Smart biomaterials – material treasures of the future

The smarthoch³ network is organizing the Smart Materials Summit 2025 together with the VDI/VDE Technical Committee “Smart Materials and Systems.” New ideas for smart material innovations from shape memory materials, piezo materials, dielectric plastics, and elastocalorics will be discussed, as well as high-tech solutions from smart biomaterials.

Biomaterials as an energy source

At the invitation of Fraunhofer IWU, Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters will deliver his keynote speech, explaining the future significance of smart biomaterials and illustrating this with examples of current developments. He will focus primarily on the shape-changing qualities of cellulose materials for the development of smart architectural structures.

He will also demonstrate how to produce biodegradable sensors from bacterial cellulose and will discuss structural dyes using natural materials. One mayor topic is how to produce batteries from algae or fungi. He will also present the current status of the “Mycoustics” research project and explain the potential for further applications.

In the project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Finance and Technology (BMFTR), Fraunhofer IWU is developing a process chain for the additive manufacturing of a loudspeaker cabinet with living fungal mycelium. In a single process step, both sound-reflecting and sound-absorbing surfaces are to be created, thus influencing the sound experience.

The summit will be accompanied by an accompanying exhibition with demonstrators and exhibits from the Fraunhofer IWU, Festo, Nanoscribe and the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology ZeMA.

Registration and program at: www.smart-materials-summit.de