LANXESS steps up research and development

08 Jun '09

5 min read

Specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is stepping up its research and development activities. Around 200 experts from the company will present their latest projects at the company's second Innovation Day. “Innovation is an essential prerequisite if the company is to achieve sustainable long-term success, especially in these difficult economic times. That's why we've increased this year's investment budget to around EUR 110 million, up 10 percent on 2008,” states LANXESS AG Board of Management member Werner Breuers, stressing the importance of research and development to the company. Research expenditure at LANXESS had already been increased significantly in 2008.

New central “Innovation” group function
At the beginning of this year, the specialty chemicals group also created an independent “Innovation” group function for centralized coordination of its research and development activities. In close cooperation with LANXESS's manufacturing business units, the roughly 30-strong team acts as an
“innovation hub” for the development of optimized production processes, new products and new applications.

Research minister Pinkwart presents Innovation Awards
The Innovation Day will conclude with the presentation by Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of North Rhine-Westphalia, of the “LANXESS Innovation Awards” to outstanding development teams. “In times of crisis such as these, I'm particularly pleased to be able to reward people who demonstrate great innovative spirit,” states Pinkwart. “It's all about emerging stronger from the crisis with new ideas – for LANXESS and North Rhine-Westphalia alike. Our aim is to unlock creative forces to get us through the turbulent economic times unscathed. Industry is the motor in this respect and the task of politicians is to help it run smoothly – for the general good,” he adds.

Rubber innovations to mark the centenary
Synthetic rubber is very much in evidence among the 40 plus projects being presented at the Innovation Day. Invented 100 years ago, this high-tech material still offers great innovation potential. The new functionalized styrene-butadiene rubbers of the Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit enhance all three key properties of cutting-edge tires – low rolling resistance, low abrasion and a good grip on wet roads. This development further strengthens LANXESS's position as a world-leading manufacturer of synthetic rubber. As recently as the end of May, LANXESS opened the extension to its research and development center for high-performance rubbers at Qingdao in China. Customized and innovative products for Asia's dynamic rubber market will be developed here.

New arsenic filter for drinking water and innovative leather protection
A further example of the projects presented comes from the Ion Exchange Resins business unit, which is developing a new ion exchange resin for the selective removal of arsenic from drinking water. This product idea enables worldwide compliance with the limit set by the World Health Organization of 10 micrograms per liter for the amount of arsenic in drinking water. It is a LANXESS development that makes a key contribution to improving the quality of drinking water.

LANXESS AG

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