New Collaborative Research Centre in Polymer Mechanochemistry: Andreas Herrmann Secures DFG-Funded Research Consortium

Professor Andreas Herrmann, Scientific Director of DWI and Chair of Macromolecular Materials and Systems at RWTH Aachen University, has successfully secured the new Collaborative Research Centre “Polymer Mechanochemistry”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The CRC, which is based at RWTH Aachen University, prevailed in a competitive review process and will investigate how mechanical forces can be used to selectively trigger chemical reactions in polymers. The research field opens up new perspectives for innovative materials, force-responsive systems, and biomedical applications.

Collaborative Research Centres are long-term research consortia in which researchers work together within an interdisciplinary programme. The new CRC “Polymer Mechanochemistry” will start in October 2026 and will initially be funded for three years and nine months. In the long term, Collaborative Research Centres can run for up to twelve years.

In addition to Andreas Herrmann, further DWI researchers are involved in the Collaborative Research Centre: Dr. Charlotta Lorenz, Dr. Jian Wang, Professor Andrij Pich, Professor Raphael Wittkowski, Professor Matthias Wessling and Professor Laura De Laporte. This means that DWI is contributing broad expertise in the research of interactive and functional materials as well as (bio)material-based applications to the consortium.

Unlike classical chemical transformations, which are often initiated by heat or light, mechanochemistry uses mechanical forces to trigger chemical reactions. In polymers, this approach opens up particular opportunities: in the future, materials could detect mechanical stress, make damage visible, or activate specific functions in response to external forces.

“With this Collaborative Research Centre, we aim to understand the fundamental principles of how mechanical forces can be used to selectively trigger chemical reactions in polymers. This knowledge will enable us to develop entirely new materials and therapeutic approaches that are more precise, efficient, and sustainable than existing solutions,” explains Professor Andreas Herrmann, spokesperson of the new Collaborative Research Centre.

At the heart of the research consortium is the systematic investigation of mechanochemical processes in polymers. The goal is to decipher fundamental rules governing the reactivity of such processes, develop force-sensitive molecular motifs, establish modern in situ analytical methods, and use computational models across different length scales.

A particular focus lies on biomedical applications. Mechanochemical principles could in the future help to activate active substances selectively through mechanical stimuli, thereby enabling therapies to be controlled with greater spatial and temporal precision and with fewer side effects. Such approaches could, for example, be applied in sonopharmacology and sonogenetics. In this way, the Collaborative Research Centre closely connects with central research questions at DWI: the development of interactive materials that actively interact with their environment and enable new functions for biomedical and sustainable applications.

With this major project, Aachen is positioning itself as an internationally leading location for research in polymer mechanochemistry. Further information can be found in the RWTH Aachen University press release:
https://www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/bsjafo#aaaaaaaaabsjahl