Providing shade thanks to the striped bug. The construction on our path is a prototype developed by the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design at the University of Stuttgart. In doing so, it has transferred the principle of wing folding underneath the carapace of the striped bug to a sun protection system. Attached to glass facades, the flexible modules made of a glass fibre-plastic composite open as soon as the sky is cloudy and close when the sun shines strongly.

While stability is of great importance for some polymer materials, for example dentures, long-lasting and stable plastics have disastrous effects on the coasts and in the oceans. On marine life and ultimately also on the people who like to have seafood or fish in their meals. 
What exactly microplastics are and why some plastics take longer to decompose can be explored in more detail at the “Microplastics“ station. The wooden steles give an insight into how long it takes for various plastic products to completely decompose.

Small OLEDs, i.e. organic light-emitting diodes, show here what they can do. These organic semiconductors can not only shine brightly, they have a very special property: they are so thin that you can use them in electronic devices with, for example, foldable or rollable displays. The polymer layer can even be printed – similar to a colour printer in your office.
Research is still being conducted on these OLEDs at our institute as well, in order to be able to use the findings to produce affordable and metal-free electronics in the future.

The “Zukunftsinstitut“ (Future Institute) has drawn up a kind of network map. All possible future trends are recorded there and show an overview of how many there actually are and how much some trends are interconnected.
Fundamental research is carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, from which new trends can emerge. Sometimes existing trends also provide an occasion to think about new topics and thus stimulate new research questions. At this station you are allowed to join in the discussion and contribute your ideas on the big topics such as mobility or health.

A look at the history of polymer research shows that some polymers were discovered by chance. Styropor^®, for example, only revealed its true size in the drying chamber. Or certain glues seemed useless at first and only other researchers recognised their real potential: Post-it^® notes don't stick firmly, but they adhere until you have finished your to-do list.
Go on a little journey through time and see which achievements were not left to chance!

Synthetic ropes are either very elastic or just the opposite, which means tight. It all depends on the use of the ropes. Some people need ropes to be able to cushion the jump into the depths when bungee jumping. On the other hand, such a highly elastic rubber rope is rather unsuitable for sailing. Other requirements are needed here: tear-resistant anchor lines or handy, abrasion-resistant ropes for setting sails, which should be light and above all buoyant.
To provide something suitable for every outdoor sport, the ropes are made of very different polymers. In addition, some polymer chains are more tightly crosslinked, while others are more wide-meshed. Test for yourself how different ropes can be.