Regional Forum Saar

Sustainable materials through circular economy and hydrogen technology

Find answers to the current challenges of resource-saving production, use and recycling of materials? Taking a big step closer to the transformation to CO2-free steel production? The 11th Saar Regional Forum was dedicated to these two topics, which are both important for the future of industry and science, but also for the individual. Interested members of the audience from the field of materials science and engineering in Saarland and the surrounding area had the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information on these topics in the auditorium of Saarland University on 28 June 2022. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Mücklich from Saarland University and Christian Weber from SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar in Dillingen, formed the industrial-scientific lecture tandem.

Prof. Mücklich motivated the topic of Circular Economy as an international need of societal sustainability strategies as well as a strategy counter to the current gas shortage. Using wind turbines and solar cells as examples, he concretized the use of materials (and thus a multitude of chemical elements) from utilization to recycling, for the outlook into a real functioning circular economy. This is relevant for the material steel, which currently still has a significant CO2 footprint. The recently ever-increasing chemical diversity of products (smartphone with ~70 elements) should also be reduced, according to Mücklich. To this end, he hinted at the few elements needed in nature and a process for surface functionalization (DLIP). The latter was developed by Mücklich in his research group and transferred to industrial application in a spin-off company (Surfunction GmbH).

The full report can be found here: https://www.uni-saarland.de/fakultaet-nt/regionalforum/fruehere-foren/forum-2022.html 

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