Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research: Natural Polymers

To optimize mechanical properties and determine causes of failure, we study the structure-property relationships of materials made from natural and synthetic polymers, using our facilities of light and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy. We have special experience in the study of cellulosic materials and in trouble shooting of material production.

Contact

Dr. Johannes Ganster
Phone +49 (0) 331/ 568-1706
Fax +49 (0) 331/ 568-3707
e-mail ganster@iap.fraunhofer.de

The base of our work is the many years' experience of our colleagues and a good scientific equipment for structure characterization. The various methods complement each other very well by registration of different structure levels and were therefore used often in an effective combination.

In the field of transmission and scanning electron microscopy special preparation techniques for an artifact free analysis of the morphological structures of solid polymers, composite materials and especially of high-swelling products are our excellence.

X-ray wide angle and small angle diffraction methods are applied to characterize supermolecular structures, to determine the degree of crystallinity, crystal size, orientation and to investigate the structure of cavities.

For the NMR studies of solid natural and synthetic polymers we use the ¹³C-CP/MAS method predominantly. In this way we can obtain high resolved NMR spectra in solids to get information about the chemical constitution and the supermolecular structure.

Further information:

Material development and structure characterization