Building blocks from nature for modern and sustainable materials

Since May 2024, Dr. Axel T. Neffe has been Professor of Organic chemistry with a focus on polymers at BTU, to which he moved from the renowned Helmholtz Centre Hereon in Teltow. Here he was Head of Department and most recently Deputy Head of the Institute for Functional Materials for Sustainability. His work focused on biodegradable polymers, protein-based materials, drug release systems, stimuli-sensitive materials and materials for regenerative therapies.

Since 2023, Dr. Ruben R. Rosencrantz has been working at BTU as Junior Professor for Biofunctional Polymeric Materials on the basis of a joint appointment with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam-Golm.
These appointments largely complete the generational change at the Institute of Materials Chemistry and complement Materials Science at the Senftenberg site in the areas of soft and sustainable materials as well as biomaterials/cell-material interactions.

They are therefore key appointments for the Bachelor's degree programme in Natural and Applied Sciences starting in the upcoming winter semester, for which interested parties can still apply until September 15, as well as for an English-language Master's degree course planned for the winter semester 2025, which will enable a profile in the direction of new materials, technologies and sustainability in chemistry. They are also important for collaboration with partners in the field of materials and biosciences.

Professor Neffe's professional specialty is biobased polymers - made from natural building blocks - and bioinspired polymers - which mimic the molecular structure of natural compounds or their functions. These polymers, which are made up of very long-chain structures, are actually known as plastics. These very lightweight and flexible materials are of great interest for many applications. However, their impact on the environment is often problematic, for example with regard to the issue of microplastics.

Prof. Neffe's approach, however, is completely different: "It's about eliminating environmental pollution and still generating modern applications that result in recyclable materials, that we have materials that are sustainable," emphasizes the scientist.

With his extensive research experience, which he gained at Helmholtz, but also as a deputy professor of polymer chemistry at the University of Hamburg and as a private lecturer at the University of Potsdam, he is working on the use of renewable raw materials and on environmentally friendly processes for degradable materials that do not remain in the environment.
He has particular experience in medical applications, for example in materials for implants designed to support regeneration in the event of defects in the body, or in the development of drug release systems. Among other things, this involves the possibility of releasing drugs over a longer period of time rather than abruptly.

Professor Axel T. Neffe emphasizes: "My first task is to build up the research group in terms of personnel and instruments so that I can then use the experience and focus of my research to advance basic research and applications in cooperation with BTU, industry and non-university research institutes, for example in the fields of polymers, medical products, Cell Biology or Biotechnology."
The idea of networking and working together as partners is particularly important to him, and he sees numerous points of contact for this - for example with the working groups of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Institute of Biotechnology at BTU, but also with the new Medical University of Lusatia - Carl Thiem in Cottbus and with players from non-university research and industry.