Polymers are ubiquitous in everyday life: from packaging materials all the way to specialty products in medicine and medical engineering. Today it is difficult to find a product which does not (at least in parts) consist of polymeric materials. The question of how these materials can be improved with respect to their disposal and consumption of (natural) resources during manufacturing is often raised. Today polymers must be fully recycled in Germany and many other countries due to the fact that they do not (or only very slowly) decompose in nature. Furthermore significant reductions of crude oil consumption during synthesis are of increasing importance in order to improve the sustainability of this class of materials. With respect to disposal polymers which do not have to be disposed by combustion but rather allow natural decomposition (composting) are of increasing interest. Polymers from renewable sources are also of interest for modern microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) especially if the systems designed are intended as single-use products.
This lecture will introduce the most important classes of these so-called biopolymers and bioplastics. It will also discuss and highlight polymers which are created from naturally created analogues (e.g. via fermentation) to petrochemical polymer precursors and describe their technical processing. Numerous examples from MEMS as well as everyday life will be given.
Modalities of the course
The course is an online self-taught course, i.e., you can study the lecture material using the presented material at your own leisure and pace. If you have questions, please PM the teacher or write a message to the forum - the teacher will be informed about new messages posted daily.
Appointments for the oral exam can be made with the teacher at any point in time - there is no fixed exam period.
The current self-enrollment key is: pmc-2020!
- Teacher: Bastian Rapp
- Teacher: Matthias Worgull