Press | Media

Compile an emissions balance sheet, evaluate climate-protection measures and implement the most efficient of these first: Researchers from three Fraunhofer institutes have developed a method with which companies from all sectors are able, based on scenarios, to evaluate their climate-protection measures in accordance with ecological and economic criteria.

In times of increasingly stringent hygiene and food-safety requirements, the need for effective but simultaneously environmentally-friendly disinfection methods is growing. One possible alternative to conventional disinfectants is provided by plasma-activated water. The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, has investigated the effectiveness and durability of this innovative solution, and has summarized the results in a study.

In high-precision internal-gear hubs, all the components must function reliably within an extremely confined space - even in cases where the installation space does not allow the insertion of conventional shaft seals. In such cases, liquid sealants are utilized; their adhesion to metallic surfaces, however, often poses a challenge. The collaborative work of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, Rohloff AG, and the Danish plasma and corona equipment manufacturer Tantec A/S has now resulted in an innovative solution that specifically improves the adhesion of these sealants.

Premiere at the Joint Campus Wolfsburg: From 8 to 12 September, the first Summer School on the “Automotive Circular Economy” will take place. Students from various disciplines will be brought together by Technical University of Braunschweig, the Open Hybrid LabFactory, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences and Fraunhofer CCEM to develop ideas for sustainable automotive production.

A state-of-the-art research platform for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies is being built at the Lower Saxony Research Centre for Vehicle Technology (NFF) at Technische Universität Braunschweig. The aim is to comprehensively expand a gaseous and liquid hydrogen infrastructure to support both basic and application-oriented research in the field of energy storage and propulsion. On 21 August, Science Minister Falko Mohrs officially presented funding approvals totalling around 4.3 million euros to TU Braunschweig and the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, of which just under 4 million euros will go to TU Braunschweig and over 300,000 euros to the Fraunhofer IST.

Whether in medical technology, electronics, or automotive manufacturing, the demands on functional coatings are constantly increasing. In addition to an efficient performance, they must also be highly reliable and wear- and corrosion-resistant under extreme conditions. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is a key technology for solving these challenges. Through the creation of highly ionized plasmas, coatings can be produced which are particularly dense, adherent, and precisely controllable. The 15th International Conference on Fundamentals and Industrial Applications of HIPIMS, which took place in Braunschweig at the end of June, focused on how this technology is developing and where it can be applied in the future.

With the utmost precision, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST has won this year’s Manufacturing Challenge at the Optical Interference Coatings Conference (OIC2025) in the USA. In this international competition, a spectroscopically precisely defined optical filter had to be manufactured as accurately as possible – a task that demands both creativity and the highest precision in design, production, and measurement technology. The first place among the worldwide entries is impressive proof of the institute’s outstanding expertise in the field of optical coatings.

High-performance, environmentally stable infrared optics are essential for modern applications in analytics, security and aerospace. At LASER World of Photonics 2025, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting newly developed coating solutions that offer maximum precision and long-term stability – even under extreme conditions.

Around the world, there is a lack of comprehensive medical care for people living in remote areas. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have devised a solution for this in the PreCare project: a flexible, modular health platform that can be installed on the bed of a pickup truck. It is already in use in South Africa and Namibia. The team was presented with the Innovations for a Better Future award from the Fraunhofer-Zukunftsstiftung (Fraunhofer Future Foundation) for this development.

For a long time, hyperspectral imaging was considered complex and space-consuming. New technologies are, however, now paving the way for compact and efficient solutions. Interference filters that can be integrated directly into CMOS image sensors enable customized spectral analyses in the smallest of spaces. They thereby open up new application possibilities in environmental monitoring, agriculture and industrial quality assurance. The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be providing an insight into this key optical-sensor technology on the Fraunhofer joint stand at this year’s LASER World of Photonics in Munich.