Magazine "Research" of the Max Planck Society
Every three months, the Max Planck Society publishes its magazine "Research" with research topics from the Max Planck world. Various issues also feature articles on projects of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.
All links on this webpage open the page of the corresponding magazine at the Max Planck Society.
Numbness, immobility and, in the worst case, paraplegia - the severing of a nerve pathway - often has permanent consequences. This is because the extracellular matrix, which provides support for the neurons, is also damaged during the injury. Tanja Weil and Christopher Synatschke, who work at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, are looking for a replacement for this support material. And they have already made an important find.
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Katharina Landfester, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, has opened the door to numerous applications. She has developed a technology whereby tiny containers can be specifically manufactured for almost any substance and equipped with various functions. Her team is now working on using nanocapsules as transporters for pharmaceuticals, as medical sensors, or as fungus treatments in wine production.
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Konrad Meister from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz spent four months in Antarctica in cooperation with the universities of Oregon and Illinois (USA). He talks about long working days, explains what his research has to do with ice cream and why Antarctica is a place full of contrasts.
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Plastics are practical – not least because they last. But when they find their way into the environment, this is precisely what becomes a problem. The amount of plastic waste in the environment is constantly increasing. A team headed by Frederik Wurm at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz is therefore developing polymers that can be broken down by microorganisms once they have served their purpose. The researchers are applying what they’ve learned from their work on biodegradable polymers for medical use.
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Developing drugs that eliminate cancer cells effectively and have few or no side effects – this is one important aim of the Research Group led by Tanja Weil, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz. Weil and her team of chemists convert proteins into traceable drug transporters for nanomedicine with the help of miniscule diamonds.
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Monitors and smartphones that can be rolled and folded up, solar cells in clothing and cheap chips in packaging that store details about products – these are just some of the applications that could become possible in the future thanks to molecular electronics. At the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Paul Blom and Dago de Leeuw are optimizing the organic substances for this type of technology, paving the way for affordable, flexible and printable electronic components.
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Material scientists are pinning their hopes for the electronics of the future on graphene more than almost any other substance. The teams working with Klaus Müllen, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, and Jurgen Smet, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, are striving to make these hopes a reality.
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The research being undertaken by Doris Vollmer and Hans-Jürgen Butt could not only put an end to the annoyingsmears on window panes, it could also make it possible to produce self-cleaning solar panels or more effective heart-lung machines. The scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz are developing surfaces that are extremely water and blood repellent.
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Operation successful – patient dead. In German hospitals alone, 30,000 patients die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections that attack injuries and wounds or develop on implants. Researchers working with Renate Förch at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz aim to outwit these bacteria with the help of specially coated dressings.
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Printable, flexible and low-cost – these are the properties that engineers hope to achieve with organic electronics. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research are investigating various materials that can be used to manufacture monitors that can be rolled up, or low-cost chips for mass-produced articles.
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Polymer researchers have found a way to construct versatile nanoparticles that could also serve as vehicles for active agents.
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Organic electronics is paving the way for flexible solar cells and luminescent films.
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