Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP

Key figures / Profile

• R&D of polymer applications
• custom development and optimization of innovative and sustainable materials, processing aids and processes
• environmentally friendly, economical production, functionalization and processing of polymers in the laboratory and pilot plant scale as well as characterization of polymers
• Material focus: Synthetic petroleum-based polymers, biopolymers, polymers from renewable raw materials and chemically, physically or biologically functionalized polymers
• applications are diverse, e.g. biotechnology, medicine, pharmacy and cosmetics
• Director: Prof. Dr. Alexander Böker

We offer

• development and optimization of fermentation processes (upstream) and of downstream processes
• fermentative production (up to 100 L) of monomers (e. g. lactic acid) for polymer synthesis, and biopolymers (e. g. PHB) and proteins (e. g. enzymes, structure proteins)
• genetic engineering (S1, S2), strain development, metabolic engineering
• (heterologous) protein expression and purification
• multi-bioreactor plant with online analytics (pH, pO2, viable biomass, gas inlet /outlet)
• scale-up of upstream and downstream processes
• cloning and protein engineering
• biomolecular interaction studies (SPR; Micro-ITC)
• expression analyses and quantification of genes (RT-PCR)
• chromatography methods (LC, LC-MS, UPLC, UPLC-MS, preparative HPLC-MS)
• Particle size analysis (DLS)
• (confocal) fluorescence microscopy, digital 2D and 3D microscopy
• atomic force microscopy, molecular mechanical analysis
• surface analysis by UV / VIS / NIR absorbance and reflectance measurements
• measurement of contact angle, surface and interfacial tension and free surface energy
• General polymer characterization methods
• Structure-efficacy optimization of drug delivery systems