The series of events "Jung-DGM präsentiert" (Young DGM presents), which was launched in April, offers digital workshops and networking events in addition to presentations by experts and virtual excursions to research institutions and companies. The three topics of functional materials, sustainability and digitization serve as a common thread throughout the year 2021.

The digital lecture event on June 10 was a special feature of the series because two experts in polymer materials gave a double lecture in English:

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Koltzenburg (BASF, University of Heidelberg), in his lecture "The Second Century: Polymers from an Industrial Perspective," traced a chronological arc from the invention of polymer chemistry by Hermann Staudinger 100 years ago, through its further development and increasing industrialization and social acceptance, to an outlook on the next 100 years of polymer research and development. Of particular importance here was the interdisciplinarity between chemistry, physics, biology, medical technology and engineering - polymer materials cannot be adapted to increasingly complex and highly specialized requirements of various applications by their synthesis alone, but also require a profound understanding of the process-structure-property relationships and a far-reaching view of the entire application system. Furthermore, the presentation also highlighted the challenge of microplastics as an environmental burden, which should not be underestimated, and which is being addressed through the development of biodegradable polymers and recycling processes.

In the second lecture of the evening, "Life Cycle of Polymers: From Cradle to Grave," Prof. Dr. Ulrich Dahn (Munich University of Applied Sciences) discussed different raw materials for polymer materials, including renewable natural products, and their life cycle. He placed an emphasis on aging processes and mechanisms, their impact on polymer properties, and the influence on the service life of polymer products. In terms of sustainability, important aspects of recycling were also highlighted from different perspectives.

We would like to thank Prof. Koltzenburg and Prof. Dahn for this successful lecture evening and the subsequent very fruitful discussion with the auditorium. Many thanks also to the participants and we would be pleased to welcome you at our next events!

You can find the next events here.