Press releases 2019

Fraunhofer IWS scientists headed by Dr. Holger Althues have developed an innovative process for the cost-efficient production of thin lithium anodes made of molten lithium. In the BMBF-funded “MaLiBa” project, the Dresden Institute is working with the companies hpulcas and SGS as well as with scientists led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Janek of the Justus Liebig University in Giessen to solve further crucial issues relating to this concept. The most important innovation consists in realizing an anode compound. This contains a few micrometers thick nickel foil with lithium film stabilized by means of protective layers.

Dresden materials expert Christoph Leyens has been appointed Adjunct Professor by the renowned RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Leyens is head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS and director of the Institute for Materials Science at Dresden University of Technology.

Together with the automotive industry, researchers at the Fraunhofer IWS have been working to develop processes for friction-reducing surfaces of engine components over the past few years. Now, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced even further by enhancing surface technology. The Dresden Institute is researching in this direction with various partners in the joint project "Prometheus".

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed a joining gun that creates a connection between metal and thermoplastic materials within seconds. This gun is of a modular design and can easily be integrated into the production process, for example by mounting on a robot arm in place of a spot welding gun. At the preview leading up to the Hanover Trade Fair on January 24, 2019 on the trade fair grounds in Hall 19, scientist Annett Klotzbach will be demonstrating the advantages of the joining gun.

The phenomenon of so-called superlubricity is known, but so far the explanation at the atomic level has been missing: for example, how does extremely low friction occur in bearings? Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institutes IWM and IWS jointly deciphered a universal mechanism of superlubricity for certain diamond-like carbon layers in combination with organic lubricants. Based on this knowledge, it is now possible to formulate design rules for supra lubricating layer-lubricant combinations. The results are presented in an article in Nature Communications, volume 10.