Press

The corona pandemic presents major challenges for society, the economy and science. The common goal must be to find a way out of the crisis as quickly as possible, whereby the protection of humans must remain the number one priority. The scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig are also making an important contribution by means of their developments, the activation of their networks, the evolvement of their project ideas and their support of the economy and society in coping with direct effects and subsequent consequences. A number of projects are thereby being funded directly by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft using internal resources within the framework of the central action program “Fraunhofer vs. corona”.

Hydrogen plays a key role in the search for future energy sources that reduce CO₂ emissions and provide a stable energy supply. The joint project “Neo-PEC“ therefore aims to develop a tandem module that will be able to produce green hydrogen in a clean and cost-effective manner, thus enabling a decentralized hydrogen supply using an energy carrier which is transportable according to demand. With the help of the module, water is directly split into hydrogen and oxygen by photo-catalytic means (Photo Electro-Catalytic (PEC) Water Splitting). This novel technology does not require expensive electrolyzers and is scalable as required. For the three-year project “Neo-PEC“, 3.4 million euros are being made available to the participating partners Fraunhofer IKTS, IST and CSP within the framework of the Fraunhofer internal funding program PREPARE.

With the EOSS^® (Enhanced Optical Sputtering System) coating platform developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, highly sophisticated optical coatings can be produced, e.g. for optical filters. In addition to almost defect-free layers, complicated layer designs comprised of up to several hundred individual layers can be realized in a controlled manner with very high precision and uniformity.

More than 100 million people in Southern Africa still have no access to clean water. Especially in rural areas, many streams, lakes or other natural sources are heavily polluted. Together with nine other European and African partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST has developed a decentralized water-purification system in order to change this.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has founded a hydrogen network - which now also includes the Fraunhofer IST, represented by Dr.-Ing. Marko Eichler. The aim of the network is developing hydrogen technologies to market maturity within a short period of time and therefore providing a contribution towards the energy revolution.

From 5^th - 6^th December 2019, the 18th International Conference on Reactive Sputter Deposition RSD took place in Braunschweig, Germany for the first time. Organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, the conference and accompanying exhibition provided an excellent platform for the around 100 participants from 22 countries to discuss the latest trends and their implementation in new technologies and innovative products.

Solar cells with the highest level of efficiency provide electricity cost-effectively and thereby consume less space and fewer resources. They also enable the creation of new products, such as electric cars, which can be charged via solar cells. Due to the physical limitations, the efficiency of silicon solar cells can no longer be increased arbitrarily. With tandem solar cells comprised of several light-absorbing layers, however, efficiency levels of more than 35 % are possible, as a result of which they have become the focus of current solar-cell research. In the Fraunhofer lighthouse project “MaNiTU”, six Fraunhofer institutes are developing sustainable, highly efficient and cost-effective tandem solar cells on the basis of new absorber materials.

This year, a total of three Fraunhofer IST apprentices successfully completed their training. Two apprentices were even honored by the Braunschweig Chamber of Industry and Commerce for their particularly good performance in the final examinations.

On 3^rd September, the time had finally come: After eleven years, Project Manager Torsten Hochsattel held in his hands the – for the time being – final antenna component for the Sentinel-1C and D missions to be coated by him and the galvanic team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST.

The Fraunhofer Battery Alliance bundles the expertise of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the field of electrochemical energy storage devices. Only recently, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, represented by the engineers Sabrina Zellmer and Stefan Blume, has also been a member.