Mac Panther Materials will operate as a subsidiary of manufacturing machinery supplier Mac Panther on the back of a spinout agreement with Saarland University.

Mac Panther Materials has spun out of Saarland University research to commercialise porous metallic foams as a Germany-based advanced materials subsidiary of manufacturing machinery supplier Mac Panther.
The spinout will market sponge-like metal nanocoating foams with lattice-like structures imitating the porous labyrinths of tissue found in bones.
The foams are designed to be more reliable and cost-effective to use than competing products and can be customised with characteristics such as thermal conductivity and antibacterial abilities.
Mac Panther Materials’ approach centres on the idea individual struts in the foam’s interior lattice can be coated in an electroplating bath to make the exterior more resilient to extreme loads.
The technology could potentially serve applications including lightweight construction, shock absorption and chemical catalysis.
The company builds on research licensed through Saarland’s Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office from Stefan Diebels, professor of applied mechanics in the Chair of Engineering Mechanics, and Anne Jung, a materials scientist in Diebels’ group.
Jung said: “[The foams] could be installed [in load-bearing structures] as reinforcing struts in the bodywork, while also providing impact protection. The struts can take up large amounts of energy and are able to absorb the force of a collision when parts of the porous core fracture under impact.”
– Feature image courtesy of Mac Panther Materials