Prof. Holger Frauenrath has been awarded an ERC PoC 2015
© 2016 Prof. Frauenrath
Prof. Holger Frauenrath has been awarded a Proof of Concept ERC Grant. This funding initiative is designed to support ERC grantees with the commercial or societal application of the results of their funded research.
Abstract of the project
Materials with excellent diffusion barrier properties are highly relevant for packaging applications (food, pharmaceutics), sealing (car tires), protective encapsulation (microelectronics, photovoltaics, displays), and anticorrosive coatings (automotive). In all these fields of application, there is a strong technological demand for more effective, less costly, and environmentally benign solutions, which constitutes a significant business opportunity.
The proposed project aims to develop novel barrier layers and anticorrosive coatings based on functionalized carbon nanosheets that are prepared from reactive molecular precursors with chemical functional groups that provide surface-specific binding and adhesion. These materials combine the excellent barrier and anticorrosive properties of atomically dense carbon or inorganic thin film coatings with the tailored surface properties of monolayer coatings. Moreover, their preparation will be compatible with scalable and inexpensive solution-phase processing methods such as painting, spraying, or printing, followed by UV curing.
The goal of the proposed project is to provide technology demonstrators for a diffusion barrier layer aimed at packaging applications, as well as for a wear-resistant, anti-corrosive coating on a metal surface.