Innovative Application for POLYVEST® in the area of e-mobility 

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative processes and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2022, the enterprise with more than 34,000 employees generated sales of €18.5 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €2.5 billion from continuing operations. 

The business line Coatings & Adhesive Resins offers four technology platforms with different types of polymers suitable for the adhesives and sealants industry. 

POLYVEST® is an established product in several markets, where benefits of the product are clearly understood. In this challenge Evonik wants to experience new innovative ideas to broaden the application field of POLYVEST® and enter new markets in the area of e-mobility.

You can answer any of the key questions, do not hesitate to participate:

• Which new applications in the area of e-mobility could be addressed with POLYVEST®?
• In which applications one would need good dielectric properties and/or low temperature flexibility?
• Which use cases benefit from excellent chemical stability and/or hydrophobicity?

POLYVEST^® polymers are liquid polybutadienes with different chemical compositions that are unsaponifiable, stereospecific and low viscous. All POLYVEST ^® grades exhibit excellent reactivity due to their characteristic microstructure and can be used for a broad range of applications, e.g. in automotive, construction and electronics industries.

The POLYVEST ^® portfolio consists of non-functionalized liquid polybutadienes with different molecular weights and viscosity as well as several functionalized grades. The polymers are either produced via Ziegler-Natta or radical polymerization. The unsaturated backbone of all POLYVEST ^® grades offers the opportunity for various crosslinking options, like sulfur curing, oxidative drying and peroxidic crosslinking (with POLYVEST® MV). The functionalized grades provide further options, e.g. different crosslinking options, and can be used in polyurethane systems (POLYVEST® HT) or isocyanate-free systems (POLYVEST® HT + POLYVEST® MA).

All our products as well as a short description can be found in the following table:

For further specifications please look into the attached brochure.

The key performance properties of POLYVEST^® are:

• Low viscosity
• Excellent chemical resistance to acids and bases
• High water resistance (hydrophobic)
• Excellent electrical insulation properties
• Low temperature flexibility
• Low moisture and oxygen permeability

Typical Applications:

POLYVEST^® is used in different applications. It can be used as binder, additive or reactive plasticizer in automotive adhesives & sealants, tires, window sealants, flexo printing plates as well as for electrical potting and in EV batteries. For further information please have a look at our brochures and website.

Each submission should cover one or more of the following key points:

• Overview of the Idea and related needs which are addressed by the idea
• Detailed description of the technical idea (addressing at least one of key questions).
• Drawings and examples as well as references for comparable system or proposed solution/ approach
• Technical and/or commercials benefits and limitations of your solution
• Potential collaboration partners for development, scaling up, testing and implementation
• Key market opportunities for the idea

Ideas for e-mobility applications are explicity the subject of this challenge.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The evaluation criteria are defined as follows (ranking from 0 – 10, all criteria have the same weight):

• Creativity: The proposal is unknown to Evonik so far in the way that it shows a high degree of creativity and represents a new approach for Evonik from the application side
• Probability of technical and commercial success: There is a high chance of technical and commercial success to be expected if the proposed concept can be successfully realized.
• Quality of idea proposal: The idea proposal is well explained and contains clear description of what is planned to be done, how and with which resources (for instance: project plan draft, responsibilities, funding, others)
• Form and volume: accepted all forms of contributions up to 3 MB (videos, documents, presentations, etc)

The following link will provide you with important information on the conditions of participation and data protection. Please take note of them.

Evonik will award a total of 5T€ between the three most innovative concepts, invite the awarded teams for an idea pitch and discuss a potential cooperation in the field with the High Performance Polymers team.

Everyone is welcome to participate. The intended target groups are students and start-ups.

January 31^st, 2024

Announcement of the winning concepts: February 21^st, 2024.

Please contact us at oi@evonik.com