXC 2051: Balance of the MicroverseExternal link investigates how microbial communities shape health, ecosystems, and life at microscopic scales.
CRC/TR 234 CataLIGHT: Light-driven Molecular Catalysts in Hierarchically Structured Materials – Synthesis and Mechanistic Studies develops light-driven catalytic systems for more sustainable chemical transformations and energy conversion.
CRC 1278 Polymer-based nanoparticle libraries for targeted anti-inflammatory strategies designs polymer nanoparticles that selectively target inflammation for future precision therapies.
RTG 3040 COIN - Copolymer Informatics: Blending digital technologies and copolymer chemistry - from design to application combines artificial intelligence, data science, and polymer chemistry to accelerate advanced copolymer design.
RTG 3014 Phlnt - Photo-polarizable interfaces and membranes explores how light-responsive interfaces and membranes control material properties and molecular interactions.
RTG 2723 M-M-M: Materials-Microbe-Microenvironment: Antimicrobial biomaterials with tailored structures and properties develops antimicrobial biomaterials with tailored structures for controlled interactions with microbes and tissues.
RU 5301 FuncHeal – The next generation of artificial self-healing materials creates adaptive materials that autonomously repair damage and extend functional lifetimes.
PP 2491 Interactive Switching of Spin States studies switchable spin states in responsive molecular materials for future information and energy technologies.
Thuringian Water Innovation Cluster (ThWIC)
The ThWIC Future Cluster, as part of the BMFTR’s Clusters4Future initiative, aims to develop solutions for the sustainable management of water.
MultiBonds - Understanding and designing inorganic materials properties based on two- and multicenter bondsExternal link investigates how two- and multicenter bonds determine the properties and functionality of inorganic materials.
FutureBAT - Future storage systems for the energy transition: Polymer-based redox-flow batteriesExternal link develops polymer-based redox-flow batteries for sustainable and scalable energy storage systems.
Upgrading lignin for fair raw materials (LignUp)External link explores new ways to transform lignin into sustainable raw materials for future industrial applications.
Smart substrates:Switchable interfaces based on multiresponsive hyprid materialsExternal link designs responsive hybrid materials with switchable surface properties for adaptive functional interfaces.
The Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM) investigates soft matter systems to understand and design functional materials with responsive, adaptive properties.
The Centre for Energy and Environmental Chemistry Jena (CEEC) develops chemical approaches for sustainable energy conversion, storage, and environmentally relevant processes.
