Inspired by these marvels of nature, BlueMat will develop a novel class of sustainable, interactive, architected “Blue Materials” deriving their functionality from multiscale structures of hard matter interacting with water. This approach is internationally unique. We will mimic natural processes such as water-driven mechanical actuation, capillarity-driven water transport, humidity-dependent colors, and photocatalytic water splitting, as observed in animals and plants, and extend them to functionalities not found in nature, such as control of acoustic and electromagnetic waves, tunable thermal emission and electrical energy storage and generation. To this end, we will study and exploit novel effects, achieved, for example, through nanoconfinement of water.

We will combine experiments with imaging and modeling from the atomic up to the device scale and bridge the gap between top-down and bottom-up fabrication methods to enable scalable production of Blue Materials. BlueMat raises and answers compelling and fundamentally new scientific questions. It promises a radically new concept to functionalize materials, and it will demonstrate the fascinating opportunities of this approach by a host of device-level applications. These include novel energy efficient windows and hydrovoltaic power generation, harvesting electrical energy from environmental processes or waste heat.

To accomplish this, BlueMat draws upon the exceptional talents of an interdisciplinary team from several world-class research institutions in Hamburg with outstanding expertise in molecular water science, materials science, process engineering, and diverse application areas (e.g., micromechanics, fluidics, photonics, energy systems). BlueMat will enrich this environment with an artistic dimension, allowing science and art to cross-fertilize and open inspiring new avenues of co-creation.

BlueMat builds on the success of the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center “Tailor-Made Multiscale Material Systems”. It leverages Hamburg’s ecosystem of brilliant X-ray analytics, natural sciences, and engineering with a strong focus on sustainable technologies, unique in the world. The vision of this Cluster of Excellence is to make Hamburg a world leader in the science and technology of water-driven materials, thus continuing Hamburg’s history as a city “driven” by water and contributing to the well-being of our blue planet.

Involved Institutions:

• BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
• European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (XFEL) GmbH
• Hamburg College of Fine Arts; Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH
• Helmut Schmidt University
• Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD)
• Universität Hamburg