Home | Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials

Humboldt Research Awards strengthen international collaboration in materials science

Dr Yuri Mishin and Prof. Sang Ho Oh cooperate with the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials

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Korean Researcher Fellowship supports AI-driven alloy design

National Research Foundation of Korea awards postdoctoral researcher Jin-Young Lee

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Springorum Commemorative Coin honours outstanding Master’s thesis on thermoelectric materials

RWTH Aachen University recognises Florian Busch

Faster and more energy-efficient: Catalysts boost hydrogen-based steel production

Nickel oxides accelerate hydrogen-based steel production by a factor of two

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Upcycling aluminium scrap into usable alloys

Max Planck researcher Dheeraj Kumar Saini receives Early Career Researcher Award

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How do simulations improve beverage can production? | PhD life in materials science

How is a beverage can actually produced and recycled, and where do the challenges lie?

Meet Fotis Tsiolis who explains how he uses simulation software to tackle this challenge and what sparked his interest in this research topic.

Illustration comparing lithium-ion and solid-state batteries.

Understanding the short circuit in solid-state batteries

Max Planck team explains dendrite propagation, paving the way for safer and longer-lasting next-generation batteries. They publish their findings in the journal Nature.

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Boosting Sustainable Energy Production | PhD Life in Materials Science

Meet Ezgi Hatipoğlu, who works on optimising the microstructure of catalysts for green hydrogen production - an important step towards sustainable energy technologies.
Ezgi also shares how she found her way into materials science and who inspired her.

Pioneering materials, shaping a sustainable tomorrow

Did you know that the steel industry alone accounts for around 8% of global CO₂ emissions? Or that a smartphone contains around 50 different elements, while smartphones are rarely recycled?

Founded in 1917 during a pivotal era of industrialisation, our institute initially focused on improving steels and metallic alloys that shaped the 20th century. While our foundation remains rooted in a deep understanding of metals, the challenges of the 21st century have driven a profound transformation. Today, we conduct basic research on sustainable materials, extending far beyond traditional metallurgy to address the critical sectors of energy, mobility, infrastructure, manufacturing, and medicine.

Our strength lies in our people: a 350-strong international team hailing from over 35 countries. Together, physicists, chemists, engineers, and data scientists work across disciplines to rethink materials that are essential to modern society but also major contributors to environmental impact. Our goal is to enable a circular materials economy, moving beyond the “take–make–waste” model towards materials designed for longevity, reuse, and recyclability.

We develop hydrogen-based routes to replace carbon-intensive metal production, design endlessly recyclable materials that tolerate impurities, and investigate corrosion, fatigue, and failure to extend material lifetimes. These activities also include latest research on digitalisation, embracing artificial intelligence and machine learning. By combining experimental data with computational modelling, our algorithms can predict the properties of new alloy compositions before they are physically cast. This allows us to simulate millions of potential material combinations, identifying the most promising candidates for sustainable applications in record time. Whether it is designing lighter alloys for electric vehicles to increase range, or biocompatible metals for next-generation medical implants, artificial intelligence empowers us to push the boundaries of what is physically possible.

Building on more than a century of materials research, we work to ensure that high-performance materials and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.