Increasingly, Fluoropolymers are at the focus of regulatory initiatives. Against this backdrop, the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF has joined forces with other partners to launch the joint project "FLUORBEST." The aim is to develop a systematic evaluation methodology for the substitution of fluoropolymers that takes into account both technical performance and (eco)toxicological aspects, thus providing a suitable basis for decisions on possible substitutions.
Interdisciplinary consortium and digital database
In addition to Fraunhofer LBF, the Fraunhofer Institutes IWM, IFAM, and ITEM as well as the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) are involved in the project. The project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), relies on AI-supported data analysis and a semantically structured database. This will be linked to the "MaterialDigital" digitization platform in order to make the results directly usable for industry and research.
Focus on technical applications in the sealing sector
In the course of the project, the requirements and core properties of fluoropolymers will be recorded across all sectors. For the methodological development, FLUORBEST will initially focus on the application area "sealings" in the context of the ECHA restriction proposal. Both commercially available alternatives and technological developments from research and industry will be evaluated.
Industry invited to participate
FLUORBEST is designed as a cooperative innovation project. Industrial companies are invited to actively participate in shaping requirement profiles and application scenarios. A workshop on March 24, 2026, is aimed in particular at manufacturers of seals, machine builders, users, and raw material suppliers. The project will run until January 2028.