Today’s materials are designed to have properties that are static in time (aside from aging and operationally induced wear and tear). Indeed, the invariability of material properties is a key principle of modern engineering. The static nature of technical systems vastly differs from that of natural systems where the ability to react and adapt to changes in the environment is key to survival.
In the livMatS Cluster, we strive to combine the technical and natural worlds by progressing from static technical materials towards living materials systems. These systems have embodied energy and intelligence and adapt without external interference to their environment. In contrast to materials, which contain biological cells and thus require, e.g., water and moderate temperatures/pressures, our Living Materials Systems will survive under environmental conditions where biological material would cease to function.
The grand vision of the cluster is to generate Living Materials Systems, which can autonomously react and adapt their properties to a changing and sometimes hostile environment. We use the term living systems in a specific sense. Analogous to a Turing Test defining Artificial Intelligence, we envision systems whose performance cannot be distinguished from that of a natural organism by an observer. It is well understood that no single miracle material can exhibit all desired functionalities, but rather requires an integration of materials into materials systems, where several components and functions seamlessly work together.
livMatS has and will continue to develop adaptive materials systems functioning simultaneously as sensor, processor, and actuator. We have done this by merging bottom-up approaches (chemical syntheses, nanostructuring, self-assembly) with advanced top-down (micro-)engineering approaches (e.g., 3D printing) for flexible assemblies of multi-component and multi-functional materials systems across all length scales. A key focus is the integration of energy-rich non-equilibrium states, which range from the molecular to systems level. These states allow the materials to develop self-regulating properties, facilitated by internal, external and stimuli-responsive feedback mechanisms.
livMatS research stands out internationally because it pushes well beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Not only do we work across disciplinary, national and institutional boundaries, but we also examine how developing autonomously adaptive materials systems might impact society. We will continue to integrate sustainability, ethical, philosophical and psychological insights into natural sciences and engineering to elucidate how such systems will influence society and live universitas in the true sense of the word.
Co-Coordinator Research Area C
Principal Investigator Research Areas A, B, C and D
Full Professor, Chemistry and Physics of Interfaces
Faculty of Engineering | Department of Microsystems Engineering
University of Freiburg
Co-Coordinator Research Area A
Principal Investigator Research Areas A and B
Full Professor, Functional Anorganic Materials
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy | Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
University of Freiburg
Spokesperson, Deputy Coordinator Research Area B
Principal Investigator Research Areas B and C
Chair, Laboratory of Process Technology | NeptunLab
Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK)
University of Freiburg
