September_AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 1 4 PORSCHE DRIVES AHEAD WITH BIOGENIC MATERIALS The inclusion of improved safety functions and more electronic equip- ment in new cars is causing a weight issue that challenges the overall goal to reduce CO 2 emissions. To address this, German automaker Porsche is le- veraging the benefits of organic mate- rials in its automotive manufacturing applications. The new 718 Cayman GT4 Club- sport features body parts made of natural-fiber composite materials de- veloped in the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research along with the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites of Hannover University, Germany. Weight is an important factor for electronic cars, since they require larg- er and thus heavier batteries in order to maximize range—a decisive sales crite- rium. Accordingly, new developments in lightweight design are an absolute prerequisite for truly efficient e-cars. Until now, the favored solution has been lightweight steels and car- bon-fiber-reinforced plastics, though both entail substantial challenges in machining, repairs, and recycling. Man- ufacturing these materials is also high- ly energy-intensive, subtracting from the positive environmental aspect of weight reduction. Researchers at Fraunhofer WKI thus posed the question of whether other fibrous materials could be used to reduce component weight, only us- ing carbon fibers in those places where they represent a structural advantage. As components in organic com- posites, vegetable fibers are a sustain- able alternative for lightweight vehi- cle bodies. The biogenic component improves the ecological impact of in- dustrial high-performance composite materials during manufacturing, use, and disposal. In addition, the naturally grown structure of organic composites gives materials acoustic damping properties and reduces splintering, which is im- portant in the event of a collision. www. fraunhofer.de . ULTRATHIN QUASI-2D GOLD Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) Center for Photonics and 2D Ma- terials, Russia, have synthesized a qua- si-2D gold film, thereby demonstrating howmaterials not classified typically as 2D can form atomically thin layers. The EMERGING TECHNOLOGY The University of Chicago announced a $100 million commitment from the Pritzker Foundation to support the new Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, becoming the first university in the U.S. with a school dedicated to this emerging field. uchicago.edu . BRIEF research shows that by using monolay- er molybdenum disulfide as an adhe- sion layer, quasi-2D gold can be depos- ited on an arbitrary surface. The team says the resulting ultra- thin gold films, which are just several nanometers thick, have high conductiv- ity and are useful for flexible and trans- parent electronics. The MIPT research- ers used thermal evaporation in a high vacuum environment to deposit thin gold films on a silicon substrate covered with silicon dioxide and a monolayer of molybdenum disulfide. A joint venture between Porsche Motorsport and Fraunhofer WKI, the BioConcept-Car uses a mix of organic fibers in the doors and rear wing. Courtesy of Fraunhofer WKI/Hans-Josef Endres. Depiction of quasi-2D gold, which has applications for the semiconductor industry. Courtesy of Ella Maru Studio. NanoLab at the new Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Courtesy of University of Chicago/Robert Kozloff. The team emphasizes the uni- versal applicability of their technique: The monolayer can be deposited on an arbitrary surface with any properties to produce an ultrathin, ultrasmooth metal film coating. Such quasi-2Dmetal layers can be integrated into multilayer “sandwich” structures incorporating various 2D materials. Known as van der Waals heterostructures, they might feature diverse components, including semiconductors, dielectrics, semime- tals, and—from now on—metals, too. www.mipt.ru/english.