Press releases

The Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE and its In-stitute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT have deve-loped an advanced recycling process for used plastics. The pilot project with SABIC and Procter & Gamble serves to demonstrate the feasibility of closed-loop recycling for single-use facemasks.

Whether gas diffusion electrodes, paper-bound porous transport layers for PEM electrolysis or the AI-inspired design and manufacturing of fuel cells – at the "E3C – Electrochemical Cell Concepts Colloquium" on May 5, 2021, scientists from around the world provided inspiring insights into their research. The virtual event focused on the interdisciplinary exchange about the design of electrochemical reactors.

Redox flow batteries are perfect for storing large quantities of renewable energy, but they have always been too expensive for the mass market. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT have now completely redesigned the heart of a redox flow battery — the stack — and have brought about a massive reduction in material usage and costs. Their efforts have earned them the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.

The issue of plastic waste has become part of all social debates. However, the pollution of the ecological system soil still receives little attention. So, the question arises whether plastics that remain on soils or fields (incl. water from drainage systems) do not have similar effects on the environment as, for example, in seas, rivers or lakes? Researchers of the iMulch project succeeded in establishing the first three test criteria for determining microplastics in the ecological system soil.

They can be used to produce green hydrogen and convert carbon dioxide into feedstocks for the chemical industry. Electrolysis technologies have increasingly come into focus in the context of climate protection, energy and raw material change. The result: a plethora of catalyst candidates, almost none of which, however, has yet reached the stage of applicability. Marketable concepts for electrodes and cells are also still in short supply. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institutes UMSICHT, ISE and ICT, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Ruhr University Bochum, the Center for Fuel Cell Technology (ZBT) and the Danish company IRD Fuel Cells have investigated the reasons for this and what needs to change for electrolysis to become an industrial application. They have published their findings under the title "Crossing the Valley of Death: From Fundamental to Applied Research in Electrolysis" in the "Journal of American Chemistry Au".

Construction work has started on an unusual project in Oberhausen-Tackenberg: 836 residential units of the Osterfelder Wohnungsgenossenschaft and the Wohnungsgenossenschaft Oberhausen-Sterkrade will be supplied with climate-friendly local heat in the future. The energy supplier Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG (evo) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT developed the underlying energy supply concept, which includes building renovations by the housing cooperatives.

Defossilizing production chains and establishing circular, greenhouse gas-neutral material and energy conversion – the chemical industry has set itself ambitious goals in terms of sustainability. As of now, nine institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are providing support in this process: In the lead project ShaPID, they want to bundle their research activities for achieving the sustainability goals and at the same time strengthen their relationships with the industry.

"Functional components", "Characterization", "Manufacturing", "Cell and stack design": These are the main topics of this year's "E3C – Electrochemical Cell Concepts Colloquium". On May 6, 2021, researchers will discuss similarities and potential combinations of electrochemical reactor designs – interdisciplinary, international and virtual. The event is organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT.

Plastics offer very good properties, are often durable materials and are used in all kinds of areas - from packaging to the construction industry to medicine. If plastic products are recycled for as long as possible, resource consumption is reduced and the climate is protected. Many medical products that have only been approved by the manufacturer for a single use also contain plastics, for example electrophysiology catheters (heart catheters). A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT was commissioned by the Medical Remanufacturing company Vanguard AG to investigate the positive environmental impact of medical remanufacturing using certified processes rather than disposing of these products. At the AMDR (Association of Medical Device Reprocessors) round table on March 11, co-author Anna Schulte will explain the details of the recently published study.

Wastewater plants employ a variety of effective and established processes to treat sewage and wastewater. As yet, however, there is no ideal, uniformly recognized method for removing trace substances. Researchers from the Fraun-hofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT are seeking to change this. In a project known as ZeroTrace, they are pursuing an integrated approach that combines their very own activated carbon composite with a newly developed electrical regeneration process. The result is a method that promises efficiency, sustainability and large-scale viability.