Research Interest

(C) Fraunhofer IGB

Sustainable & biogenic materials

We focus our research around building blocks derived from biogenic materials such as arthropod exocuticle. The picture to the left shows larvae cuticles which can be used to derive chitosan

Use chemistry to get structural materials

These building blocks are processed and changed in a way that we can obtain a structural material that could be potentially useful for building applications.

Nils v. Seggern

Make bioinspired responsive materials

Additional chemical synthesis allows that the “dumb” biogenic building blocks are connected in a way so that they mechanically respond to an external stimulus such as light.

…towards living materials

As an overall vision we aim to implement materials in living systems, so that the future building could work in a more symbiotic way with the living nature such as a tree. Conventional materials are already used to exploit living organisms in buildings such as the BiQ house in Hamburg on the right.

biq photo
Photo by Gunnar Ries zwo