Fujifilm and FOM Institute DIFFER jointly make functional films for sustainable energy
How do flickering plasma channels lead to functional films for sustainable energy? That is the key question for the new FOM Industrial Partnership Programme of Fujifilm and energy institute DIFFER. Through challenging research on fundamental plasma processes the partners will develop advanced materials over the next few years with a wide variety of applications. For this, a new research group from DIFFER will be accommodated at Fujifilm.
DIFFER's director Prof.dr.ir. Richard van de Sanden is pleased with this new partnership: "If we learn to produce functional foils on a large-scale then we will have a platform to enable a wide range of chemical processes to proceed in an efficient and energy-saving manner. An example is the cheap separation of gases. That can be used for setting up a CO2-neutral energy infrastructure." Other possible applications are efficient industrial water purification, large-scale generation of blue energy from mixtures of salt and fresh water or the protection of organic solar cells from oxygen and moisture.
Sustainable applications
Fujifilm is an expert in the large-scale production of functional films: thin, active materials. Through atmospheric plasma deposition the company produces functional coatings on polymer foils with a wide range of sustainable applications. Dr.ir. Jan Bouwstra, senior researcher at Fujifilm: "Functional foils are extremely interesting, but to apply them on a wide scale we need to gain a fundamental understanding of and control over the unpredictable plasma during the production process. Together with FOM Institute DIFFER we are expanding the fundamental knowledge required to introduce the technology of functional films cost effectively and on a large scale."
During the partnership programme, DIFFER will draw upon its years of experience with the fundamental principles of plasma. Fujifilm developed its technology for atmospheric plasma deposition together with the group 'Plasma and materials processing' at Eindhoven University of Technology, which was led by DIFFER's current director until 2011. Over the next few years the research will focus on controlling the unpredictable behaviour of plasmas in time and space, and the influence of this behaviour on the deposition, porosity and permeability of specific gases through the functional films on the foil.
In-house public-private partnership
The new research group is part of FOM Institute DIFFER and will start with a senior scientist and two PhDs. The partners ultimately want to expand the group with two to four postdoc and PhD positions. The group will be accommodated in the Plasma Competence Center of Fujifilm in Tilburg, where the researchers will have access to Fujifilm's unique equipment for atmospheric plasma deposition. The research programme will run for five years and has a total budget of three million euros. The research is a part of the Industrial Partnership Programme (IPP) of FOM. Via IPP's, FOM links academic knowledge to industrial ambitions by means of high-quality physics research in close collaboration with industry.
Contact
Renske Altink, Fujifilm, +31 (0)13 579 16 24
Prof.dr.ir. Richard van de Sanden, FOM Institute DIFFER, +31 (0)30 609 69 14
Drs. Marcel Bartels, FOM Foundation, +31 (0)30 600 12 30