Fraunhofer IPA

The research and development at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) focuses on organisational and technological tasks – especially with respect to production by industrial companies.

The IPA's “Functional Materials” department has been researching the properties of nanoscale carbon, e.g. carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanohorns (CNHs) and graphene, for over 10 years. The spectrum of expertise ranges from synthesis to functionalisation, formulation, dispersion and application and even to providing associated services in manufacturing engineering. In this regard, the department is especially active in the areas of mobility, living and communications and offers, for example, the following solutions and technology:

• Metals with high strength and significantly improved tribological properties – among others for lightweight construction and longer product service life.
• Energy-efficient heating elements, e.g. in the form of heating layers and heating papers, which allow a high level of design freedom and functional integration.
• Transparent, flexible and electrically conductive layers for photovoltaics and consumer electronics such as touch panels and displays.
• Process technologies for the graphene mass-production method for potential applications in the field of energy storage devices, barrier layers, sensors, etc.
• Multi-layer systems based on electroactive polymers for the manufacture of flexible, sensory and actuating systems such as actuators.