Institute of Materials Physics and Technology (M-22)

Prof. Dr. Ing. Karl Ulrich Kainer (em.)
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Bormann (em.)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Mecking (em.)

Eißendorfer Straße 42, 21073 Hamburg

Tel.: + 49 - 40 - 42878 - 32 35

Research and Teaching at the Institute of Materials Physics and Technology at Hamburg University of Technology focus on modern issues of Metal Physics, Nanotechnology and the Interface Sciences.

The institute maintains a close relationship with the Institute of Hydrogen Technology of the Helmholtz Center Hereon in Geesthacht.

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News

Strength and Flexibility – Prof. Shan Shi’s Work with Nanoporous Metals

,Metallic muscles’ might bring to mind heavy, clumsy robots, but not for Professor Shan Shi, leader of the Integrated Metallic Nanomaterials Group at Hamburg University of Technology. At the nanoscale, she says, porous metals can be remarkably responsive and therefore have strong potential for their use in soft robotics — a field traditionally dominated by polymers rather than metals. While polymers offer flexibility, they often lack mechanical strength. Nanoporous metals, by contrast, combine deformability with higher strength and durability, opening new possibilities for actuators that mimic the motion of natural muscles while benefiting from metallic robustness.

New kinetic rate theory explains slow-down of hydriding kinetics near critical points and phase transformations

Researchers at Hamburg University of Technology and at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have developed a new theoretical framework that explains a long-standing puzzle in hydrogen-solid interactions: why hydrogen uptake in metals can slow down dramatically near phase transformations, even when diffusion inside the material is extremely fast. The results have been published in Physical Review Letters.

Group of Integrated Metallic Nanomaterials Systems (M-EXK4)

Group of Materials Mechanics

Group of Interface-Controlled Materials