Prof Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Fratzl

Peter Fratzl is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, heading the Department of Biomaterials. He received an engineering degree from École Polytechnique in Paris, France, and a doctorate in Physics from the University of Vienna, Austria. He is honorary professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and at the University of Potsdam.
Peter Fratzl’s lab studies the relation between (hierarchical) structure and mechanical behaviour of biological and bio-inspired composite materials, and conducts research on osteoporosis and bone regeneration. His research interests include biomaterials systems for mechanosensing and actuation, as well as interdisciplinary research together with Cultural Sciences and Design.
Peter Fratzl is recipient of the Leibniz Research Award (2010) and holds a honorary doctorate of the University of Montpellier, France. He has published more than 600 papers in journals and books and is member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and Humanities, the Academy of Science and Literature Mainz, as well as the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech).
As Co-Director Peter Fratzl leads the Cluster »Matters of Activity« together with Horst Bredekamp, Claudia Mareis and Director Wolfgang Schäffner.
Member of the Executive Board
Weaving (Principal Investigator)
Filtering (Principal Investigator)
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Department of Biomaterials
Research Campus Golm
Am Muehlenberg 1
14424 Potsdam
Edited Volumes & Exhibition Catalogues
Fratzl, P., Jacobs, K., Möller, M., Scheibel, T., Sternberg, K. eds. 2019. Materials Research: Inspired by Nature. acatech Discussion. acatech. https://www.acatech.de/publikation/materialforschung-impulsgeber-natur/
Articles
Beygelzimer, Y., Kulagin, R., Fratzl, P., Estrin, Y. 2021. »The Earth's Lithosphere Inspires Materials Design.« Advanced Materials, 33, (3): 2005473. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202005473
Chaumel, J., Schotte, M., Bizzarro, J. J., Zaslansky, P., Fratzl, P., Baum, D., Dean, M. N. 2020. »Co-aligned chondrocytes: Zonal morphological variation and structured arrangement of cell lacunae in tessellated cartilage.« Bone, 134, 115264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2020.115264
Eder, M., Schäffner, W., Burgert, I., Fratzl, P. 2020. »Wood and the Activity of Dead Tissue.« Advanced Materials, 2001412. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202001412
Jehle, F., Macías-Sánchez, E., Sviben, S., Fratzl, P., Bertinetti, L., Harrington, M. J. 2020. »Hierarchically-structured metalloprotein composite coatings biofabricated from co-existing condensed liquid phases.« Nature Communications, 11, (1): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14709-y
Razi, H., Predan, J., Fischer, F. D., Kolednik, O., Fratzl, P. 2020. »Damage tolerance of lamellar bone.« Bone, 130, 115102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2019.115102
Sviben, S., Spaeker, O., Bennet, M., Albéric, M., Dirks, J., Moussian, B., Fratzl, P., Bertinetti, L., Politi, Y. 2020. »Epidermal Cell Surface Structure and Chitin–Protein Co-assembly Determine Fiber Architecture in the Locust Cuticle.« ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, (23): 25581-25590. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c04572
Tadayon, M., Younes‐Metzler, O., Shelef, Y., Zaslansky, P., Rechels, A., Berner, A., Zolotoyabko, E., Barth, F. G., Fratzl, P., Bar‐On, B., Politi, Y. 2020. »Adaptations for Wear Resistance and Damage Resilience: Micromechanics of Spider Cuticular “Tools”.« Advanced Functional Materials, 2000400. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202000400
van Tol, A. F., Roschger, A., Repp, F., Chen, J., Roschger, P., Berzlanovich, A., Gruber, G. M., Fratzl, P., Weinkamer, R. 2020. »Network architecture strongly influences the fluid flow pattern through the lacunocanalicular network in human osteons.« Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 19, (3): 823-840. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-019-01250-1
Zhang, W., Bertinetti, L., Blank, K. G., Dimova, R., Gao, C., Schneck, E., Fratzl, P. 2020. »Spatiotemporal Measurement of Osmotic Pressures by FRET Imaging.« Angewandte Chemie International Edition, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202011983
Autefage, H., Allen, F., Tang, H., Kallepitis, C., Gentleman, E., Reznikov, N., Nitiputri, K., Nommeots-Nomm, A., O'Donnell, M., Lange, C., Seidt, B., Kim, T., Solanki, A., Tallia, F., Young, G., Lee, P., Pierce, B., Wagermaier, W., Fratzl, P., Goodship, A., Jones, J., Blunn, G., Stevens, M. 2019. »Multiscale analyses reveal native-like lamellar bone repair and near perfect bone-contact with porous strontium-loaded bioactive glass.« Biomaterials, 209, 152-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.03.035
Horbelt, N., Eder, M., Bertinetti, L., Fratzl, P., Harrington, M. J. 2019. »Unraveling the Rapid Assembly Process of Stiff Cellulosic Fibers from Mistletoe Berries.« Biomacromolecules, 20, (8): 3094-3103. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.9b00648
Huss, J. C., Fratzl, P., Dunlop, J. W. C., Merritt, D. J., Miller, B. P., Eder, M. 2019. »Protecting Offspring Against Fire: Lessons From Banksia Seed Pods.« Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00283
Seidel, R., Roschger, A., Li, L., Bizzarro, J. J., Zhang, Q., Yin, J., Yang, T., Weaver, J. C., Fratzl, P., Roschger, P., Dean, M. N. 2019. »Mechanical properties of stingray tesserae: High-resolution correlative analysis of mineral density and indentation moduli in tessellated cartilage.« Acta Biomaterialia, 96, 421-435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2019.06.038
Eder, M., Amini, S., Fratzl, P. 2018. »Biological composites—complex structures for functional diversity.« Science, 362, (6414): 543-547. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat8297
Huss, J. C., Schoeppler, V., Merritt, D. J., Best, C., Maire, E., Adrien, J., Spaeker, O., Janssen, N., Gladisch, J., Gierlinger, N., Miller, B. P., Fratzl, P., Eder, M. 2017. »Climate-Dependent Heat-Triggered Opening Mechanism of Banksia Seed Pods.« Advanced Science, 5, (1): 1700572. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201700572
Bertinetti, L., Hangen, U. D., Eder, M., Leibner, P., Fratzl, P., Zlotnikov, I. 2014. »Characterizing moisture-dependent mechanical properties of organic materials: humidity-controlled static and dynamic nanoindentation of wood cell walls.« Philosophical Magazine, 95, (16-18): 1992-1998. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786435.2014.920544
Saxe, F., Eder, M., Benecke, G., Aichmayer, B., Fratzl, P., Burgert, I., Rüggeberg, M. 2014. »Measuring the distribution of cellulose microfibril angles in primary cell walls by small angle X-ray scattering.« Plant Methods, 10, (1): 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4811-10-25
Goswami, L., Dunlop, J. W., Jungnikl, K., Eder, M., Gierlinger, N., Coutand, C., Jeronimidis, G., Fratzl, P., Burgert, I. 2008. »Stress generation in the tension wood of poplar is based on the lateral swelling power of the G-layer.« The Plant Journal, 56, (4): 531-538. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03617.x
Burgert, I., Eder, M., Gierlinger, N., Fratzl, P. 2007. »Tensile and compressive stresses in tracheids are induced by swelling based on geometrical constraints of the wood cell.« Planta, 226, (4): 981-987. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-007-0544-9
Fratzl, P. 2007. »Biomimetic materials research: what can we really learn from nature's structural materials?« Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 4, (15): 637.
Burgert, I., Eder, M., Frühmann, K., Keckes, J., Fratzl, P., Stanzl-Tschegg, S. 2005. »Properties of chemically and mechanically isolated fibres of spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.). Part 3: Mechanical characterisation.« Holzforschung, 59, (3): 354-357. https://doi.org/10.1515/HF.2005.058
Talks & Presentations
Fratzl, P. Natural Active Materials. Talk at Annual Conference of the Cluster »Matters of Activity« 2020, 11 November 2020. https://www.virtualspace.matters-of-activity.de/annualconference/?id=1
Fratzl, P. Natural Active Materials. Talk at the Annual Conference of the Cluster »Matters of Activity« 2020, 11 November 2020. http://www.virtualspace.matters-of-activity.de/annualconference/?id=0
Events & Workshops
Fratzl, P., Schäffner, W. et al. Behavioral Matter: Composer avec le vivant. Workshop. Centre Pompidou, Paris. In cooperation with Ensadlab (École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris) and the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«. 23 March 2019. https://fonds-perspektive.de/fr/behavioralmatter/
Memberships
Fratzl, P. Since 2021. Elected membership of U.S. National Academy of Engineering.