Feathers replace petroleum

Adhesives from feathers: The project addresses a billion-dollar market

06-Mar-2024 - Adhesives are almost always based on fossil raw materials such as petroleum. Researchers at Fraunhofer have recently developed a process that allows to utilize keratin for this purpose. This highly versatile protein compound can be found, for instance, in chicken feathers. Not only can it be used ...

Bacteria fed on a customized diet produce biodegradable polymers for alternative packaging in the cosmetics industry

Replacing harmful solvents with pressure change technology

06-Oct-2020 - Germany generates around 38 kilograms of plastic waste per capita each year. In a joint project with the University of Stuttgart and LCS Life Cycle Simulation, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and the Fraunhofer Institute for Process ...

Contact lenses with medicine and sugar

23-Apr-2019 - Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP are working with Israeli and German partners to develop long-wearing contact lenses that can release medicine. The active ingredient is encapsulated in liposomes and bound to the inside of the contact lenses. This enables it ...

Precisely fitting bone implants from the printer

07-Dec-2018 - Cancerous tumors, infections or bad fractures can make it necessary to surgically remove bones and insert implants in their place. In collaboration with European partners, Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a technique with which bone implants that are precisely fitting, stable and ...