Biogenic Materials
Source: https://www.cs.tum.de/en/research/focus/biogenic-materials Parent: https://www.cs.tum.de/en/
Materials are fundamentally important for innovations in engineering as well as for the manufacturing of consumer goods. Biogenic and biobased materials from renewable resources are a prerequisite for the sustainable production of advanced structural and functional materials for a variety of applications in all areas of industry (automotive, mechanical engineering, aviation, boat building), society (architecture, civil engineering, medicine) and environment (energy technology, recycling, biodegradation).
Research Groups
Professorship Organic Analytical Chemistry
Chair of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources
Prof. Dr. Rubén D. Costa, FRSC
Chair of Biogenic Functional Materials
Chair of Biogenic Polymers
Prof. Dr. Henrike Niederholtmeyer
Professorship Synthetic Biology
Project Highlights
Biopolymers and bionic light guides
Light guides play an important role in advanced data transmission. The Chair for Biogenic Polymers (Prof. Zollfrank) develops optical fibers and waveguides which consist solely of renewable resources. Cellulose from wood, especially, is a material with high potential for use in optical technologies. In a cooperation project with the University of Bayreuth (Fibrelab), based on biological models optical fibers, among other things, are created from composite material made from cellulose and spider silk proteins. The starting materials for biopolymer and bionic light guides are sustainably available and possess favorable, environmentally compatible characteristics.
Bio-hybrid LEDs and Solar Cells
The Chair of Biogenic Functional Materials focuses on building bridges between biology and technology for next-generation bio-hybrid lighting (LEDs and LECs) and photovoltaics (solar cells and windows). Are biogenic materials stable enough for your technologies at home? Can we produce parts of our structural components based on bacteria? Well, the answers are yes! The goal of Prof. Costa and his team is the advancement of commercial LEDs, LECs and solar windows to replace until now expensive, rare, toxic, or difficult to recycle materials with sustainable and affordable protein materials without output losses.
Archaeoinspired materials synthesis – Hotmelts from birch bark
In this project funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) novel biogenic hotmelt formulations based on birch bark with tailored properties via targeted functionalisation of birch bark pitch.
New old biopolymers – Cottonid
The biomechanical properties of cottonid – a fibre materials based on cellulose – are quantified in this project funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) with respect to its actuation characteristics in cooperation with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Walther (TU Dortmund).
Tailored Disorder SPP1839
Natural and artificially optimised optical materials are studied in this DFG Pritority Programme (SPP1839, spokesman Cordt Zollfrank) with respect to fundamental scientific questions and various topics of material science and engineering. Using inspiration from biological systems, results from physics, chemical approaches and validation from simulation the SPP will enable the design of novel advanced photonic materials.
More information can be found on the project website: https://www.cs.tum.de/spp1839/
Current Research Projects
Application of an innovative amperometric biosensor to determine the herbicidal effect of renewable raw materials (HerbiSens)
OAC
Optimising and adapting the use of herbicides is an important strategy in the European Green Deal, the Farm-to-Fork Strategy and the Bavarian Future Pact for Agriculture. The loss of approvals for proven herbicides and the reduction of application rates will certainly be accompanied by a decline in yields. The development of new strategies and active ingredients for weed control is therefore a current topic.
The HerbiSens project will make a direct contribution to the above-mentioned strategies by identifying herbicidal renewable raw materials (natural substances) to expand the range of active ingredients that can be used. Studies on herbicidal activity are usually carried out with whole plant extracts and their effect on the germination behaviour of weeds is determined. The active ingredients and mechanisms are often not known. Other existing methods have serious disadvantages: fluorescence interaction, the need for formulation and the need for the isolation of individual active ingredients.
The ‘HerbiSens’ project focuses on known targets such as photosystem II, which are mapped using innovative biosensors with high throughput potential. Correlating the inhibition data with data from the analysis using modern metabolomics methods will enable the identification of active natural substances. In addition, the spectrum of target structures that can be mapped using biosensors to identify herbicidal natural substances will be extended to include the shikimate pathway.
Project duration
2025-01-01 – 2027-12-31
Isomerising catalytic oxidation of oleic acid derivatives as a novel production method for myristic acid
OAC
Myristic acid is an ingredient in numerous cleaning agents and cosmetics. It is either produced synthetically or by processing palm kernel oil. Both have a significantly negative CO2 fingerprint, although palm kernel oil is a natural, plant-based product. It should be noted that in the tropics, primary rainforest is being cleared on a large scale to expand the plantations. This forest urgently needs to be preserved as a biodiversity reservoir and climate regulator.
A process that would be based on the use of oleic acid, which is available in large quantities in European oilseeds such as rapeseed or sunflower, could contribute significantly to the change in raw materials used in the production of cleaning agents and cosmetics. The conversion of oleic acid to myristic acid is a process that is to be achieved by isomerising and catalytic oxidation.
The research project aims to develop a catalyst that allows the double bond present in oleic acid to be shifted and simultaneously oxidised. The products will then be cleaned and incorporated into formulations to test whether and how the cleaning effect is achieved.
Project duration
2024-10-01 – 2027-09-30
Development of lighter plant fibre-reinforced clay building boards – feasibility and customer interest (FaLeScha)
MNR
OAC
Against the background of high environmental pollution and a high energy input in the construction industry, innovative products for interior finishing are to be developed and their acceptance investigated. By adding plant fibres and foams, the weight of clay building boards is to be reduced and lighter, natural fibre-reinforced clay building boards are to be developed. The requirements of craftsmen and consumers for such boards will also be analysed. Specific project objectives are:
- Investigating the feasibility of natural fibre-reinforced clay foams made from renewable raw materials to reduce the weight of clay building board.
- Development of lighter, natural fibre-reinforced clay building boards on this basis
- Analysing the interest of builders and craftsmen in such clay building boards
- Creation of information material for the building materials trade and craftsmen on earth building boards and lighter earth building boards based on plant fibre-reinforced foams
Project duration
2024-01-01 – 2026-12-31
Involved Personnel
Project Executives
Sebastian Gründig, M.A.
Professorship Marketing and Management of Biogenic Resources
- Doctoral Candidate
- Research Assistant
Phone: : +49 9421 187-223
Email: : sebastian.gruendig@hswt.de
TUM Campus Straubing
Am Essigberg 3\ 94315 Straubing
Room: 3515.03.009
Dr. Thomas Decker
Funding
The project is funded by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten and also involves companies from agricultural and construction sectors.
SK-HOP
OAC
Polyphenols obtained from the residues of hop extraction as natural antioxidants in cosmetic and food formulations
The large-scale production of polyphenols is of growing interest, as synthetic antioxidants will be increasingly banned in the EU in the coming years and are already being increasingly rejected by consumers. During the production of an ethanolic hop extract for the brewing industry, the so-called tannin extract is produced as a residue, which is a promising source of polyphenols and is not yet being utilised in an economically viable way. As part of this project, the residual material is to be purified and formulated as a source of natural antioxidants in cosmetics and foods as a stabiliser, preservative or due to its positive effect on health.
Project duration
1970-01-01 – 1970-01-01