Systematic focus on growth drivers

What will tomorrow’s world be like? What new things will be part of everyday life? Where are today’s new technologies taking us? What are the implications of people getting older? What will society need in ten or twenty years’ time? Asking questions like these is a vital part of detecting trends in their infancy and identifying the markets of tomorrow. Evonik has analyzed the coming trends for itself and embraces the growth potential harbored in sustainability issues such as energy efficiency. With our own science-to-business centers, we already have a strong position in the key technologies of ‘white’ biotechnology and nanotechnology.

We believe responsible use of the Earth’s dwindling resources will gain in importance. This is something we can turn to our competitive advantage. In particular, we plan to convert resource-intensive chemical production processes to biotechnology. So we are pressing ahead in our Bio technology Science-to-Business Center with research on 'white' biotechnology - sustainable industrial production processes based on renewable raw materials.

A second technology trend is toward ongoing miniaturization and performance gains in electronic components. Research at our Nanotronics Science-to-Business Center therefore focuses on the importance of nanotechnology in electronics. The center brings together our expertise in nanomaterials, electrochemistry, sol-gel technology, organic synthesis, semiconductors, ceramic chemistry and analytics, and applies this expertise to develop pilot technologies.

Flexible thin-film solar cells for harvesting solar energy more economically, for example, have meanwhile developed into an area of business with enormous growth potential.