Materials and Environment

Our areas of expertise

Foundation pile attacked by micro-organisms (Reichstag Berlin)

The assessment of materials-environment interaction of materials by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, chemists, geologists and biologists and the investigation of long-term effects at the material/environment interface covering technical, ecological and economic aspects

Our fields of activity

Environmentally damaging emissions such as hazardous waste gases, effluents and solid wastes must be kept as low as possible by applying advanced material technologies that can also facilitate extensive recycling, re-use and re-utilisation. The department is able to meet this demand in the fields of research and development, testing, analysis and approval as well as consultation and information. Especial status is given to contributing to drafting statutory regulations, standards and guidelines and their practical implementation.

Facilities and procedures

• Stock cultures for biological testing and conversion of materials and wastes
• Microbiological laboratories
• Environmental chambers and accelerated weathering equipment to simulate environmental impact
• Equipment for performing biological tests according to standards and laboratory methods
• Field testing facilities for testing materials treated with biocides
• Fungus cellar for accelareted testing of wood in soil contact
• Test chambers and analytical facilities for determining materials emissions
• An arc furnace for the thermochemical inertisation of hazardous wastes and residues
• Test facilities to determine the mechanical and chemical long-term behaviour of geosynthetic landfill liner materials
• Thermoanalytical measurement techniques for characterising contaminant binding in materials and residues
• Facilities for permeation measurement
• Full-scale soil washing test plant for the assessment of soil remediation procedures
• A mobile laboratory for soil contamination analysis
• Environmental analytical facilities (GC-MS, HPLC, IC, UV-VIS, AAS, AOX, FT-IR, etc.)
• Sample preparation facilities for light microscopic and microanalytical analyses (polished and thin sections)

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