Reference projects of the Fraunhofer IST

A major step in all manufacturing processes is the surface-coating technology used on metals. By providing, amongst other things, protection against corrosion and wear, this has a decisive influence on the durability of components. Electrochemical or galvanic coating is thereby one of the most effective and cost-efficient surface-technology processes and occupies a very large share of the global market.

Human stem cells are a major source of hope for modern medicine, e.g. in regenerative medicine or as a cell model for pharmaceutical development, as human pluripotent stem cells can form all cells present in the human body. As part of the Fraunhofer-internal project “LabBag®, the three participating Fraunhofer institutes set themselves the goal of developing a closed surface-based “laboratory in a bag” for the cultivation of stem cells.

Aluminum surfaces are rapidly gaining in popularity. Also on materials of different types, such as plastics or other metals. Unfortunately, galvanic processes such as those used for copper, nickel or gold cannot be used for aluminum. In the “GALACTIF” project, funded by the BMBF, a process has been developed for the galvanic deposition of aluminum from so-called ionic liquids. For the first time ever, the process has been successfully transferred from the protective glove box to an open system which can be further developed on an industrial scale.

The partners in the project “Accelerating digital transformation in Europe by Intelligent NETwork automation – Automation of Network edge Infrastructure & Applications with aRtificiAl intelligence (AI-NET-ANIARA)” have set themselves the goal of developing solutions for automated, intelligent and cross-locational data exchange on the basis of concrete application scenarios from the field of sensors and manufacturing.

For the Mars2020 mission, bandpass filters were coated at 950 nm on the EOSS® using the MOCCA+® control software. The coating materials had to be stable against radiation and the filter had to withstand many cycles in the thermal vacuum test to simulate the days and years on Mars. They were coated onto quartz glass, which was cut to size and then bonded to the sensor.

Paper-based construction materials are an integral part of our everyday lives in the packaging industry. In order to utilise paper for these and new areas of application, the hydrophobic and antimicrobial properties of the material must be improved. In contrast to the processes currently used to modify the properties of paper, plasma polymerisation is to be used in the production process. As part of the BioPlas4Paper project, a novel plasma source concept was developed that can be used to create a reproducible process environment under atmospheric pressure that minimises the influence of ambient air and thus achieves homogeneous, reproducible coating results.

The increasing environmental awareness of the population requires a constant reduction of CO₂ across the entire value chain and over the entire product life cycle in order to achieve future climate targets. Innovative lightweight materials, material combinations, production technologies and multifunctional structures can make a significant contribution to achieving these goals and strengthening Germany as a centre of innovation. The project focuses on the development, optimisation and scaling of lightweight materials and technologies. In order to bring together the individual developments and evaluate them in terms of resource efficiency and lightweight construction, the battery system of an electric vehicle is chosen as an application example and demonstrator. These battery systems represent a central innovation component of sustainable mobility and are crucial for the competitiveness of electrically powered vehicles made in Germany.

For the redetermination of the Avogadro constant, an alternative, homogeneous SiO2 coating is being investigated in order to reduce measurement uncertainty and to be able to precisely determine the volume and mass of the sphere. With the aid of the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique available at the Fraunhofer IST, it is possible to deposit stoichiometric SiO2 layers with a defined roughness and variable layer thickness whose properties meet the high requirements of the project. The SiO2 coatings developed at the Fraunhofer IST can be applied not only to spherical systems but also to surfaces of any complexity. Possible future fields of implementation range from optical applications, through semiconductors and electronics, and on to medical technology.

In the Demo-medVer project a mobile, decentralized system in modular configuration is being developed for the systemically integrated medical care of the population during a pandemic and in crisis and disaster situations. An essential component of decentralized care – and the focus of the work at the Fraunhofer IST – is the construction and testing of mobile systems to ensure an efficient and large-scale supply of disinfectants.

An additional tool was implemented into the broadband monitoring software MOCCA+® (Modular Optical Coating Control Application) as selectable option for thickness determination during optical interference filter deposition. The in situ measured transmittance spectra from an EOSS® (Enhanced Optical Sputtering System) coating machine in production environment could be successfully used.