In vehicle construction, in aviation, in the furniture industry or in medical technology: Composite materials are used wherever lightweight and load-bearing elements are required. By combining different materials, composite materials are created that have certain properties and meet specific requirements. However, conventional composites are usually made from fossil raw materials such as concrete and are not sustainable. Not only does the production process cause significant CO2 emissions. Recycling is also energy-intensive.

The end of fossil raw materials such as crude oil, natural gas and coal is approaching. Although they are now mainly used for energy, companies are also looking for sustainable alternatives for material use. At the "Renewable Raw Materials Conference" in Siegburg in May, the "Renewable Raw Material of the Year 2023" will be voted on. From 30 applications, the organizer nova-Institut and the conference advisory board have selected six candidates for the final - including two German start-ups.

Spent grain, which is a by-product of beer brewing, contains many valuable ingredients. With its high protein content, spent grain can be used as animal feed, for example. In reality, however, it is usually disposed of as waste. Researchers have now discovered the residual material as a source of raw materials for new biobased products. Researchers at the University of Jena, for example, have joined forces with Spanish partners to test whether brewer's grains are also suitable for the production of modern electrochemical energy storage systems.

Photosynthesis is the basis of all plant life: plants use the chemical reaction chain to build biomass from carbon dioxide in the air and solar energy. Of central importance in this process are the so-called photosystems I and II - enzyme complexes that catalyze the chemical reactions. For a long time, researchers have been trying to technically imitate photosynthesis in order to produce chemical compounds cheaply and sustainably.

When one thinks of a robot, the first association is probably a machine made of metal - or for some perhaps even modern robots in plastic housing or even with artificial skin. But you probably don't associate muscles with the machine. An international team of researchers has now developed artificial muscles that enable robots to move. The special highlight: the muscles are biobased and biodegradable.

Stability is probably the most important property of concrete. Reinforcements with steel or synthetic fibers serve to give the building material even more stability. But neither steel nor glass or carbon fibers are ecologically sustainable. A team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research (WKI) and Biberach University of Applied Sciences has now investigated whether natural fibers could be an alternative.

Do you know the smell of rapeseed fields? If so, then you know what indole smells like. Not only rapeseed produces this characteristic smelling molecule, but many microorganisms use it in their metabolism. In order for the microorganisms to form important compounds from it, they must first activate the indole. This is done by an enzyme called indole monooxygenase. Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the University of Leipzig have now studied the structure and interaction of this enzyme with its substrate and the cofactor required for the reaction.

A sustainable bioeconomy pursues the goal of utilizing biomass as completely as possible while realizing as many material uses as possible. Usually, this is done in several successive processes that are bundled in biorefineries. But there is another way: with so-called torrefaction, a variety of products can be generated from biomass in just one step. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) have developed such a process. In Estonia, a start-up now tests the process in a first industrial-scale prototype.