Research platform Polymer Technology Centre

Foto: Hereon/Kirstein

The Polymer Technology Centre (PTC) research platform exists at the Polymer and Hydrogen Technology Centre at the Helmholtz Centre Hereon. This is where the transfer of membrane-based separation technologies into industrial applications is being driven forward.

In the laboratories and technical rooms of the PTC, customised polymers (plastics) in particular are developed, processed and characterised. The focus here is on new materials for membrane applications for filtration and gas separation, which can be produced here on an industrial scale, supported by digital twins. Particular emphasis is placed on sustainable process management: Recycling of used solvents through in-house membrane technology, development of solvent-free processes for polymerisation and membrane production.

At the Polymer and Hydrogen Technology Centre, we work closely with our colleagues in hydrogen research in the Hydrogen Technology department, who have their own research platform in the building in the form of the HTC (Hydrogen Technology Centre).
A joint research focus of the PTC and the HTC is on the development of hydrogen storage materials made of polymer-light metal hydride composites. (BMBF research projects HyScore ‘Efficient H₂-storage through novel hierarchical porous core-shell structures with embedded light metal hydrides’ and HyPoKo ‘Efficient H₂-storage below 100°C’)