Elements27 - Evonik Industries

elements27 

SCIENCE NEWSLETTER | 26 | | 28 | 29 | 2009 

CATALYTIC PROCESSES 

Operando IR Spectroscopy: Investigation of Catalysts at Work 

SILP Catalysts: Heterogenization of Homogeneous Catalysts 

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT 

“Our R&D Has to Be Even More Efficient” 

INORGANIC PARTICLE DESIGN 

Carbon Black as a Pigment: Black Art for the World Market

Patrik Wohlhauser 

Chairman of the Board 

of Management of 

Evonik Degussa GmbH 

elements27 | 2009 

contents 

The cover picture shows 

X-ray fluorescence 

analysis equipment from 

AQura GmbH, which 

belongs to the Innova tion 

Management Chemicals 

& Creavis unit (p. 14) 

EDITORIAL 

Confidence 

The worldwide economic crisis is hitting everyone hard, and Evonik is no exception. The Chemicals 

Business Area is particularly feeling the impact. The business figures set a new company record as 

recently as October 2008, but beginning in November, the crisis in the financial markets led to a massive 

fallout in demand in our chemicals activities. Demand has downright crashed in the automotive, construction, 

plastics, and electronics industries, and based on current market information, there is no relief 

yet on the horizon. 

On the other hand, we also have success stories. Our Health & Nutrition Business Unit boosted its 

sales by 25 percent in fiscal 2008, and posted a disproportionate increase in its EBITDA. The high worldwide 

demand for amino acids as animal feed additives, especially in poultry breeding, accounts for a 

major portion of this success, and the exclusive synthesis business also did very well. 

This proves that our chemicals activities are well diversified. None of the end markets we supply ac - 

counts for more than 20 percent of total sales, and our five largest customers make up only 10 percent. 

On the whole, our €11.5 billion in chemical sales is distributed across a wide variety of markets. We are 

also well positioned geographically. We generate over 40 percent of our chemical sales outside Europe, 

and, of course, we also benefit from the fact that, with chemicals, energy and real estate, Evonik boasts a 

well-balanced, comparatively stable Group portfolio. 

Innovations are more important than ever, especially in these tough economic times, and this is why 

we continue to keep our research and development going strong. In the past year, for instance, we applied 

for about 350 new patents, bringing our total patents and applications to over 20,000. With an investment 

of €311 million, we once again poured massive funds into R&D for the Group in 2008. And that 

was money well spent: From our three Science-to-Business Centers alone – each of which receives about 

€50 million – we expect additional annual sales of some €1 billion in 2015. This makes us confident 

that, with our leading technology and market positions, a well-balanced portfolio, and capacity for innovation, 

we are well poised for success and profitable growth, even in an unprecedented worldwide 

economic slump. 

NEWS 

4 New Chief Financial Officer 

5 Spotlight on catalysis: Evonik Meets Science in Shanghai 


6 Operando IR spectroscopy: 

investigation of catalysts at work 

NEWS 

11 Not invented here! 


12 “Our R&D has to be even more efficient” 

Interview with Dr. Peter Nagler 

16 

NEWS 

Synthetic amorphous silica registered according to REACH 

16 AEROSIL ® – a success story now in Asia 

17 VESTAKEEP ® polymers for medical applications 

DESIGNING WITH POLYMERS 

18 Successful cooperation between 

mechanical engineering and chemistry: 

sun-activated sheeting made of PLEXIGLAS ® 


22 Carbon black as a pigment: 

black art for the world market 

NEWS 

26 Protecting historical monuments with PLEXIGLAS ® : 

roofing tiles as energy suppliers 

27 RohMax acquires DOS oil additives business in Russia 


28 SILP catalysts: 

heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts 

32 EVENTS AND CREDITS 

2 elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER

+++ Key financial data January 1 – December 31, 2008 

“Evonik did well in difficult business conditions in fiscal 2008. In the 

present economic situation, our broadly diversified portfolio comprising 

the Chemicals, Energy, and Real Estate Business Areas positions 

us at an advantage to emerge stronger from the crisis,” said Dr. Klaus 

Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG at 

the Group’s financial press conference at the end of March. Oper - 

ationally, the first ten months of 2008 were very successful for 

the com pany and brought a substantial improvement in earnings. 

How ever, a sharp downturn in major end-markets for the chemicals 

oper ations brought a massive headwind from November 2008. 

Never theless, Engel is looking ahead with confidence: “We are wellpositioned 

to master this unprecedented recession.” 

Further increase in sales - earnings growth 

canceled out by economic downturn 

The Evonik Group grew sales 10 percent to €15.873 billion in fiscal 

2008 (2007: €14.444 billion). More than 60 percent of sales were 

generated outside Germany. Europe (excluding Germany) accounted 

for 23 percent, Asia for 17 percent, North America for 14 percent, 

Latin America for 4 percent and other countries for 2 percent. 

EBITDA before the non-operating result declined 3 percent in 

2008 to €2.171 billion (2007: €2.236 billion). The earnings in - 

crease achieved in the first ten months of the year was more than 

eliminated by a sharp drop in volumes in the chemicals business in 

November and December. 

As a consequence of the dif ficult global economic situ ation, the 

non-operating result for fiscal 2008 included high one-off charges 

amounting to €406 million (2007: €370 million). These include, in 

particular, impairment losses on assets in the Chemicals Bu si ness Area 

and expenses for the restructuring of the Group, the planned shutdown 

of some smaller chemicals locations out side Germany and 

expenses to strengthen the Evonik brand. 

From left to right: Ulrich Weber 

(Chief Human Resources Officer), 

Dr. Klaus Engel (Chairman of 

the Executive Board) and 

Heinz-Joachim Wagner, former 

Chief Financial Officer 

news 

In view of the massive down side effects resulting from the 

economic crisis in 2008 and the high gains from the sale of business 

operations in the previous year, net income dropped 67 percent to 

€285 million (2007: €876 million). 

Return on capital employed above the cost of capital 

In fiscal 2008 Evonik once again earned a premium on its cost of capital. 

Economic value added was €153 million. The return on capital 

employed (ROCE) was 9.1 percent (2007: 9.7 percent) and ex - 

ceeded the cost of capital – currently 8 percent for the Group – for the 

third consecutive year. 

Extensive program introduced to cut costs by €500 million 

Evonik has introduced an extensive cost-cutting program to weatherproof 

the Group in the face of the crisis and achieve its mid-term goal 

of creating value. The aim is to cut costs worldwide by €500 million 

p.a. by 2012. That includes optimizing the infrastructure at over 100 

sites worldwide and a sustained improvement in production efficiency. 

Evonik responded promptly to global slump in demand for chem - 

icals in key end-markets such as the plastics, automotive, coatings and 

colorants, and construction sectors by scaling back production and 

taking some facilities out of service. The company currently has 

around 3,000 employees working short-time in Germany. The aim 

of this measure is to avoid dismissals due to business conditions. 

In view of the economic crisis, securing cash flow is especially 

important. Evonik has therefore cut its investment plans for 2009. 

The total budget has been reduced to just under €1 billion. The biggest 

individual project is the erection of a 750 MW hard-coal power 

plant in Duisburg-Walsum (Germany), which is scheduled to start 

operating in 2010. Evonik is a pioneer in advanced technologies for 

power generation from hard coal that achieve high efficiency and 

save natural resources. The new power plant will have net effi- >>> 

elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER 3

+++ Weiße Biotechnologie: Evonik schreibt European Science-to-Business Award aus 

ciency of over 45 percent – around five percentage points above the 

current best performance in Germany and outstanding compared 

with international standards for power plants operating under comparable 

conditions. Construction of an integrated production complex 

for PMMA specialty polymers in Shanghai (China) is also well ad - 

vanced. 

RAG-Stiftung and CVC provide a stable shareholder base 

Key strategic steps for the future of Evonik were taken during fiscal 

2008: In June its former sole owner RAG-Stiftung sold 25.01 percent 

of its shares in Evonik to the British financial investor CVC 

Capital Partners. The declared objective of both shareholders is to 

place at total of 74.9 percent of Evonik on the stock market in the 

medium term. Dr. Engel: “We will be using the interim period to 

increase our competitiveness and sharpen our profile on the capital 

markets. A stable shareholder base and a common long-term understanding 

of the development of the company provide support for 

that.” 

+++ New Chief Financial Officer 

Dr. Wolfgang Colberg (49), previously a member of the Board of 

Management of BHS Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, Munich 

(Germany), has been Evonik Industries’ Chief Financial Officer since 

April 1, 2009. He has taken over for Heinz-Joachim Wagner (62), 

who left the Executive Board at the end of April and went into retirement. 

Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking, Chairman of the Supervisory Board 

of Evonik Industries AG, thanked Wagner on behalf of the 

Supervisory Board: “Mr. Wagner has been of tremendous service to 

the Evonik Group, which owes its success in part to his outstanding 

commitment and expertise. The Supervisory Board is sincerely grateful 

for his service to the Group,” said Bonse-Geuking. “In Dr. Colberg, 

the Executive Board has gained a highly regarded specialist. I am sure 

that he will play a successful role in shaping Evonik in the future, both 

internally and on the capital markets,” he added. 

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Colberg as a new colleague on 

the Executive Board. His international experience and professional 

expertise will be of considerable value to the Executive Board,” said 

CEO Dr. Klaus Engel, speaking on behalf of Evonik Industries’ 

Executive Board. Engel also thanked Wagner for his work on the 

Executive Board. “Mr. Wagner has played a key role in establishing 

Evonik’s good reputation on the capital markets. We greatly appreciate 

his tremendous contribution.” 

4 

Dr. Wolfgang Colberg 

has been 

Evonik Industries’ 

Chief Financial Officer 

since April 1, 2009 

Outlook for 2009 

The outlook for 2009 is extremely uncertain. Consequently, it is not 

possible to give a reliable forecast of individual sales and earnings 

indicators. 

The Chemicals Business Area was hit by the massive economic 

downturn in the final months of 2008 and Evonik does not expect the 

economy to pick up rapidly in 2009. Lower procurement prices for 

key raw materials and extensive action to cut costs will merely cush - 

ion the downward trend. The Energy Business Area is only expected 

to suffer a slight downturn because its business focuses principally on 

long-term supply and offtake agreements with key customers. In the 

Real Estate Business Area, which focuses on letting residential units 

to private households, the economic crisis is not expected to have a 

major impact. 

Since the Chemicals Business Area has a dominant position within 

the Group’s operations, Evonik anticipates that overall 2009 will 

bring considerably lower sales, which will have a negative impact on 

EBITDA. 

elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER

+++ Spotlight on catalysis: Evonik Meets Science in Shanghai 

If predictions are right, China will rise to become the highest-volume 

chemical market in the world in about six years. And because more 

and more chemical products are carrying the “Made in China” label, 

interest in high-performance catalysts for resource- and energyef 

ficient processes is growing in that country. In late March, about 

30 Evonik researchers, most of whom work in the region, were able 

to see for themselves the impressive advances China has made in catal - 

ysis research in the past few years. Over 30 Chinese professors and 

stu dents from more than 10 universities responded to the invitation 

to Evonik Meets Science in Shanghai, a two-day event to discuss ca - 

t alysis. The guests also included 

Prof. Can Li of the Dalian Institute 

of Che m ical Physics of the Chinese 

Aca de my of Sciences, the first 

Chinese scientist to hold the chairmanship 

of the International As so - 

ciation of Catalysis Societies. 

The main topics of the event 

were the desulfurization of fuels, 

bio diesel production, hydroformylation, 

and oxidation reactions, the 

production of catalysts, as well as 

process design – subjects that 

Evonik also addresses in “Catalytic 

Processes,” one of its six areas of 

com petence. The cross-unit areas 

of competence combine the knowhow 

of im portant future technologies 

for over 80 percent of Evonik‘s 

markets. 

“Catalysis is one of the most im - 

portant tools for producing chem - 

icals efficiently, and this is why we 

are always interested in powerful 

cooperation partners,” said Dr. 

Thomas Haeberle, the member of the Management Board of Evonik 

Degussa GmbH responsible for the Asia Region and the Shanghai 

production site. Today, China boasts an array of world-class institutes 

and experts in the field of chemistry. Catalysis plays a key role in this 

field: More than 10,000 Chinese re searchers work on catalysis in 

industry and at universities and the Chinese Academy of Science, 

where their work covers the entire spectrum of basic and applied 

research. 

Poster session: first prize for desulfurization of fuels 

The poster session, in which guests presented selected research re - 

sults, also demonstrated China’s up-to-the-minute research concerns. 

A jury of two Evonik researchers and two Chinese university professors 

chose the poster made by Lu Wang, from the working group of 

Prof. Can Li, as the best poster. Wang and two other researchers also 

received a gift certificate for a book, in addition to prize money. The 

focus of Wang’s work is the desulfurization of fuels through emulsion 

catalysis, a high-priority topic, because beginning in 2010, for ex am - 

ple, the standard of 5 ppm sulfur content in diesel fuel will take effect 

elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER 

news 

in the European Union. Now, the maximum permissible amount is 

still 50 ppm. Currently, the sulfur is split off from sulfurous hetero - 

aromatics as hydrogen sulfide through catalytic hydration. This 

method fails, however, when it comes to sterically demanding compounds 

such as dimethyl dibenzothiophene, in which the methyl 

groups protect the sulfur. Wang circumvents the problem by oxidiz - 

ing the sulfur of the heteroaromatics with hydrogen peroxide and an 

amphiphilic catalyst. This method changes the polarity of the arom 

atic compound in such a way that it can be easily extracted from the 

fuel. 

The winner of the second prize was Peng Liu, another employee 

of Prof. Can Li, for new epoxidation catalysts that convert olefins into 

epoxides using hydrogen peroxide. Epoxides are highly sought-after 

reactive building blocks for fine and specialty chemicals. Finally, the 

third prize went to Junying Long of the University of Tsinghua, who 

discovered a new heterogeneous catalyst for the carbonylation of 

olefins. 

As in Germany and the United States, Evonik Meets Science has 

now become a tradition in China. The past four meetings in China 

focused on the subjects of renewables, functional polymers, nanotechnology, 

and biotechnology. “That the event was held despite the 

economic crisis and Evonik’s budget cuts shows how highly we 

regard innovation that comes from networking science and industry,” 

said Haeberle. The next event in China has already been scheduled 

and will be held at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the 

Chinese Academy of Sciences, where Wang, the winner of the first 

prize, works. As part of the prize, Evonik will sponsor a one-day symposium 

here, where researchers from Evonik and the institute can 

cultivate their newly established contacts. 

5

OPERANDO IR SPECTROSCOPY 

6 

Investigation of Catalysts 

DR. ROBERT FRANKE, DR. DIETER HESS, DR. BERND HANNEBAUER 

Efficiency and speed in the development 

of new processes play an important role 

in the chemical industry. A crucial start - 

ing point in this regard is the development 

and optimization of catalysts, a key 

element in chemical processes. In recent 

years, Operando spectroscopy, although 

still in its infancy, has been gaining im - 

portance in catalyst research, as an in situ 

testing method. The advantage of this 

method is that it allows the catalyst to be 

observed under real reaction conditions 

Asuccessful catalyst design is – in most 

cases, almost literally – worth its weight in 

gold. Custom-tailored catalysts save costs 

and resources, open up new synthesis 

path ways, and make new products possible. The 

more knowledge is available about the relationship 

be tween the structure and the performance of a ca t - 

a lyst, the more successful the rational design of cata - 

lysts is likely to be. A team of researchers in Evonik’s 

C4 Chem istry Business Line and AQura GmbH, an 

Evonik subsidiary specializing in analyt ics, uses the 

Operando method for testing and eval u ating structure-reactivity 

relationships of homogeneous catalysts 

for hydroformylation processes. Their goal is 

more efficient customization of future catalysts for 

specified activities and selectivities of these process - 

es. 

Conventional in situ methods, such as IR or UV 

spectroscopy measurements made during or after 

the reaction, reproduce reaction processes as a snap - 

shot in time. The Operando IR method combines 

these kinds of spectra with the direct measurement 

of catalyst performance in the same experiment, and 

therefore under identical conditions. 

Operando is derived from the Latin word opera 

meaning “work,” “operation”. The name was chosen 

because the method makes visible each of the catalyst’s 

“maneuvers” during the reaction. Because both 

kinetic and spectroscopic techniques are combined 

in one measurement, the spectroscopic data can be 

then correlated with the catalyst activity. 

Ideally, this method allows researchers to gather 

information about changes in the activity of the catalyst, 

as well as in the nature and structure of the 

moieties bonded to the catalyst. The spectra, which 

are recorded every second, continuously map the 

changes in concentration of intermediate stages of 

the catalyzed reaction against time. Evaluation of 

these computer-assisted experiments opens up the 

possibility of preparing models for transition states 


at Work 

and of clarifying the mechanism of the reaction process. 

When made in combination with online gas 

chromatography, liquid chromatography and/or 

mass spectrometry, the measurements also generate 

information on the changes to the composition and 

on the resulting products. 

Catalysts for hydroformylation 

The C4 Chemistry Business Line operates a technically 

sophisticated integrated C4 production network 

in Marl. At the beginning of the value-added chain is 

Crack C4, which is converted into several products 

which are of use to a variety of industries: These 

include butadiene, 1-butene, MTBE (methyl tertiary 

butyl ether) and ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether), 

isononanol and isotridecanol. Research activities 

focus on the continuous optimization of the C4 network. 

Consequently, the primary concern of re - 

search ers is to develop processes which will lower 



the consumption of energy and raw materials, and 

which will completely convert C4 fractions into highquali 

ty products or product precursors without the 

gen eration of byproducts. 

As part of this project, the scientists optimize 

catalysts for the hydroformylation process for new 

product specifications. Hydroformylation or oxosynthesis 

is used to produce aldehydes from olefins and 

synthesis gas, composed of carbon monoxide (CO) 

and hydrogen (H2), which is of enormous importance 

throughout the world. Worldwide, the chemical in - 

dus try produces approximately nine million metric 

tons of oxo-products per year. 

The catalyst is a fundamental component of this 

pro cess, because it determines the reaction path and 

speed of the chemical conversion. Homogeneous hy - 

dro formylation catalysts consist of transition metal 

complexes which contain rhodium or cobalt as the 

central atom and phosphororganic compounds as 

ligands. By modifying the ligands chemically, >>> 

7

8 

the catalysts can be designed to convert particular 

sub strates or to steer the chemical reaction in the 

de sired direction. 

Scientists in Marl are working on the ligands so 

that they can supply the ideal catalyst for every conceivable 

process change in the production network. 

Catalysts are manufactured and subsequently tested 

and evaluated in an autoclave pilot plant station, the 

operating conditions of which are typically set at 

pres sures between 10 and 300 bar, and tempera - 

tures between room temperature and 200 °C. 

The high-throughput testing unit in the auto - 

clave pilot plant station dates back to the Catalysis 

Pro ject House operated by Evonik from 2001 to 

2004. In this context, researchers from the C4 

Chemistry Bu si ness Line working together with the 

Institute for Automation Technology of the Uni ver - 

sity of Ros tock, Warnemünde, developed the sam - 

p l ing tech nol ogy which is important to today’s autoclave 

pilot plant station. This technology developed 

for the pilot plant station allows the reaction to run 

twelve hours without surveillance and enables computer-assisted 

sampling from the autoclave. 

With Operando IR spectroscopy, it is now pos - 

sible to directly observe the molecular environ- 

Figure 1 

Two constitutional isomers of an active hydroformylation catalyst. 

The structure on the left shows the phosphite ligand in an axial position; 

in the structure on the right, the ligand is located in an equatorial 

position. The arrows indicate the atomic movements of a particular 

carbonyl vibrational mode. The vibrational states of the complex were 

calculated using quantum mechanical methods 

ment of the catalyst during the entire reaction, and 

derive structure-activity relationships from the data 

gathered. 

Operando IR spectroscopy: 

CO vibrations as “probe” 

In addition to organic phosphor compounds, the 

hy dro formylation catalyst also carries CO and hy drogen 

as ligands. The central transition metal atom 

or ga nizes its ligands around itself so that the CO and 

hy dro gen are bound relatively loosely. They are then 

transferred one by one to the olefin, which binds 

itself to the central atom of the catalyst complex 

during the reaction. In 1966, the British chemist 

Geoffrey Wilkinson postulated a mechanism which 

catalyst developers in Marl are currently using as a 

working hypothesis for the reactions of the catalyst. 

The IR spectra are measured during the reaction 

period under a wide range of reaction conditions; 

they supply information about the structural changes 

to the ligands. Here, the CO stretching modes of the 

catalyst complex are particularly interesting, because 

they function like extremely sensitive probes for the 

molecular environment of the transition metal com- 


plex. Knowledge of the characteristic CO vibrations 

makes it possible to determine the structure of the 

complex and the structures of the various reaction 

intermediates: for example, whether the phosphor 

ligands have an equatorial or axial position. Precise 

knowledge of the catalyst structures is vitally important 

for understanding selectivity and activity, and 

forms the basis for determining structure-activity 

relationships. 

But how do C4 researchers know what molecular 

structures to assign to the peaks of the IR spectra? 

The Computational Chemistry unit of AQura has 

as sis ted hydroformylation research since 1998 and 

dur ing this period has developed special techniques 

for calculating the complexes. The computational 

power of computers is also a vital aid to this development. 

Since 1965 – the year in which Gordon E. 

Moore famously predicted that the number of components 

the industry would be able to place on a 

com puter chip would double every year – processing 

performance has doubled, on average, every 

eighteen months. It is now possible to use quantumchemical 

methods to compute not only model substances 

but real complexes with several hundred 

atoms. 

>>> 

Figure 2 

Extract from the IR spectrum of a hydroformylation catalyst (black curve). The structure corresponding 

to a particular spectrum can be found by comparing the spectrum with theoretically calculated spectra 

for a range of possible model structures. This illustration gives the spectra calculated for the two 

constitutional isomers shown in Fig. 1: one with the phosphite ligand in an equatorial position (red curve); 

the other with the same ligand in an axial position (blue curve). It is immediately apparent that the 

complex under examination must have an equatorial configuration 

Intensity 

2100 


Measured 

2000 1900 cm –1 


Calculated (equatorial) 

Calculated (axial) 

9

The calculations are based on an analysis of all 

the possible structures of the complex, supported by 

the chemical know-how compiled by catalyst developers 

over many years. Hypothetical structures and 

their associated IR spectra are calculated with the 

help of massively parallel computers. If the calculated 

and measured IR spectrum correspond, then this can 

reveal the underlying structure. 

Special software is necessary to preprocess the 

measured IR spectra by breaking them up in such a 

way that individual substances can be read from the 

complex overlap patterns of the spectrum. To this 

end, Evonik’s scientists have developed a specialized 

computer program in close cooperation with aca - 

demic partners. 

Pilot plant to supply data on long-term behavior 

The fledgling method of Operando IR spectroscopy, 

which links not only the activity and selectivity of 

catalysts but also the reaction parameters with their 

spectroscopic properties, has been an inspiration for 

the applied catalyst research of the C4 scientists. 

Struc ture-activity relationships support the development 

of customized ligands that control the hy dro - 

formylation reaction in such a way that the de sired 

aldehyde is generated from a particular olefin with 

the required yield and selectivity. 

Scientists at Evonik also use Operando IR technol - 

ogy in pilot plants in which the long-term behavior of 

the catalyst is studied over periods of thousands of 

hours. Future hydroformylation catalysts will be 

more stable than the catalysts used in the past, whose 

activity slows over time. The reasons for this can be 

found, for example, in the catalyst’s decomposition 

reactions. Operando spectroscopy is making also a 

key contribution to the easier separation of the prod - 

uct from the catalyst and improved recovery of the 

expensive catalyst. ● 

PD DR. ROBERT FRANKE 

Born 1964 

Robert Franke has been responsible for oxo research in 

the Industrial Chemicals Business Unit since April 2009. 

He studied technical chemistry and theoretical chemis - 

try at the Ruhr University Bochum, where he was 

awarded his PhD in 1994 and subsequently worked as 

a scientific assistant. In 1998, he began his professional 

career in the former Hüls AG, later Degussa, in the 

Computer Aided Process Engineering department of 

Process Technology. From 1999 he was head of the 

Computational Chemistry Laboratory at the Evonik 

subsidiary Infracor GmbH, and later at AQura GmbH, before moving to the newly 

established Process Intensification project house in 2005. There, his work included 

coordinating the BMBF joint project µ.Pro.Chem. After the successful conclusion of 

the Project House at the end of 2007, he became head of the pilot plant station for 

oxo research in the Evonik C4 Chemistry Business Line before moving to his current 

position. Franke earned his habilitation (post-graduate professorial degree) in the 

field of theoretical chemistry in 2002, and has since held a position as lecturer at the 

Ruhr University. 

+49 6181 59-2899, robert.franke@evonik.com 

DR. DIETER HESS 

Born 1956 

As senior scientist, Dieter Hess is responsible for the 

autoclave pilot plant of oxo R&D in Evonik’s Industrial 

Chemicals Business Unit. Hess studied physical chemis - 

try and technical chemistry at the Ruhr University 

Bochum, where he was awarded his doctorate in 1985. 

From 1986, he developed a laboratory for character - 

izing heterogeneous catalysts in the chemistry catalyst 

development unit of the former Hüls AG. From 1992, 

he worked on a certification pilot project in the hydroperoxide 

production unit in Herne and then in Marl, an 

expansion of the QM system of the former Olefin Chemistry Business Unit. From 

1996 to 1998 he managed the laboratory of the acetylene production unit in Marl. 

Following the sale of the acetylene plant to ISP, he moved to the newly built oxo 

research unit at C4 Chemistry. From 2001 to 2004 he was moreover an employee in 

the Catalysis Project House, where he was responsible for second screen area in the 

homogeneous catalysis unit. 

+49 2365 49-6922, dieter.hess@evonik.com 

DR. BERND HANNEBAUER 

Born 1968 

Bernd Hannebauer is responsible for the Computational 

Chemistry Competence Center at AQura GmbH, the 

analytics service unit of Evonik Industries. He studied 

chemistry at the Technical University of Darmstadt, 

where he was awarded his doctorate in 1997 in the area 

of physical chemistry. From 1996 he worked as an ap - 

plications scientist at Molecular Simulations, Inc. (now 

Accelrys), where he developed simulation strategies for 

R&D and application engineering in cooperation with 

industrial customers. His work focused on catalysis and 

polymer research, simulation of analytical instruments, and structure-performance 

analyses in the area of specialty chemicals. In 1998 he moved to the central R&D 

facilities of the former Degussa AG, a predecessor of AQura GmbH, where he devel - 

oped a simulation laboratory and initiated activities in the field of computational 

chemistry. 

+49 6181 59-2041, bernd.hannebauer@evonik.com 


+++ Not invented here! 

Shutting down a plant for maintenance or cleaning does not come 

without cost. So to increase plant availability, it is a good thing to prevent 

residues from building up. Doing so lengthens run-time and 

increases throughput. This is exactly what employees at Evonik’s 

Industrial Chemicals and Coatings & Additives Business Units have 

done in the Marl polyoil plant, by sharing their experience. For this 

achievement, they – as well as two other teams – have been given the 

internal Not Invented Here Award. 

The Not Invented Here Award recognises those who transfer 

know-how from one division of the company to another, because 

simplifying work processes and saving costs does not always call for a 

completely new invention. It is often enough to transfer a good idea 

or process from one unit to another. Since Evonik has seen a number 

of such transfers over the past few years in Brazil, China, and the 

United States, among other places, the jury of the Not Invented Here 

Award had a tough job. Ulrich Weber, Chief Human Resources 

Officer of Evonik Industries, praised the innovative spirit of the 

numerous employees who had submitted entries for the award. 

“People not only showed their creative thinking skills, but in many 

cases also transcended business areas and national boundaries. This is 

exactly what characterizes an integrated industry group such as 

Evonik Industries.” 

With the polyoil plant, the team from Marl has also shown that it 

can be extraordinarily profitable to “take a peek.” Polyoils are lowmolecular, 

low-viscosity polybutadienes that are used in adhesives 

and sealants, anti-corrosion coatings, to impregnate mineral sub - 

strates, and as plasticizers in rubbers. When butadiene is processed, 

residues can build up in the columns as a result of spontaneous polymerization. 

Because they have to be removed regularly, the cleaning 

costs and downtime are significant. A fast solution for these kinds of 

problems is lowering the process temperature and/or the through put. 

But this also reduces performance and, therefore, the cost-effectiveness 

of the plant. 

news 

Employees from the butadiene plant of the Industrial Chemicals 

Business Unit have a handle on this problem. They use SiYPro, a 

recent in-house product that inhibits spontaneous polymerization, 

thereby reducing the risk of residues and lengthening cleaning intervals. 

They passed on their experience using SiYPro to lengthen plant 

availability to the polyoil plant, where employees tested SiYPro by 

using it instead of their current polymerization inhibitor, from an 

external supplier. The test was a success: The time between cleanings 

is four times longer with SiYPro. 

SiYPro – Simplify Your Process – contains an entire package of 

services, including analysis of your plant’s weaknesses, provision of 

customized, ready-to-use processing aids with the proper dosing stations, 

as well as continuous monitoring of critical plant parameters. 

Evonik sells the package for plants that produce such chemicals as 

ethylene, butadiene, styrene, acrylonitrile, (meth)acrylates, vinyl 

ace tate, chloroprene, raw C4 cuts and pyrolysis gasoline – and has 

used it in its own plants with excellent results. 

To be avoided: 

butadiene deposits 

in a column 

(above) 

The SiYPro service 

package also includes 

dosage stations 

(left) 


„Our R&D has to be Even More 

Dr. Peter Nagler has headed the 

Innovation Management 

Chemicals & Creavis (IMC) unit 

at Evonik since April 1, 2009, 

replacing Prof. Michael Dröscher, 

who went into early retirement. 

Nagler assumed his new post 

in turbulent times, and for him, 

the order of the day is greater 

innovation efficiency. 


Efficient“ 

? Dr. Nagler, we are in an economic crisis, and so 

far, a sustainable recovery is not on the horizon. 

Innovation costs money and it can take years to pay 

off. Has Evonik cut costs in this area? 

! That is something we cannot afford. For Evonik, 

innovations are more important today than ever 

before. Dr. Klaus Engel, Chairman of our Executive 

Board, has made it very clear that the only way we 

can remain internationally competitive over the long 

term is if we can safeguard our ability to innovate, 

strengthen our research and development activities, 

and use them for growth and increasing value, even 

in a crisis. 

? This means that everyone who works on R&D 

projects can sit back and relax when it comes to 

their budget, despite the economic crisis? 

! We have never done that, even in good times. 

Evonik occupies leading market positions in more 

than 80 percent of its chemical sales, and over 20 

percent of its chemical sales are based on products, 

applications, and processes that are less than five 

years old. You cannot do that unless R&D funds are 

used prudently. In the past, our researchers have 

proven that they know customers’ needs and the 

most efficient way of meeting them. This should 

remain the case. If a company cuts R&D costs today, 

it runs the risk of being left behind by the competi - 

t ion tomorrow, and reduces its returns over the long 

term. But to maximize effectiveness, of course, 

everyone involved in R&D projects is called on to be 

more critical than ever before when it comes to de - 

cid ing which projects receive money. The order of 

the day is increasing innovation efficiency and gen - 

er ating a greater return on every euro of research 

expenditure. 

At any rate, we will, of course, do all we can with - 

in IMC to optimize our services and, wherever pos - 

sible, avoid unnecessary expenses. 



? What does that mean, then, for long-term R&D 

projects whose success is difficult to estimate 

because of the time horizon? Will these ultimately 

be the projects targeted for cost cuts? 

! That does not necessarily follow. Most often, 

long-term projects aim to penetrate new, key, and 

strategically important technologies and markets – 

we cannot afford to miss the boat here. And we need 

a mix of short-, medium- and long-term projects to 

keep our innovation pipeline filled. It is conceivable, 

how ever, that we could temporarily shift the project 

portfolio to short-term projects that help save costs 

elsewhere – in other words, focus on projects that 

aim for optimization of manufacturing processes 

and, therefore, higher economic effectiveness, and 

that can be implemented relatively quickly. 

? What can you do to assist the Chemicals Busi - 

ness Area? As you know, the business units con - 

tinue to represent 85 percent of the R&D budget for 

chemicals and largely determine themselves how to 

spend the money. 

! With the IMC Innovation Module, for example, 

we have a powerful tool for finding the optimal innovation 

strategy for the business model of each unit. 

Where can Evonik grow faster than the market? 

How? Does the unit in question have the necessary 

competencies for this or does it have to purchase 

them? Here, we can assist with analysis, development 

of the innovation strategy, and the design of an 

innovation process that extends from the invention 

phase to market launch. We can also constructively 

influence the discussion of suitable parameters for 

measuring innovation efficiency, for example. 

Through Creavis’ project houses and Science-to- 

Bu siness Centers, we can help leverage synergy po - 

ten tials in the Group. At the end of the previous year, 

for example, we established the Eco 2 Science-to-Bu siness 

Center, which focuses on the generation, >>> 

13

Responsibilities of Innovation Management Chemicals & Creavis 

The key tasks of the Innovation Management 

Chemicals & Creavis unit, to which AQura GmbH, 

Intellectual Property Management, and Creavis also 

belong, are: 

Networking 

Maintain contact with universities and make new 

contacts, especially in Asia and Eastern Europe. An 

important forum in this regard is the Evonik Meets 

Science event, which is held regularly in Germany, 

Asia, and the United States. Internal expert platforms, 

such as the areas of competence, which link 

the competencies of the Chemicals Business Area, 

are also supported. 

Consulting for innovation processes 

The IMC Innovation Module offers assistance to 

units in the Group who seek to improve their innovation 

strategies and processes, as well as their culture, 

and supports them in the continued development of 

successful competencies in innovation management. 

This is based on the Group’s “good practices,” which 

are combined, systematized and made available to 

everyone in various service packages. 

Intellectual Property Management (IPM) 

IPM supports scientists and management in the protection, 

development, strategic use, and commer - 

cialization of the IP values created. The roughly 120 

employees in this unit are assisted in their work by a 

global network of communicating lawyers. 

AQura analytical solutions 

AQura GmbH, a subsidiary of Evonik, has many 

years of industry experience in the area of chemical, 

physico-chemical, biochemical, and technical safety 

studies. With more than 1,000 investigative and 500 

standard procedures, the company is among the few 

testing institutes with this kind of broad spectrum of 

methods. 


Creavis 

Creavis is the home of strategic research for the creation 

of new businesses outside the existing portfolio. 

This includes project houses that develop highly 

attractive inter-unit research topics within a threeyear 

period, internal start-ups that market new prod - 

ucts, and Science-to-Business Centers that develop 

new businesses all the way to production-ready 

systems for the end user. 

R&D reporting and communication 

This area includes gathering key R&D figures for the 

Chemicals Business Area; presentation of the annual 

Innovation Award, which acknowledges employees 

for outstanding research work; and publication of 

the science newsletter elements. 

DR. PETER NAGLER 

began his career in 1986 at the former Degussa AG. 

After holding several executive positions at the 

Hanau-Wolfgang and Frankfurt sites, Nagler, who 

holds a doctorate in chemistry, was promoted to corporate 

development manager in 1993 and, subsequently, 

managing director of Rexim S.A. in Paris. 

Returning to Germany, Nagler became head of the 

Fine Chemicals Business Line in 1997, and the 

Advanced Intermediates Business Line at the former 

Degussa-Hüls AG in Frankfurt in 1999. In 2001, he 

was appointed head of the Fine Chemicals Business 

Unit in Frankfurt, and then the Exclusive Synthesis & Catalysts Business Unit. 

In 2005, he managed the South America region in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Two years 

later he returned to Germany, where he was responsible for the Innovation 

Manage ment department within the Inorganic Materials Business Unit before 

moving to his current position. 


storage, and efficient use of energy, as well as the 

separation and use of CO2. Here, we profit as much 

from our competencies in chemistry as in energy. 

Another focus is the continued development of 

intellectual property (IP) management, from the 

development of an IP strategy, through global secur - 

ing of our freedom to act, all the way to utilization of 

knowledge we have not used ourselves. 

The internationalization of our scientific network 

– university contacts, for instance – is another 

important point. What are universities in the United 

States, Japan, China, Taiwan, or South America working 

on? Are there trends and topics that are attractive 

for us, and what would a potential partnership look 

like? Even start-ups established by universities could 

be relevant for us, since we too are always interested 

in new processes, products, and applications. 

? What do you see as the greatest R&D challenge 

in the next few months? 

! In the end, it is always a question of whether we 

are focusing on the right areas. The “right” areas are 

defined by customers and the market. And our processes 

have to be designed in such a way that we 

identify new trends early on and consciously focus 

on projects that pay off – in other words, invest R&D 

resources in the right places. Evonik is already doing 

well in this regard. But given the economic situation, 

we have to do even better. 

Helping to increase corporate value must be the 

governing idea of everything we do. This will justify 

the trust the Group shows in its researchers. ● 

PROF. DR. MICHAEL DRÖSCHER 

After studying chemistry and earning 

his doctorate in Mainz, and completing 

postdoctoral studies in macromolecular 

chemistry in Freiburg, Dröscher began 

his career in the Group at the former 

Hüls AG in 1982. He held a variety of 

management positions in this company 

before becoming managing director 

of Creavis Gesellschaft für Technol - 

o gie und Innovation mbH in Marl in 

1997. From here, he moved to the 

Corporate Center of the former Degussa AG to head the Innova - 

tion Management Corporate Division in 2002, and was responsible 

for Innovation Management Chemicals of Evonik Degussa GmbH 

since the beginning of 2008, before taking early retirement in 

April 2009. 


+++ Synthetic amorphous silica registered according to REACH 

In compliance with the new EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, 

and Restriction of Chemicals) chemicals regulation, Evonik Industries has successfully 

registered synthetic amorphous silica with the European Chemicals 

Agency in Helsinki. This authorizes the company, now and in the future, to produce, 

import, and market its own brands of precipitated silicas (ULTRASIL ® , 

SIPERNAT ® , etc.) and fumed silicas (AEROSIL ® ). Evonik is thus the first producer 

to have successfully registered synthetic amorphous silica. The substances were 

registered by order of the respective REACH consortia in the form of a joint submission. 

As the lead registrant, Evonik has blazed a trail for other organized chem - 

ical companies to have these substances registered. 

According to the REACH chemicals regulation, which came into force in June 

2007, existing substances – substances already listed in the inventory under the 

old chemicals legislation – had to be preregistered by December 1, 2008, as a first 

step (so as to achieve “phase-in” status). This was accomplished on schedule for 

all the products of the Inorganic Materials Business Unit. Following this preregis - 

tration, the important substance synthetic amorphous silica is now the first of the 

more than one hundred of the business unit’s substances to be registered. The 

registration phase for substances handled in quantities of more than 1,000 metric 

tons per year ends in November 2010. 

Evonik initiated Group-wide measures early on for the proper implementa - 

tion of REACH. These involved implementation of internal project management, 

training in the areas of procurement and marketing, data collection, and IT solu - 

tions, as well as letters to customers and workshops for customers and suppliers 

to familiarize them with the new chemicals regulation. Evonik has preregistered 

about 4,000 substances. 

A key application for AEROSIL ® in the adhesives industry is 

use as a thixotropic agent for special adhesives in the 

construction of wind turbine plants. The fumed silica keeps 

the adhesives from running on slanted or vertical walls, and 

creates a reliable, stable bond. Pictured here are the wind 

turbine plants of Nordex AG (Norderstedt, Germany) 

+++ AEROSIL ® – a success story now in Asia 

The first shipment of AEROSIL ® 200 left the Yokkaichi production 

facility in November 1968 – marking the first chapter of a success 

story. Nippon Aerosil Co. Ltd. (NAC), operator of the site, became one 

of the most successful joint ventures in the portfolio of its fou nd ers 

Mitsubishi Materials and Degussa – today’s Evonik. 

The plant in Yokkaichi, which is about 400 kilometers west of 

Tokyo, initially supplied primarily the local Japanese market but has 

gradually grown into a supplier for the entire region. Today, 

Yokkaichi comprises not only the largest and most tradition-steeped 

production facility for fumed silica in Japan, but in all of Asia. At the 

same time, it is also the second-largest production site for AEROSIL ® 

at Evonik Industries. In addition to production, Yokkaichi is also a 

regional center for R&D and technical service for fumed silica. 

Currently about 180 workers are employed in AEROSIL ® production 

in Yokkaichi. More than 50 different products are manufactured 

here, including products for applications in silicon, adhesives, 

paints and coatings, plastics, and toners. “Our many years of development 

and production experience help us meet our customers’ increas- 

ing standards for product quality and requirements for new product 

types,” says Michael Doludda, President Nippon Aerosil Co. Ltd. 

“This is our strength, which is the foundation of our strong growth 

here.” 

Part of this strength involves benefiting the customers and adapt - 

ing products to meet their needs, which is always the top priority, 

underlined by the “invented to improve” slogan. While more and 

more competitors continue to flood the Asian market with cheap 

prod ucts, the inventor of fumed silica has maintained a presence there 

for decades and continues to guarantee lasting quality. For a com pany 

with more than 65 years of experience in fumed silica, this is not surprising. 

Without doubt, part of the Evonik success story is based on the 

company’s strategy of continuously improving both products and the 

technology behind them. The AEROSIL ® trademark not only stands 

for a versatile product but encompasses a whole package of services. 

For example teams of R&D experts ensure products and their applications 

continue to evolve. Over 100 field sales offices in 95 coun- 


Just one of several applications: AEROSIL ® ensures an even distribution of 

pigments in the paint and prevents sedimentation. It can also control the rheology 

in such a way that the nail polish can be applied easily and conveniently 

+++ VESTAKEEP ® polymers for medical applications 

With VESTAKEEP ® M, a polyether ether ketone (PEEK), Evonik 

Industries offers a new series for medical applications that is suit - 

able for short-term body contact. The biocompatibility according 

the United States Pharmacopoeia, in vivo and in vitro, has been confirmed 

in various tests by independent qualified laboratories. 

In general, PEEK is used in medical products to improve their 

usefulness: lighter weight, more freedom of design, and better 

functional integration. It is also an inexpensive alternative to metals 

and other materials. Its performance is distinguished by the biocompatibility, 

the chemical resistance, the resistance against 

gamma rays or X-rays, and the X-ray transparency, the outstanding 

resistance to hot steam sterilization, the high mechanical strength 

and wear and impact resistances, good electrical insulation properties, 

and good hydrolysis resistance. 

Even though VESTAKEEP ® polymers have only recently been 

used in medical applications, the extensive property profile of the 

material predestines it for a number of interesting applications, like 

surgical instruments, endoscopes, applications in the in vitro-diag - 

nostic, orthopedic, spinal, and dental fields, analytical equipment, 

and medical dosing. 

VESTAKEEP ® polymers are opening up 

new options in the field of medicine 

news 

tries around the globe ensure close customer proximity 

and service. Globally active professionals work with cust 

omers to develop application and management solu - 

tions. Outstanding logistics ensures on-time delivery and 

creative packaging design solves handling problems from 

the outset. Technical customer service is available to 

AEROSIL ® users in all regions of the world. The longterm 

AEROSIL ® distribution policy of Evonik, in connection 

with a global network of production sites, offers 

users in practically all parts of the world high delivery 

reliability and therefore, planning predictability. 

Close contact with customers, industries, and markets 

that use AEROSIL ® products also makes it possible to 

continually develop new, innovative products for existing 

applications and new applications for existing products – 

perpetually breathing new life into the slogan “invented 

to improve.” 


SUCCESSFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND CHEMISTRY 

Sun-Activated Sheeting Made of 

MATTHIAS KARK, PETER BATTENHAUSEN 

The spotlight was on energy efficiency at this year’s R+T, the world’s leading trade show for 

rolling shutters, gates, and sun protection. Held at the new exhibition grounds in Stuttgart (Germany) 

the event showcased scores of examples of how the rolling shutter and sun protection industries are 

providing solutions for lowering energy consumption. At the cutting edge is microstructured 

PLEXIGLAS ® sheet, which helps not only to save but capture energy. 

iven the rising prices for energy in both the private 

and industrial sectors, the 60,000 industry visitors 

decidedly expressed great interest in innovative technology 

in this area. The stand belonging to Prismaplex 

GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg, a company that has worked closely 

with Evonik Industries to develop completely new options in 

sun protection and sun use based on PMMA (PLEXIGLAS ® ) plastic, 

was particularly highly frequented. A key requirement for 

success of the project was to establish a manufacturing process 

that continually molds structures into the PLEXIGLAS ® G 

molding 

compounds with utmost precision. 

The principle of redirecting light has been known for hundreds 

of years. It appears in various fields of application where lenses, 

mirrors, or prisms are used. Prismatically structured plastic 

sheets, for example, are used for reflecting light. Until now, 

suitable products were available only in limited sizes, because 

production had reached its technical limits or failed because it 

was prohibitively expensive. This limited the use of such 

systems to a few fields of application. For 40 years now, developers 

around the world have worked on producing this same 

kind of material in a larger size. They have tried processes such 

as hot-press molding and injection molding, but all resulted in 


PLEXIGLAS ® 

products that were limited in size or too expensive. Depending 

on the manufacturing process, the structures are often relatively 

poor in quality, which is apparent in an extremely unevenly 

molded surface or in exceedingly high peak radii of more than 

100 micrometers. 

Now, within only five years, Prismaplex has succeeded in 

bring ing to production a globally patented process that can be 

used for producing precision-structured PMMA sheeting of any 

desired length in a continuous manufacturing process. This success 

story began as early as 2003, with the now 99-year-old in - 

ventor Peter Nawrath from Remscheid. In the 1960s, he thought 

about providing PLEXIGLAS ® sheets with prisma structures for 

optical effects that would be practical for a wide variety of applications. 

One idea was to reflect direct sun radiation, but to use 

the light for lighting rooms. Sheets structured in this way provide 

shade without darkening the room, and thereby reduce heat ing 

requirements while also lowering the cost of artificial light ing 

and air conditioning. On the other hand, the thinking went, the 

sheets can also be used as Fresnel lenses to bundle light, and thus 

selectively concentrate the heat of the sun like solar collectors. 

Precision-structured PLEXIGLAS ® 

sheet. With the new Prismaplex 

process, sheet can be continuously 

produced in any length desired. 

Depending on the surface structure, 

it can be used to reflect, concentrate 

or distribute light (left) 


The microstructures on the 

surface completely reflect the 

sunlight that falls on the front 

of the sheet. Only the rays 

that shine on the sides bypass 

the structure and give off a 

pleasant light (above) 


Another extremely broad field of application is lighting 

tech nol ogy in connection with energy-saving LED lights. With 

specially structured sheets for covering the illuminant, rooms 

can be lit quite efficiently and with minimal optical losses. 

The key to the process is the movable 

molding tool (stamping roller) 

The processing principle for the structured sheets made of 

PLEXIGLAS ® molding compounds was also designed several 

years ago, although actual implementation has been possible 

only through intensive cooperation between Prismaplex and 

Evonik. In the past, various extruder manufacturers and machine 

builders failed at this complex task until Kark AG, the parent 

com pany of Prismaplex GmbH & Co. KG, took up the matter. 

Kark is an innovative, medium-sized mechanical engineering 

com pany with patented inventions in the area of steel and roll ing 

mill technology. The company has what it takes to accept this 

kind of challenge – the development of a new ribbon calender 

technology. >>> 

19

On the one hand, the technology calls for a continuously mov - 

able molding tool that generates the optically precise structures 

by turning itself over a rigid core. On the other hand, the process 

must safely overcome processing shrinkage so that the fine 

structures are retained even when the plastic molecules contract 

during cooling. 

The solution includes not only the special molding tool but 

also a precisely regulated temperature process for sequentially 

heating the stamping roller to 200 °C and cooling it to 70 °C 

with in a half turn. The high temperature ensures uniform, precise 

molding of the structures, while the low temperature en - 

sures that they are preserved as if frozen. This rapid tempera - 

ture change must occur very evenly over the entire width of the 

stamping tool in order to keep the internal tensions low in the 

semi-finished product. 

This unique type of plastics processing also makes unique 

demands on the PLEXIGLAS ® molding compounds used. They 

have to have an extremely low melt viscosity and display special 

flow properties, which Evonik ensures through customized formulation 

of the product. 

To achieve the right solution, the team of developers tested 

a whole host of various molding compounds, and they quickly 

determined that standard compounds were not suitable because 

their molding precision is too low. The formula for the molding 

compounds not only had to take account of the processing char - 

acteristics but also meet the requirements for optical transpar - 

ency and high weather resistance. The PMMA sheeting can be 

produced at a width of 1,000 millimeters and any length de - 

sired. The thickness of the standard Prismaplex products is currently 

about 2 millimeters, while thicknesses of between 1.5 

and 4 millimeters are also available. 

What makes the production line unique is that the entire plasticizing 

unit – screw extruder and flat nozzle – can be moved 

triaxially in all directions. The patented way of removing the 

stamping roller forward out of the machine is a great advancement 

in handling and considerably shortens set-up time. All 

speeds of the individually propelled aggregates are precisely 

coordinated to each other and adjusted to the thickness of the 

material. Downstream from the production plant is an anneal - 

ing furnace, in which daily production can be stored warm in 

order to relax residual tensions in the material. 

Heat is reflected back, light passes through 

Transparent sheets made of PLEXIGLAS ® with 90° prism structure 

that produce total reflection offer an attractive and costeffective 

new solution for many applications related to the shad - 

ing of buildings and rooms. These include vertical or horizontal 


louvers that can be mounted wherever effective protection 

against solar heat is sought but not a darkened room. The key 

feature of this technology is that the direct sunlight responsible 

for the solar heat is reflected back, while the diffuse daylight is 

allowed to shine through. The benefits are clear: an optimal 

indoor climate that significantly reduces the amount of energy 

required to air condition or cool, and keeps lighting costs low. 

The light-reflecting (shading) and light-concentrating properties 

of the material can be combined to good effect in greenhouses, 

where electricity can be generated, for example, to 

power the irrigation system or heat the greenhouse at night. 

Because Prismaplex sheeting concentrates the light by allowing 

the diffuse daylight to enter unhindered while preventing direct 

solar radiation on the plants, an exceptionally low-stress climate 

is achieved in the greenhouse, which in turn has a positive effect 

on plant growth. The market for these kinds of applications is 

enormous – there are roughly 1.8 billion square meters of greenhouse 

space worldwide. 

Another use is concentrating sunlight by means of Fresnel 

lenses, which focus the light that shines on the surface directly 

onto solar cells to generate photovoltaic electricity (CPV). 

According to the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems 

(ISE) in Freiburg, cell efficiency grades of over 45 percent are 

possible under these conditions. Ultra high-performance triple 

For concentrating the sunlight, typically 

in solar thermal energy generating 

systems, transparent PLEXIGLAS ® 

continuous sheet incorporating a linefocusing 

system is used. Currently under 

development at Prismaplex is the biaxial 

solar collector PrismaSun CSP, which 

is designed to track the sun across the 

sky. With a collector area of around 

100 m², this is sufficient to supply the 

electricity needs of a small settlement in 

countries with long hours of sunshine 

(far left) 

The light-reflecting and light-concen - 

trating properties of the material can be 

combined to good effect in green - 

houses, shading the plants from direct 

sunlight while at the same time gene r - 

ating electricity to power the irrigation 

system or heat the greenhouse at night. 

Because the sheet concentrates the 

light while also allowing the diffuse daylight 

to pass through unhindered, 

plants inside the greenhouse thrive 

(left) 


junction cells and their associated concentrator systems are 

required for this application. 

Prismaplex developers are currently working on an alternative, 

called PrismaSun. It is a system that focuses sunlight onto a 

heat-transfer oil. The hot oil is circulated in a heat exchanger 

system that transfers the heat to water, which becomes steam, 

and this steam powers a conventional steam turbine for gener - 

ating electricity. For concentrating solar power (CSP), Pris ma - 

plex sheeting with linear Fresnel-shaped structures are used to 

intensify sunlight by a factor of about 100. Solar thermal concentration 

by means of lens systems can theoretically achieve 

temperatures of over 400 °C. In the future, this method could 

also generate the process heat required by an array of indus - 

tries, including the chemical industry. 

Prismaplex is also developing biaxial solar collectors designed 

to track the sun across the sky (PrismaSun CSP). An advantage 

of these collectors over the parabolic trough solar plants used in 

the past could be easier installation, lower weight, and more flex - 

ible use of uneven terrain while requiring less space. 

A special molding compound for 

stamping Fresnel lenses 

For these kinds of applications, Evonik has also developed special 

PLEXIGLAS ® molding compounds that can be used in a variety 

of processes – injection molding, extrusion or lamination of 

stamped films – to produce lens systems. Here, too, these spe - 

cial molding compounds have all the attributes required for 

their task: high transparency and excellent mold surface reproduc 

tion, UV stability, weather resistance, and longevity. 

Prismaplex technology with materials from Evonik opens up 

incredible opportunities for using regenerative energy and conserving 

energy. In the future, this technology will provide the 

basis for both cost-effective small power plants as well as largescale 

solar thermal plants for the desalinization of sea water or 

water electrolysis. ● 

CONTACT 

MATTHIAS KARK 

General Manager, Prismaplex GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg (Germany), 

and President and CEO, Kark AG, Hamburg (Germany). 

+49 40 797 00-444, matthias.kark@prismaplex.com 

PETER BATTENHAUSEN 

As Business Development Manager in the Performance Polymers 

Business Unit, Peter Battenhausen works primarily with solar applications 

for PLEXIGLAS ® . 

+49 6151 18-4519, peter.battenhausen@evonik.com 


CARBON BLACK AS A PIGMENT: 

Black Art for the World 

MOO-JONG SONG 

With a new post-treatment process, developers at 

Evonik Industries have succeeded in imparting new 

qualities to carbon black pigments. Selective modification 

improves both wettability and dispersion properties. 

NEROX ® carbon black pigments enhance not only the 

stability of coatings but also their gloss, and lead to a 

lower viscosity of the formulations. To optimally 

supply particularly the Asian markets in the 

printing inks, coatings, and artificial leather 

industries, the company produces these 

specialties directly at its Yeosu site in 

South Korea. 

Evonik’s new NEROX ® 

carbon black pigments 

are primarily used in 

printing inks, coatings, 

and artificial leather 


Market 

Carbon black is an important industrial raw material. 

But except for its black color, it has little in common 

with ordinary soot. Carbon black is a high-tech material 

with defined properties, which is produced by 

selective, incomplete combustion of aromatic oils or other 

liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, at temperatures far above 

1,000 °C. With 17 production plants, Evonik is one of the lead - 

ing manufacturers of carbon black, which it produces in four 

different processes: the furnace black, lamp black, thermal 

black, and gas black processes. Process control for each process 

determines the size and form of the primary particles and 

aggregates (Fig. 1, p. 24), and consequently the essential prod - 

uct and application properties. 

One glance toward Hürth-Kalscheuren is enough to prove 

that carbon black is no off-the-rack product. There, Evonik currently 

produces about 80 different types of carbon black. This 

kind of variety is possible through selective modification of primary 

particle size, aggregate size, and structure, as well as the 

surface, where the material properties can be adapted to the 



application concerned. The spectrum of applications is just as 

diverse. In car tires, for example, carbon black ensures lower 

abrasion, durability, and grip. It is also a key component of black 

pigments which are used in the printing inks, plastics, coatings, 

and artificial leather markets. In automobile paint, for instance, 

they afford the desired deep black color. 

A classic with innovation potential 

The use of carbon black as a pigment is nothing new. The 

ancient Greeks and Romans obtained black from resins for use 

in black wall paint. The ancient Chinese also produced black 

from resins, plant oils, or asphalt to make inks and pigments. But 

despite its long history, the innovation potential of this black 

pigment is still far from exhausted. 

Selective refinement through chemical modification of the 

particle surface offers particular potential for quality improvement. 

The surface of carbon black is functionalized, for example, 

through post-treatment with an oxidation agent. This >>> 

23

creates oxygen-containing organic groups such as carboxylic 

acid, quinone, and phenol groups (Fig. 2). These can be mea - 

s ured as volatile components because, at 950 °C, they form gaseous 

decomposition products that indicate the original de gree of 

oxidation of the carbon black. 

The furnace process allows the critical parameters of particle 

size and structure of the carbon black to be set flexibly over 

a relatively long interval. If pigment particles already custom - 

ized in this way are further refined by subsequent modification, 

such as an oxidation process, then the pigments can be precisely 

adjusted for an array of different applications. The degree of 

oxidation is of paramount importance, as it has a decisive influence 

on the dispersibility of carbon black in both aqueous and 

solvent-based systems. Different oxidation processes also produce 

different product profiles. This was the focus of researchers 

in Evonik’s Inorganic Materials Business Unit located in 

Yeosu (South Korea) and Kalscheuren (Germany): The scientists 

searched for a new process that would allow them to optimally 

calibrate the properties of carbon black to applications 

with above-average market potential. 

The impetus came from the market 

The innovation has resulted in a product family that offers 

custom-tailored properties for a number of applications and is 

regis tered in over 60 countries. The partially oxidized carbon 

black pigments are not only more wettable and dispersible but 

are also more stable in water- and solvent-based coatings. 

The critical factor for the development was impetus from 

the market, which values universal solutions for aqueous and 

non-aqueous systems. The rapidly growing economic regions 

of Asia, for example, are creating a huge demand for oxidized 

carbon blacks. To sustainably meet this increased demand, 

Evonik has decided to expand its production capacities. 

Since the new technology was designed to consider the special 

needs of the Asian market, the company decided to build a 

new plant in South Korea. After having completed the basic 

work necessary for development of the new oxidation process 

the team of Korean and German researchers and engineers did 

the upscaling to an industrial process based on its joint knowhow. 

Before the process was finally realized in a commercialscale 

plant at the Yeosu site of Evonik Carbon Black Korea, the 

new carbon blacks had to be optimized with regard to their 

properties in the target applications, such as dispersibility, gloss, 

pH value, viscosity, conductivity, hue, and jetness, and to be 

brought to market maturity by multifunctional teams from 

R&D, production, and the applied technology centers in Hanau 

and Yeosu. 

A focus on growth markets 

NEROX ® carbon blacks are used primarily in printing inks, 

coatings, and artificial leather. Printing inks are a typical application 

for the NEROX ® product family. Special technologies in 

this field, such as UV-curing systems, call for polar pigments. 

The reason is that the carbon blacks usually show poor wettabil - 

ity with the binder systems used. This property is significantly 

improved by the new process. With average growth rates of 5 to 

8 percent, UV-curing printing inks are one of the strongest 

growing market segments, and offer attractive opportunities 

for NEROX ® . 

Figure 3 shows the superiority of NEROX ® 305 or 505 when 

it comes to the optical density of a typical UV-curing flexo - 

graphic formulation of the kind used in packaging print. It is particularly 

important that this positive result is not accompanied 

by less desirable rheological properties, such as a higher print - 

ing ink viscosity. With the new pigments it is on the same level 

with the reference. 

Figure 1 

TEM photo of a carbon black particle with marks for primary 

particle size ■■, aggregate size ■■ , and aggregate structure ■■. 

The primary particle size can be adjusted between approximately 

10 and 90 nm, depending on the manufacturing process and 

process control 


MOO-JONG SONG 

Moo-Jong Song works for 

Innovation Management’s 

Carbon Black & Technical 

Service in Yeosu (South 

Korea). The unit is a part 

of the Inorganic Materials 

Business Unit. After grad - 

uating from the Univer sity 

of Hanyang in 1993, 

Song, a chemical engineer, 

began his career at the 

Carbon Black Division of LG Chem Co., Ltd., a division 

that Evonik took over in 1999. After working in differ - 

ent capacities in the technical service team for the rubber 

industry and in research and product and process 

development for pigment blacks, he transferred in 

2006 to his current position. 

+82 61 690-5220, moo-jong.song@evonik.com 

Another important field of application is packaging print 

with solvent-based systems, where oxidized pigments are preferred, 

especially in the Asian market. Also in this case NEROX ® 

carbon blacks give proof of advantages in the jetness and rheol - 

ogy of the printing inks. 

Pigments made to measure 

Digital printing processes, such as the ink jet process, also benefit 

from the NEROX ® family, which scores points here because it 

improves the long-term stability of dispersions. This becomes 

Figure 2 

Illustration showing oxide groups on carbon black surfaces 

HO 

Carboxyl 

O 

Phenol 

HO 

O 

Lactol 

O 

OH 

O 

Quinone 

O 

O 

Pyrone 

O 


critical, for instance, when an ink-jet printer has not been used 

for months but the user naturally expects it to print flawlessly – 

an enormous challenge for the inks, which has to be overcome 

through selective treatment of the pigment surfaces. The same 

holds true for the electrostatic properties, which can be selec - 

tively varied through carbon black. In the manufacture of highquality 

artificial leather by the “wet” process, NEROX ® carbon 

blacks can provide superior performance with low viscosity of 

the polyurethane systems and an exceptionally deep black. 

Also, conventional carbon black pigments have been hard to 

wet in these formulations – an obstacle that can be elegantly 

over come with the NEROX ® grades. 

Customers gain application-specific performance 

Coatings show a comparable scenario with regard to stability 

and viscosity. In addition to the highest possible long-term stability, 

the market favors systems that display the lowest possible 

viscosity. For coatings manufacturers, such systems are easier 

to work with and, therefore, more economical. This new process 

for optimally fine-tuned carbon blacks is not only an advantage 

in the traditional fields of application but also for newer, 

extremely demanding applications such as the production of the 

black matrix of LCD screens. 

NEROX ® is also a good example of the way close coopera tion 

between R&D, technical service, sales, and marketing – even 

across continents – can successfully lead to the development of 

a new product line based on the market demand for new ecofriendly 

systems, such as water-based coatings or UV-curing 

printing inks, thus providing an added value to custom ers in our 

target markets. It is the profession of Evonik to offer its custom - 

ers not just chemicals but application-specific performance, 

which also includes special support regarding formulation and 

processing. ● 

Figure 3 

Optical densities of UV-curing flexo printing inks 

with the products NEROX ® 305 and 505, as well as 

a current reference product 

■■ Reference Black ■■ NEROX ® 505 ■■ NEROX ® 305 

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 

Optical Density 

elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER 25 

2.02 

2.27 

2.24

+++ Protecting historical monuments with PLEXIGLAS ® : roofing tiles as energy suppliers 

Solar power is all the rage among Italian homeowners since the new 

Conto Energia electricity feed-in law entered into force this year. 

Unlike the previous law to promote the use of solar energy, the new 

act focuses on small units and, therefore, directly addresses end con - 

sumers. And they are happy to install solar modules on their roofs. In 

Italy, a country blessed with just as much sunshine as Spain or Greece, 

that is a lucrative business. But not everyone who wants to is allowed 

to install conventional solar panels on their roof – the authorities for the 

protection of historical monuments have so far refused their approval. 

The view of Italy from above shows why. Many Italian cities are 

known for their uniquely curved light brown clay roof tiles – a form 

that goes back to the Middle Ages. Dark-colored solar cells would 

stand out amid the sea of tiles and amount to an eye-sore. The Italian 

company REM S.p.A. has found a solution to this dilemma: solar tiles 

made of plastic with cover panels made of PLEXIGLAS ® . These 

“TechTiles” have the appearance of traditional clay tiles, but contain 

powerful solar cells, or alternatively, solar collectors for heating 

water. 

Classic outside, high-tech inside 

Even if a suitable tile shape has not yet been found for every country, 

it certainly has for Italy. The solar tile from REM S.p.A. also convinced 

the jury of the Well-Tech Design Award, which conferred first prize 

for the tile last year. All the solar tile has in common with its medieval 

predecessor are the color and the shape. The modern version makes 

use of plastic rather than clay. The center of the overtile contains the 

solar cells or solar collector modules, concealed beneath a transparent 

sheet. 

From a certain distance these plastic roof tiles with integrated solar 

cells are practically indistinguishable from the traditional ceramic 

variety. In Italy they are already proving highly popular. Their 

PLEXIGLAS ® covering – chosen because of its exceptional translucence 

– is supplied by Evonik. This material is also resistant to 

ultraviolet (UV) radiation and does not yellow with age. To ensure 

the dark-colored solar cells remain as inconspicuous as pos sible, the 

PLEXIGLAS ® covering also features a fine pattern of lines within it 

PLEXIGLAS ® covering 


The solar tile was invented by Roberto Corvaglia and Sante 

Bortoletto at REM. Bortoletto explains the principle behind it: “Two 

factors are essential for optimal energy generation – powerful solar 

cells and a cover panel with high transmission.” Light transmission 

was the decision criterion for the inventors when they chose the 

material: “We use PLEXIGLAS ® for the panel because it transmits 

over 90 percent of light, much more than other plastics. These are not 

as UV-resistant either, and turn yellow in the course of time,” says 

Corvaglia. 

Corvaglia and Bortoletto used a trick to prevent the dark solar 

cells from being visible through the transparent panel. “We added a 

fine texture to the inside of the sheets. They still let in sunlight but 

obstruct the view from outside,” Corvaglia explains. From a distance, 

the high-tech version looks no different from traditional tiles. But the 

sheet has to do more than look good; it has to be tough, too. “Not 

even hailstones are a problem, because PLEXIGLAS ® can stand up to 

those as well,” says Bortoletto. 

+++ RohMax acquires DOS oil additives business in Russia 

Evonik RohMax Additves GmbH signed agreements to acquire the oil 

additives business of the Russian methacrylate producer DOS. Under 

the agreements, RohMax acquires their customer base, intellectual 

property, and polymerization kettles. A newly formed production 

com pany – OOO PRISADKI – will produce PAMA-based oil addi - 

tives under a tolling agreement for OOO Evonik Chimia under the 

trademark DEPRAMAX and in accordance with former DOS speci - 

fications. This acquisition will enable RohMax to expand its customer 

base in Russia and offer locally sourced standard products as well 

as its range of high-performance VISCOPLEX ® additives which 

will continue to be produced at the company’s existing plants. 

VISCOPLEX ® additives form a key component in finished lubricants 

used in automotive and other industrial applications, and help im - 

prove performance and fuel efficiency. 

Norbert Westerholt, Managing Director of Evonik RohMax 

Ad ditives GmbH, stated: “This deal underlines our ongoing commitment 

to and our belief in a growing Russian lubricants market. It will 

allow us to establish ourselves as a local supplier, helping us to further 

improve collaboration with customers and industry partners through 

increased responsiveness and supply security, aided by an optimized 

distribution network”. 

Waldemar Bartoschik, Vice President, global customer relations 

for RohMax, added: “Our immediate task is to ensure a smooth continuity 

of supply to our new and existing customers and to bring our 

international expertise to the local market to help meet the increasing 

challenges of this industry sector which we expect to return to rapid 

growth after the current economic slow-down”. 

VISCOPLEX ® additives 

from RohMax are 

key components in 

ready-made lubricants 

news 

Easy installation 

The panel receives additional stability through a cross strut, which 

means the tiles can be walked over without any problem for easier 

installation. Roofers are grateful for another feature of this technol - 

ogy too: The simple clip-on connection means the solar tiles can be 

installed without help from electricians. For especially fast roofing, 

the solar tiles are also available as prefabricated roof modules with an 

insulating layer and supporting surface. Nevertheless, each tile 

functions separately. If one fails, all the others continue to produce 

electricity – unlike conventional solar panels, where damage leads to 

total failure. 

TechTiles are not just for the sun-drenched Mediterranean, they 

are also of interest for Northern Europe too. But the shape needs to be 

different. In Germany, the plane tile (“beaver-tail”) is widespread. 

“We are already planning to produce different shapes for use north of 

the Alps,” says Corvaglia. In the near future, the solar tile may also transform 

historical roofs in Northern Europe into miniature power plants. 


SILP CATALYSTS 

Heterogenization of Homogeneous 

DR. RENAT KADYROV, DR. DORIT WOLF 

Homogeneous catalysts work extremely selectively. In industrial processes, they 

often cannot exploit this advantage over heterogeneous catalysts. Compared 

to heterogeneous catalysts, separating the usually expensive homogeneous catalyst 

from the product and recovering it is a rather complicated and costly process. 

A project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research 

(BMBF) shows how this problem could be bypassed in the future: the innovative 

SILP catalyst system, which combines the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous 

catalysts. Evonik scientists, who developed custom-tailored ligands for 

SILP, also played a role in this achievement. 

The requirements for industrial catalysts are highly di - 

verse and exacting. They must be extremely active, 

accelerate certain chemical reactions through high 

selectivity, and be long-lasting and inexpensive. New 

catalysts must also help save energy and streamline processes. 

With heterogeneous catalysis, the catalyst and starting substances 

of the chemical reaction are present in different phases. 

A well-known example of such a process is the synthesis of am - 

mo nia from hydrogen and nitrogen by the Haber-Bosch process, 

in which iron catalysts are used. The reaction takes place at the 

active centers of the solid catalyst surface, where the gaseous 

starting substances flow through the catalytically active solid in 

special catalytic furnaces and the product leaves the reactor 

with the gas stream. Because the catalyst is in a phase different 

from that of the starting substances and the product, no additional 

process step is necessary to separate the catalyst. 

In homogeneous catalysis, all reaction constituents are pres - 

ent in the same phase, which is normally organic. A good ex - 

ample is the hydrogenation of olefinic double bonds using the 

Wilkinson complex. The catalysts used in this reaction are transitional 

metal complexes, in which a central transitional metal is 

surrounded by organic ligands. These define the molecular 

environment of the catalyst and thus control the selectivity of 

the catalyzed reaction. This is an advantage: Because the catalyst 

molecule is dissolved in the same phase as the reactants, it is 

accessible from all sides, unlike a heterogeneous catalyst on a 

solid substrate, for example. The disadvantage is that at the end 

of the reaction, the homogeneous catalyst remains in the co l - 

umn sump or in the mother liquor after the product is distilled or 

crystallized, and in most cases the recovery process is too timeconsuming. 

This means that, as a rule, a costly homogeneous 

catalyst is lost at the end of the process and must be replaced. 

This is why the overwhelming number of homogeneously 

catalyzed industrial reactions include a cost-effective concept 

for separating and recovering the homogeneous catalysts. If 

such a concept is not in place, homogeneous catalysts often fail to 

be implemented on the commercial scale because the process es 

that use these catalysts are prohibitively expensive. The ex cep - 

tions are processes used to manufacture products with extremely 

high added value, such as certain fine chemicals for the pharmaceutical 

industry. 

Two in one 

There are ways of immobilizing homogeneous catalysts to combine 

the strengths of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. 

The first concepts were based on binding the catalyst to a 

heterogeneous phase using a molecule chain. This approach, 

however, requires additional synthetic steps that increase the 

cost of the catalyst. Both the activity and selectivity also suffer 

under this method – and frequently, the activity is lost entirely. 

There is still no satisfactory universally applicable concept, 

therefore, for immobilizing and heterogenizing homogeneous 

catalysts – a situation that also hounds the catalyst researchers 

at Evonik, who are testing different ways of making the advantages 

of homogeneous catalysts more widely accessible. For 

example, homogeneous catalysts are anchored to nanoparticles, 

whose function and size make them easier to separate from 

the reaction solution than non-anchored homogeneous catalysts. 

Evonik’s scientists have sounded out another approach as 

part of a BMBF project: the highly promising SILP technology 

developed by Prof. Peter Wasserscheid and colleagues at the 

University of Erlangen. 

SILP or: using ionic liquids to fix 

homogeneous catalysts on substrates 

SILP stands for Supported Ionic Liquid Phase. Here, the homogeneous 

catalyst is dissolved in an ionic liquid, which forms a 

thin film on the surface of substrate particles. The substrate 

material consists of porous oxidic substances such as zinc, alu- 

minum, or silicon oxide, and has an extremely high specific surface 

(Fig. 1). 

>>> 


Catalysts 

Firgure 1 

With SILP technology, 

the homogeneous catalyst 

is dissolved in an 

ionic liquid, which forms 

a thin film on the surface 

of a porous substrate 

SILP catalyst particle 


Porous network 

Substrate 

Product 

+ – 


Ionic liquid film 

+ – 

O 

R 

X 

H 

Ru + 

H 

P 

P 

RI + – 

+ – 

High-throughput 

testing of ligands for 

SILP systems 

+ – 

* X 

O 

R 

R I 

H 

Ru + 

H 

P 

P 

+ – 

* 

29

Figure 2 

Ligand structures developed in the project 

Figure 3 

Results of the ligand screenings for the asymmetrical conversion of various substrates. 

The table shows the yield, as well as the purity of the enantiomers apart from the ligand; 

the larger the symbol, the higher the purity 

Metal precursor 

Metal precursor 

P PR2 

R 

P P 

S 

R 

Figure 4 

With the ligands developed by Evonik, the working group of Prof. Wasserscheid at the 

University of Erlangen was able to achieve the model reaction, asymmetrical hydrogenation 

of an ß-ketoester, as a continuous gas-phase reaction in a fluidized-bed reactor 

O 

O 

Methylacetoacetate 

30 elements27 EVONIK SCIENCE NEWSLETTER 

O 

Ligand type 

H2 

Catalyst 

OH 

O 

* 

O 

Methyl-(R,S)-3-hydroxybutyrate 

ee/% (Symbol size) Yield/% (Symbol size)

Ionic liquids are salt melts with a low melting point, which is 

normally below room temperature. Because of their saltiness, 

they have low volatility. Since the cationic and anionic components 

can be greatly varied, developers can selectively influ - 

ence the properties of an ionic liquid, such as solubility and 

mixing behavior, viscosity, surface tension, nucleophilicity, and 

stability. This allows the ionic liquid to be designed in such a way 

that it optimally supports the selectivity of the catalyst ligand. 

Because homogeneous catalysts also have an ionic structure, 

they remain dissolved in the ionic liquid. This permanently 

immobilizes and, therefore, heterogenizes the homogeneous 

catalyst in the thin film on the substrate. In principle, this is a 

fixed solution that keeps the catalyst from being washed away. 

The substrate that is normally directed to the reactor dis - 

solved in an unpolar phase – such as in the gas phase or in supercritical 

carbon dioxide – is also distributed in the polar phase on 

contact with the ionic liquid film. The partition equilibrium of 

the substrate between the unpolar and polar phase develops 

quickly because of the very large surface of the ionic liquid film. 

In the polar phase, the catalyst converts the substrate into the 

product. Like the substrate, the product distributes itself be - 

tween the two phases and is then transported out of the unpolar 

phase of the gas stream. In this way, the product avoids the reaction 

equilibrium in the polar catalyst phase so that the chemical 

equilibrium is shifted to the benefit of the product. 

Successfully tested in continuous 

asymmetrical hydrogenation of ketones 

The purpose of the BMBF project, which started in August 2006 

and ends in July 2009, is to evaluate the technical potential of 

SILP catalysis for such processes as the asymmetrical hydrogenation 

of ketones. To this end, Evonik’s Catalysis Business Line 

developed a new class of chiral ligands (Fig. 2) and synthesized a 

library of various representatives of this class. The efficiency of 

these ligands was tested in the different homogeneously cat - 

a lyzed asymmetrical conversions. Later, the results served as 

reference for assessment of the SILP systems. 

Colleagues from Evonik’s Exclusive Synthesis Business Line 

tested the new ligands in asymmetrical hydrogenations of 

technically relevant substrates. To identify the optimal catalyst 

compositions, high-throughput testing equipment carried out 

thousands of tests in a short period. 

As a result of development and testing (Fig. 3), Evonik was 

able to achieve newly optimized ligands, as components of SILP 

systems, that demonstrated the required selectivity in the 

model reaction – the asymmetrical hydrogenation of a ß-keto - 

ester. 


This set the stage for the second part of the project – the 

technical evaluation. Because asymmetrical hydrogenation is 

supposed to occur as a gas-phase reaction, the Wasserscheid 

working group at the University of Erlangen built a pilot plant 

for continuous implementation in a fluidized-bed reactor. With 

the help of this reactor, researchers optimized production 

management and determined the kinetic parameters. 

The results are encouraging. Asymmetrical hydrogenation 

of a ß-ketoester as a continuous gas-phase reaction in a fluid - 

ized-bed reactor (Fig. 4) has shown that SILP technology has 

enormous potential for technically relevant reactions. Precise 

coordination of ligands and ionic liquid is crucial to the success 

of an SILP catalyst. 

With SILP technology, heterogenized homogeneous catalysts 

for industrial processes are now within reach for the first 

time. The task of future research projects will be to study the 

long-term behavior of SILP catalysts and further improve the 

stability of corresponding catalyst systems to achieve the longest 

possible dwell times. Development of platform systems that 

could be used for such applications as the production of smallvolume 

fine chemicals is also conceivable. ● 

PD DR. DORIT WOLF 

Born in 1964 

Wolf has been R&D group leader in 

the Catalysts Business Line of the Health 

& Nutrition Business Unit of Evonik 

Industries in Hanau-Wolfgang since 

2004. She studied chemistry at the 

University of Leipzig, where she earned 

her doctorate in 1991. In 1997, Wolf 

qualified as a university lecturer in chem - 

ical technology at the Chair for Chemical 

Technology at Ruhr University in Bochum. 

She subsequently accepted a position as director of the Reaction Tech - 

nology Working Group at the Institute for Applied Chemistry Berlin- 

Adlershof. In 2001 she moved to Evonik to direct the Heterogeneous 

Catalysis Group in the Catalysis Project House. 

+49 6181 59-8746, dorit.wolf@evonik.com 

DR. RENAT KADYROV 

Born in 1956 

Renat Kadyrov works in synthesis plann - 

ing, up-scaling and production of homogeneous 

catalysts in Evonik’s Catalysts 

Business Line. He studied chemistry at 

Kazan State University, in the capital of 

the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, where 

he earned his PhD in the working group 

of Prof. Boris A. Arbuzov in 1984. Over 

the next ten years he worked at Kazan 

State University in the areas of phospho - 

organic chemistry, conformation analysis and organometallic chem - 

istry, and spent several semesters studying at the Universities of Halle 

(Saale), Rostock and Greifswald. In 1994 he moved to the University 

of Rostock, where he first worked in the asymmetrical catalysis research 

group at the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, and then in the Institute for 

Organic Catalysis. He took a position with Aventis R&T in 1999, and 

has been an employee of Evonik since 2001. 

+49 6181 59-8710, renat.kadyrov@evonik.com 


JUNE 09 

09.01.–10.01.2008 

06/07–06/09/2009 

6th European 

12.04.–18.04.2008 

03.06.–05.06.2008 

International Motor Biofuels Symposium Forum 

ROTTERDAM, EUCHEM American on Frontiers Coatings Conference NIEDERLANDE 

in Polymer Show on Science 

www.biofuels2008.eu 

Stereochemistry 

CHARLOTTE, MAINZ (GERMANY) NORTH CAROLINA, USA 

BÜRGENSTOCK, www.american-coatings-show.com/ 

www.frontiersinpolymerscience.com 

SCHWEIZ 

www.stereochemistrybuergenstock.ch/ 

JULY 09 

07/05– 07/09/2009 

13th IUPAC Conference on Polymers 

and Organic Chemistry (POC ’09) 

MONTREAL (CANADA) 

www.poc09.com 

AUGUST 09 

08/02– 08/07/2009 

18th International Symposium 

on Olefin Metathesis and 

Related Chemistry (ISOM XVIII) 

LEIPZIG (GERMANY) 

www.isom18.com 

SEPTEMBER 09 

09/02– 09/05/2009 

3rd European Conference 

on Chemistry for Life Science 

FRANKFURT (GERMANY) 

www.gdch.de/3eccls 

Evonik Industries AG 

Rellinghauser Straße 1–11 

45128 Essen 

Germany 

www.evonik.com 

17.02.–19.02.2008 

16.12.–21.12.2007 

06/07–06/12/2009 

Industrielle Nutzung 

18.05.–21.05.2008 

20.07.–24.07.2008 

International 34th nachwachsender Photovoltaic Symposium 

Rohstoffe Specialists on 

Catalysis Rolduc 48th Symposium & Fine Chemicals 

FRANKFURT 

Conference on Polymer Colloids 

SINGAPUR Polymer PRAG, events.dechema.de/Tagungen/ 

PHILADELPHIA TSCHECHIEN Meeting (PENNSYLVANIA, 2008 USA) 

www.cfc2007.org/index.html 

KERKRADE, www.imc.cas.cz/sympo/48micros/ 

Industrielle+Nutzung+nachwachsender+ 

www.34pvsc.org 

NIEDERLANDE 

www.rolducpolmeeting.org 

Rohstoffe+_+Chemie_+Biotechnologie_ 

+Verfahrenstechnik.html 

07/05–07/09/2009 

Biotrans 2009 

BERN (SWITZERLAND) 

www.biotrans2009.org 

08/02– 08/07/2009 

42nd IUPAC Congress 

Chemistry Solutions 

GLASGOW (UNITED KINGDOM) 

www.IUPAC2009.org 

09/23– 09/25/2009 

GDCh Jahrestagung 

Fachgruppe Lackchemie 

ÜBERLINGEN (GERMANY) 

www.gdch.de/vas/tagungen/ 

tg/5355.htm 

21.02.–22.02.2008 

27.02.–29.02.2008 

06/14–06/17/2009 

2nd International Symposium 

06/22–06/25/2009 

41. Jahrestreffen 

28.07.–01.08.2008 

on 2nd Biothermodynamics 

International Congress 

Deutscher 18th EuCheMS Katalytiker Conference 

FRANKFURT 

on XXII Green IUPAC Process Symposium Engineering on 

on WEIMAR Organometallic Chemistry 

events.dechema.de/Tagungen/ 

VENICE Photochemistry (ITALY) 

(EuCOMC events.dechema.de/Tagungen/41_ 

XVIII) 

Biothermodynamics+2008.html 

GÖTEBORG, www.gpe-epic2009.org 

SCHWEDEN 

+Jahrestreffen+Deutscher+Katalytiker. 

GOTHENBURG (SWEDEN) 

photoscience.la.asu.edu/Goteborg2008/ html www.chemsoc.se 

07/12–07/16/2009 

16th European Symposium 

on Organic Chemistry (ESOC 2009) 

PRAG (CZECH REPUBLIC) 

www.esoc2009.com 

Credits 

Published by 



Chemicals & Creavis 

Rellinghauser Straße 1–11 

45128 Essen 

Scientific Advisory Board 

Dr. Norbert Finke 



Chemicals & Creavis 

norbert.finke@evonik.com 

Editor in Chief 

Dr. Karin Assmann 

Evonik Services GmbH 

Editorial Department 

karin.assmann@evonik.com 

Contribution Editors 

Dr. Angelika Fallert-Müller 

Dr. Rolf Froböse 

Klaus Jopp 

events 

07/26–07/30/2009 

15th IUPAC Symposium 

on Organometallic Chemistry 

(OMCOS15) 

GLASGOW (UNITED KINGDOM) 

www.omcos15.com 

Design 

Michael Stahl, Munich (Gemany) 

Photos 

Evonik Industries 

Karsten Bootmann 

Dieter Debo 

Stefan Wildhirt 

Sebastian Kaulitz/Fotolia (p. 17 bottom) 

Andreas Reimann/Fotolia (p. 22) 

Peter Adrian/Fotolia (p. 22) 

Printed by 

Druck & Verlag Zimmermann GmbH 

Unterschleissheim (Munich, Gemany) 

Reproduction only with permission 

of the editorial office 

Evonik Industries is a worldwide 

manufacturer of PMMA products sold 

under the PLEXIGLAS ® trademark 

on the European, Asian, African, and 

Australian continents and under the 

ACRYLITE ® trademark in the Americas

Elements27 - Evonik Industries

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