Sustainable polymer and particle platform

Duration: 01 January 2024 to 30 May 2026
Funding amount: 1,000,000 euros
Participants: Prof. Dr. Ulrich S. Schubert Dr.-Ing. Anja Träger

Polymers are essential components of numerous technologies. In agriculture, as well as in the pharmaceutical and food industries, polymer particles are used to protect sensitive active ingredients such as vitamins or pheromones and to release them in a controlled manner. These technologies enable longer shelf life and higher effectiveness but also raise environmental concerns due to difficult degradation or unwanted residues.

Solution approach

Using two application examples in agriculture and healthcare—fields in which ecological and health-related aspects are particularly important—the manufacturing processes are to be made more environmentally friendly with the help of a platform. The platform combines technologies and methods that can be used, for example, to develop tailor‑made pharmaceuticals. Its major advantage lies in its adaptability: it can be used flexibly for a wide range of applications because it is based on a shared technological foundation—the so‑called platform.

The first application example focuses on the encapsulation of labile substances. Labile substances can include genetic information in the form of mRNA—and the transfer of mRNA into specific cells is essential for the production of biopharmaceuticals. The encapsulation of highly volatile substances is at the core of the second application example. Volatile substances may include pheromones, i.e., scent molecules used for monitoring and controlling insect populations. In this way, the use of insecticides—for example against bark beetles—could be adjusted so that large‑scale collateral damage is avoided.