SAW acoustic aerosol printing, developed at the Leibniz IFW Dresden, is an innovative printing technology that can overcome the limitations of previous printing methods for bioprinting. The aerosol generated in this way is focussed by a gas flow, discharged and deposited on a target surface. In the BioMAT project, the new aerosol jet technology from IFW Dresden is to be optimised for use with biological materials such as biopolymers, hydrogels or cell suspensions so that these can be reliably deposited and the technology can be used for bioprinting.
Within the BMWi project "SAWES - Fortschrittliche SAW-Sensortechnologie für zukunftsfähige Energiesysteme unter Einbeziehung drahtloser Transponder- und Kommunikationstechnik" we develop key components for mobile, wireless SAW high-temperature sensors (>400°C) together with our research partner at TU Dresden and two industry partners. These sensors find applications in the fields of future-proof energy supply systems and energy efficient heaters for improved supervision, regulation and control of facilities and processes in industry, commerce and household.
Within the DFG-ANR project “AERONEMS” and together with our research partners at CNRS/CEA LETI Grenoble, we increase the efficiency and consistency of nanoelectromechanical mass-spectrometry to achieve 10 times faster and 100 times more sensitive characterization of whole viral particles. For this purpose, we combine and investigate two innovative technologies, namely NEMS-MS and SAW-aerosol generation.
In the BMBF project “PureEx - Acoustofluidic processing of extracellular vesicles as biomarkers for minimally invasive atherosclerosis diagnostics” and in close collaboration with our research partner Fraunhofer IZI Leipzig, we validate our acoustofluidic cell and particle separation technique in lab settings and extended it towards the isolation of liquid biopsy biomarkers.
In the BMBF-funded VIP+ project "SAWScriptor - Der Aerosoldruckkopf auf Basis akustischer Oberflächenwellen" and in close collaboration with Fraunhofer IWS Dresden we develop our compact acoustofluidic aerosol generation platform towards a novel print head for the application of aerosol printing, and validate its performance in different scenarios in external labs.
In the EU FET Open project "SOUNDofICE - Sustainable Smart De-Icing by Surface Engineering of Acoustic Waves" we are part of a consortium of 6 European partners. The project is bringing together anti-icing specialists, materials scientists and engineers to test whether high frequency (MHz-order) surface acoustic waves can be used to remove ice from surfaces in a smart and sustainable way.
In the DFG project „SAW-µCR - On-demand Manipulation von Nanopartikeln in der Akusto-Mikrofluidik: Untersuchung von durch akustische Oberflächenwellen erzeugte Resonanzen des Gesamtsystems“, we explore the fundamental physics of surface acoustic waves (SAW) driven whole-system resonances in microfluidic channels bound by solid walls, an innovative approach to facilitate a controlled manipulation of nanoscale particles and biological cells.
In preparation of the commercial exploitation of the results of our acoustic microsystems research, we promote our furthest developed techniques via our startup project MicroAcoustiX. While a company is not yet founded, we present our demonstrators at conferences and trade fairs, and validate them together with early adopters. Test kits can be purchased via IFW Dresden. Feel free to contact us.
