Press releases 2015

Schkopau/ValuePark®. In a ceremony marking its tenth anniversary, politics and business have recognized the Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center PAZ as an East German success story. Since 2005, the joint institution of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam-Golm and for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Halle has developed into a unique European research institution in the field of polymer synthesis and polymer processing on an industrial scale.

The EU tire label has made it easier for consumers to choose the right tire. For tire manufacturers, however, the label brings with it stricter requirements and related development costs. The Fraunhofer Pilot Center PAZ in Schkopau, a joint facility of the Fraunhofer IWM in Halle and the Fraunhofer IAP in Potsdam, develops rubber for these enhanced tires using cutting-edge solution polymerization, and scales them up so they are ready for series production. Our contract research benefits both our customers and the environment.

The natural rubber used in applications like high-performance truck tires is irreplaceable. However, limited space for the cultivation of rubber trees and entire rubber plantations succumbing to fungal infestations have put global rubber production at risk. The four Fraunhofer institutes - IAP, IME, ISC and IWM – have set themselves the task of making synthetic rubber that is just as high performing as natural rubber. They want to learn from the rubber of the Russian dandelion.