Biologicalization of Materials

15.07.2019

An interview with the Scientific Director of the DWI, Prof. Dr. Martin Möller, about new developments in materials research (published in July 2019 | Handelsblatt | New Materials | in|pact media GmbH)

The interview was conducted by Klaus Lüber.

 

PROF. DR. MARTIN MÖLLER holds the Chair of Textile Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry at the Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen and is head of the DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, also located in Aachen.

 

Prof. Möller, technological innovations are immediately associated with digitalization. For most innovations, the analogue world continues to play a central role: in the form of materials research.
That's right. Historically, the development of new materials has always been a main driver of innovation. And this process is still ongoing today, above all because we are placing ever higher demands on materials.

 

What are these requirements?
One of the main goals is to develop materials that have more and more useful properties at the same time - including those that at first glance appear contradictory. We are no longer satisfied with saying that something has to be solid. We want it to be solid and super-light. It is above all this combination of certain characteristics in one material that ensures a high level of innovation dynamics in many sectors.

 

You are talking about lightweight construction in the automotive industry?
For example. With carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, a class of materials has been developed that does just that: it is both strong and lightweight. And here we are actually experiencing the next innovation boost. Since carbon fiber-reinforced plastics are very complex and energy-intensive to produce and manufacture, the industry now has metal-based solutions to offer that are more optimal than plastic-based materials in certain areas. We are seeing the first effects, for example, at car manufacturer BMW, which is replacing the carbon fiber content in its new models with metals for reasons of economic and sustainability.

 

A high innovation potential is also attributed to materials research in the field of e-mobility, for example in the endeavor to reduce the share of so-called rare earths, which are problematic in production. How far has progress already been made in this area?
It has been possible to drastically reduce the proportion of cobalt oxides in the new generation of lithium-ion batteries. In the new design with so-called 811 anodes, the proportion of manganese, which is much less problematic, is eight times higher than the proportion of nickel and cobalt.

 

Has the repeatedly voiced public criticism that e-mobility would perhaps address a problem, namely CO2 emissions, but that new problems would arise as a result, become obsolete?
I believe we should take a positive view of developments in this case. With cobalt oxides, we had a solution that was not so bad from a technical point of view, but that showed increasingly problematic effects as demand increased. So a practical demand arose and materials research was able to provide an answer.

 

Another major field of innovation in materials research is smart materials, i.e. substances that are able to react to external stimuli within certain limits. How can this be imagined?
These are, for example, paints that can heal themselves if they are damaged, or facades that can deform under the influence of heat so that they provide more shade. A particularly exciting field of application is the cultivation of tissue for organ models that can be used or built outside the body, for example to test the reaction to pathogens or allergens. This is made possible by a combination of technical basic material building blocks that not only keep the cells alive, but also ensure that they are able to function as precisely as possible as they would in the organism.

 

So, basically, we are reconstructing nature?
At least we take nature as our role model. Biologisation of materials is the term used for this, which has been widely discussed in materials research in recent years. On the one hand, the aim is to produce substances that can be better integrated into natural cycles. On the other hand, the aim is to decipher the complex material designs of natural substances and to transfer their principles into new material designs.

 

How far are we here?
We now know that nature constructs its materials according to very complex, hierarchically shaped structures. The smallest units are the molecules that make up nanostructures. These nanostructures in turn are assembled into very heterogeneous microstructures. Finally, we have the finished component, such as a tree or a bone. The fascinating thing for us is that nature is able to create highly complex properties with simple materials. These, in turn, can combine properties that seem contradictory at first glance. An example of this is bone: It is light and strong at the same time.

 

Nature had many millions of years to develop the best possible solution using trial and error.
That's right, and of course we can't do that. That's why the image of a mere replica of nature doesn't go far enough for me. We don't simply want to and can't reproduce it, but we want to take nature's complexity as our model in order to develop our own solutions that are closely aligned to our needs. Digitisation will support us here.

 

In what way?
Complex structures and relationships can be simulated and thus many options for the structure and property formation of materials can be tested in advance. In manufacturing, too, we increasingly have the opportunity to approach nature through new processes. This is characterized by fully integrated processes, just like the tree that grows layer by layer. This is exactly what we are striving for in new, additive manufacturing processes.

 

What other material innovations are to be expected in the future?
An exciting question will be: Can we develop materials that harvest light and also develop active properties with the help of the light energy they absorb? Then it should be possible to make a material function as a kind of motor. It would then be possible to develop materials that move by themselves and can be used in the field of nano- or microstructures, for example in robotics.

 

 

Further information
Associated Scientist

Prof. Dr. Martin Möller

T
+49 241 80-23186
Show the email
Portraitfoto von Prof. Dr. Martin Möller