BL5-1 BioMonitoring

The Bio4Monitoring sub-project focuses on the development of a new type of measurement system for structural health monitoring (SHM) of lightweight structures based on bio-based coatings. This system is more cost-efficient, simpler and more flexible to use than existing systems and has great market potential. It will therefore be brought to series maturity and marketed by a newly founded start-up.

The contribution of this project to the funding policy objectives is therefore the generation of an adequate substitute for value creation and employment through the creation of new bio-based products. The sub-project is made up of three lines, which will ultimately be brought together to form a marketable overall SHM system.

The three development lines are: 1. Bio4Strain: development of a measurement method based on bio-based fluorescent coating for in-situ strain measurement on lightweight structures, 2. PepCrack: development of a selectively adhesive, fluorescent peptide coating for early detection of cracks in lightweight structures, 3. BioMeasure: development of the associated measurement and data processing system with the aim of automated measurement. The core technology of Bio4Monitoring is the development of customized coating systems based on fluorescent anchor peptides.

Anchor peptides are small molecules with sizes of 1 to 3 nm that form a high-density coating, more than 10⁶ molecules per cm², with various material surfaces, for example metals, alloys and polymers. The bond can be adjusted in terms of strength, specificity and reversibility. To make the bound anchor peptides visible, they are genetically fused to a fluorescent reporter molecule, for example a green fluorescent protein. This coating is applied by simple spraying.