Jul 13 2010
Bayer Technology Services GmbH (BTS) and the Excellence Cluster for the Engineering of Advanced Materials – Hierarchical Structure Formation for Functional Devices (EAM) at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg have signed a cooperation agreement.
The focus is on basic research in the field of advanced high-performance materials with customized properties, which play a key role in numerous areas of innovation, such as information and communications technology, catalysis, and energy, environmental and automotive engineering. "Our ability to safeguard competitive strength in industry and economic growth, and to improve the quality of life will be considerably influenced by the development of new materials and processes. And Bayer Technology Services can make a significant contribution to this. We are combining basic research with main stream applications," explains Dr. Helmut Mothes, head of Process Technology at Bayer Technology Services.
"The Excellence Cluster's research program includes the formation of strategic alliances with selected businesses. These strategic alliances address basic scientific and interdisciplinary problems, which absolutely must be solved in order to establish new technologies. We look forward to working with BTS on these issues," comments Professor Wolfgang Peukert, head of the Institute of Particle Technology at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and coordinator of the Excellence Cluster, on the occasion of signing the agreement.
The cooperation agreement encompasses two projects that explore basic questions regarding the development of new production technologies. The more extensive of the two cooperation projects addresses the technical manufacturing of opto-electronic components, such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells, thin-film transistors and sensors, based on functionalized particle systems. In this case, specialists from Bayer Technology Services will partner with researchers from the University of Erlangen working in the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, material sciences and electrical engineering. The second cooperation project targets the development of a new catalyst morphology, characterized not only by high activity, but also by improved mechanical stability and a low tendency towards deactivation. The total volume of the two and four year projects is EUR 2 million. Funding will be provided equally by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and Bayer Technology Services. Bayer Technology Services maintains a wide variety of partnerships with institutes and universities in Germany and abroad. The cooperation with the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg represents another step in the expansion of this network.