Sabine Amberg-Schwab
Meet Dr. Sabine Amberg-Schwab
Sabine Amberg-Schwab is a researcher and expert scientist for barrier and multifunctional coatings at Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC), a materials research Institute within Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. From the beginning, she has worked as a scientist in the development of new coating materials, particularly in the development of functional coating materials based on inorganic-organic hybrid polymers (ORMOCER®s).
Her research activity has been focusing on ORMOCER®s with barrier properties against gases, water vapor, and flavors, and which are also adjustable to complex and special requirements. These coatings can be used for food packaging but also for technical applications, such as ultrabarrier coatings for the encapsulation of organic solar cells.
In recent years, Dr. Amberg-Schwab and her team have achieved to modify this class of hybrid polymers in order to become biodegradable and, nevertheless, exhibit excellent barrier and further functional properties (bioORMOCERâs).
For her research work, she has received various awards, such as the ICE award (International Coating Exhibition) for her development work regarding antimicrobial coatings in 2005, the Fraunhofer Award in 2011, the „New Plastics Innovation Prize“ from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for her development of bioORMOCERâs (Circular Materials Challenge) in 2018, and the „Deutscher Verpackungspreis in Gold“ in 2020.
She studied biology and chemistry and holds a PhD in chemistry from the University in Würzburg, Germany.
Skills:
30 years of experience and expertise in the development and adaptation of functional coatings for special requirements from the industries.