The potential of the polymer-derived ceramics technology to solve problems of the modern economy

Venue: Polo F. Ferrari 2, via Sommarive 9 (Trento) – Seminar Room 
Hour: 14.30

• Gunter Motz, Akademischer Oberrat LS Keramische Werkstoffe Universität Bayreuth, Germany

Global warming, the conservation of natural resources and the needed improved and regenerative generation of energy in particular are challenges that new and alternative technologies require. The very flexible so-called precursor technology is very promising to help to solve such problems, as it is versatile and can be used for many applications.

In my lecture, I first give an insight into precursor technology, how a ceramic is synthesized from a preceramic Si-based polymer, and an overview of already commercially established applications. Using the example of commercially available silazanes, I show how this class of polymers can be chemically modified for specific applications, for example to increase the hydrophobicity of coatings, to produce oxidation-resistant carbon fibers or catalysts for the generation and storage of hydrogen. In addition to this work, another research area is the alternative ceramization of these preceramic polymers using laser radiation to avoid the long-lasting pyrolysis in a furnace. This also enables the application of ceramic coatings using precursor technology on temperature-sensitive substrates and simple structuring of surfaces.

Biosketch

Prof. Motz, as the leader of the precursor ceramic group at Bayreuth University, is one of the most well recognized scientist in the field of PDCs. Dr. Motz is Associate Professor at the Chair for Ceramic Materials Engineering, Univ. Bayreuth and also at Federal University of Santa Caterina, Florianopolis, Brasil.
His activities focus on fundamental research on the synthesis of new preceramic SiCN-based polymers their characterization and conversion to ceramics. In particular the most important reasearches focus on: (i) synthesis of novel, metal-containing SiCN-Precursors, (ii)  transfer of the precursor synthesis to an industrial scale, (iii) development of ceramic SiCN-fibers, (iv) polymer and ceramic silazane-based coatings and (v) porous and catalytic active precursor-based ceramic. Dr. Motz is an author of more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and patents, he presented 65 Invited or Keynote Lectures, and was the supervisor of 18 PhD students.