Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWSWith around 100 guests from 12 countries, polymertec24 took place on June 19/20. This time, the traditional conference at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences focused on concepts for the sustainability of polymer materials and plastics technologies. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS supported the conference as co-organizer and was represented with numerous contributions in the conference program.
"After Polymertec 2021 could only take place digitally, it was all the nicer to be able to talk to many guests in person again this time and make valuable contacts," says Prof. Dr. Maik Feldmann, Head of the "Polymer Applications" Business Unit at the Fraunhofer IMWS, who conceived the conference together with Prof. Dr. Valentin Cepus, Professor of Chemistry/Instrumental and Plastics Analysis at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences. "We were able to present and discuss many new findings along the entire polymer materials value chain. With the focus on sustainable solutions, I think we also met the interests of the participants from science and industry well," he concludes.
The program included 60 lectures and 20 posters, and polymertec24 also featured an exhibition in which six manufacturers of scientific equipment for characterizing, testing and processing plastics presented their latest equipment. The conference was once again coupled with the problem seminar "Deformation and fracture behavior of plastics". Participants were offered excursions to the Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center for Polymer Synthesis and Processing PAZ in Schkopau and the Fraunhofer IMWS in Halle (Saale). There was also an evening event in the historic Ständehaus Merseburg.
The technical sessions and the exchange during the conference aim to strengthen the connection between the broad spectrum of knowledge-oriented research, applied basic research and technology-oriented research, thereby also acting as a mediator between academia and industry. The topics of the sessions were Biopolymers, Plastic Recycling and Circular Economy, Polymers for sustainable technologies, Thermoplastic lightweight structures and Characterization of Plastics. Scientists from the Fraunhofer IMWS acted as (co-)session chairs for three of these sessions.
Employees from all business units of the Fraunhofer IMWS were represented with presentations in the conference program. Rene Sattler presented "Crystal growth and polymorphic states in long chain polyamides PA10.n". Benjamin Tillner explained "Sustainable material concepts for use in continuous fiberreinforced thermoplastic semi-finished products". The topic of Dr. Anton Mordvinkin's presentation was "Applying sustainable polymer films for photovoltaic modules: Reliability studies". Marco Rudolph addressed "Microstructural analyses of failure mechanisms in insulating polymers for power electronics", Dr. Marianne John focused on the "Assessment of novel sandwich structures from hybrid foam injection molding technique for automotive applications" and Dr. Patrick Hirsch looked at "Sustainable and material efficient design with thermoplastic tape laying technology". Varun Kumar Minupala contributed new findings on the "Analysis of thermoplastic sandwich structures in thermoforming and injection molding processes" to the conference program, Prof. Dr. Thomas Höche spoke about "Fabricating freeform microstructures on polymers by laser swelling", Dr. Juliana Martins-Schalinski presented new approaches to the "Investigation of porosity and strength of ultraporous PAN/PVA sponges through imaging techniques".
"In my opinion, the diverse content on functional lightweight construction, the formation and degradation of microplastics, the use of renewable raw materials for the plastics industry and biopolymers for technical applications made the program stand out," says Feldmann. "I also found it very pleasing that we considered the industrial perspective, for example in the injection molding topics or through the exchange with international clusters."
The contents of the lectures and posters will be published in the journal "Macromolecular Symposia".