If the surfaces of materials are treated with a special laser technology, they can, for example, conduct electricity better or repel bacteria and viruses. Professor Frank Mücklich from Saarland University is an expert in this laser technology and functional materials of all kinds. He has headed the chair of the same name there for 30 years, founded the Steinbeis Research Center for Materials Technology 15 years ago and added the company Surfunction five years ago.
Frank Mücklich is also familiar with the future topics in his field as spokesman for the "Materials Science and Engineering" topic network at the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). As a young scientist, Frank Mücklich asked himself how finely structured surfaces in living nature could be transferred to the world of materials. "The leaves of trees are wetted differently by rain, while water rolls off a lotus flower completely. And a snake can only move quickly with the help of its skin scales," the materials researcher cites as an example. He came up with the idea of transferring these mostly regular, microscopically fine patterns from nature to material surfaces using a special laser technology. "We use the physical principle of interference, i.e. the superposition of waves. The light intensity of the laser beams is condensed so extremely in small periodic patterns that they literally create microscopic structures on the surfaces at lightning speed," explains the Saarbrücken professor.
Changing the properties of surfaces with laser beam interference structuring
This direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) can now be applied to practically any solid material without contact and at speeds of up to one square meter per minute. "This allows us to change the properties of surfaces, for example to make them less prone to friction, less susceptible to wear or more conductive. The areas of application are very diverse. For example, we are helping the automotive industry to make the more than 2,000 electrical plug connections that an electric car contains today more reliable and durable," says Mücklich. This is because the electrical contacts that control cameras and sensors, for example, have to function continuously and without the slightest interruption, even in cold and wet conditions or when exposed to vibrations. "Thanks to our laser structuring, metal surfaces can conduct electricity up to 80 percent better than conventional plug connections and require around 40 percent less force to plug them into each other. This plays a key role in assembly and subsequent maintenance in workshops around the world, as it means that even more individual connectors can be bundled together and installed more economically," says the materials scientist. This technology, which is precisely tailored to the respective application, is now also being successfully marketed industrially by the start-up company Surfunction, a spin-off from the Steinbeis Research Center Material Engineering Center Saarland (MECS).
Laser-structured materials reduce bacteria and microorganisms on surfaces
During ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer's ISS mission three years ago, Professor Mücklich also attracted attention to his research in space. The laser-structured materials were able to help reduce the adhesion of bacteria and other microorganisms to surfaces such as handles, switches and fittings. In the meantime, a total of over 900 samples have been analyzed during space missions. "We are currently developing new types of surfaces for stents used in heart operations, for example, so that they are not perceived by the human body as foreign bodies and trigger inflammation. If successful, this could reduce the use of antibiotics after an operation and also reduce the risk of thrombosis inside the stents because the red blood cells can no longer clump together on the inner surface of the stents," explains Frank Mücklich.
Laser technology saves on chemicals for surface treatment
As laser technology can be applied not only to metals, but also to glass, ceramics and plastics, it is of interest for counterfeit protection. "This can be applied to all materials and components whose manufacturing process needs to be traced in a forgery-proof manner," explains the materials researcher. He points out that non-contact laser technology also means that no tools are worn out and companies can save on chemical substances for surface treatment in many areas. "This is also essential for the circular economy, i.e. a gradual, increasingly consistent circular economy in which as many materials as possible can be fully recycled. The fewer chemical coatings we use and the more economically we use materials in the future, the easier it will be to dismantle them and reuse them in a circular process," says Professor Mücklich. This requires interdisciplinary thinking and often also rethinking the design of products so that they are constructed in such a way that they are easier to repair, for example, and can ultimately be dismantled and recycled according to type. (OM-7/25)
Brief portrait of materials researcher Frank Mücklich
Professor Frank Mücklich heads the Chair of Functional Materials and the European School of Materials Research (EUSMAT) at Saarland University and is the founding director of the Material Engineering Center Saarland (MECS) and spokesperson for materials research at the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). He has received numerous national and international awards for his research. Most recently, he received the Heyn Memorial Medal from the German Society for Materials Science in 2023, the highest award for his life's work. Born in Dresden, he is the co-founder of Surfunction, a company that offers innovative surfaces based on laser-based DLIP technology. Projects under space conditions in cooperation with NASA and ESA have attracted particular attention. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, himself Professor Frank Mücklich's first graduate student, supervised these projects with other astronauts on the ISS space station.
For queries
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Mücklich
Chair of Functional Materials at Saarland University
Steinbeis-Forschungszentrum Material Engineering Center Saarland (MECS)
Tel. +49 681 302-70500
Mail: frank.muecklich@uni-saarland.de
Contact
Saarland University
Campus
66123 Saarbrücken (Germany)
Phone: +49 681 302-0
E-mail: info@uni-saarland.de
www.uni-saarland.de
About Saarland University - Chair of Functional Materials
Saarland University is the largest university in Saarland with around 17,000 students and 4,800 employees. It is home to the Chair of Functional Materials, which researches materials with tailored physical properties - for example using laser structuring or microstructuring processes on a micro, nano and atomic scale - and conducts research into their functionalization, for example for antimicrobial surfaces, sensor-actuator systems or tribological applications.