The increase in the performance and efficiency of machines and plants leads to higher material application temperatures across all industries. Especially for plain bearings and mechanical seals, higher operating and emergency running temperatures are required than is realizable with conventional materials. In the AiF project “Design of metal-graphite composites (MeGraV II)”, a novel, temperature-stable composite material is in focus of research. In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) in Bremen, researchers at the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Polymer Technology (ILK) at TU Dresden develop a metal-graphite composite consisting of graphite structures with varying porosities impregnated with light metals, such as aluminum or magnesium. By combining the excellent sliding properties of graphite with the higher strengths of the metals, it gets possible to raise the operating limits for plain bearing applications to temperatures above 300 °C. The focus of the investigations is on both the influence analysis of the relevant process parameters during the composite production and the experimental determination of the thermo-tribological properties of the new material. In conjunction with the manufacturers and users of plain bearings and mechanical seals, it becomes possible to show the excellent application potential of this high-performance material.