
Contact Press / Media
Dr. rer. nat. Elke Metzsch-Zilligen
Group Manager Additivation
Fraunhofer-Institut für Betriebsfestigkeit und Systemzuverlässigkeit LBF
Schlossgartenstraße 6
64289 Darmstadt
Phone +49 6151 705-8609
Many polymers achieve their full efficiency and applicability in longtime application areas only with effective additives. Through additives, polymers can be developed conform to their specification by purposefully configuring surface properties, morphology and polymer architecture. High performance stabilizers, this meaning anti-oxidants and light-stability agents, guarantee long-lasting properties even under challenging conditions. For the development of formulated polymer systems the department “Formulation Development and Durability” combines analytical and physical measurement methodology in the research groups “Additives”, “Interface Design”, “Material Analytics” and “Morphology and Dynamics”. Material safety and reliability (fatigue, aging, flammability, health hazards), failure characteristics and resource efficiency are essential areas of research. Furthermore the focus lies on the development of analytical methods for high performance polymers, fracture mechanics of multiphase resin-systems, also under influence of different media, the examination of the kinetics of reactive processes, the control of interfacial surface properties, especially of filled and reinforced systems, and the development of plastic additives from the synthesis unto long-term testing (stabilization, flame protection, plastics modification).