Scratch-resistance, durability, and smoothness—these are the qualities consumers expect from bottles and jars. To achieve them, glass containers need a protective coating. Using silanes as the foundation, Evonik and its partner TotalEnergies have developed a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional methods
Interview
“There are many ways to make glass more sustainable”
As a packaging material, glass faces tough competition from plastic, tinplate, and cardboard—and offers clear advantages when it comes to recycling. Dirk Diederich, CEO of the Institute for Glass and Raw Materials Technology in Göttingen, explains in which applications glass can perform particularly well—and how it can be optimized even further
Electrolysis
Inside, everything is different
The chemical industry is energy- and resource-intensive. Electrifying its processes can significantly contribute to making it more climate-friendly. In the research and innovation project “ETOS”, Evonik is working together with partners from industry and academia to operate chemical reactions with electricity instead of fossil energy sources in the future.
Biosolutions
Smooth As Silk
Silk has fascinated mankind for thousands of years. Now the precious fiber can be redefined biotechnologically. Together with the company AMSilk, Evonik uses fermentation to manufacture the precursor for a high-performance fiber modeled on nature
Fermentation
From a spider gene to a silken thread
The German company AMSilk has developed a process that enables bacteria to produce the protein that spiders use to spin their threads. These ten steps can turn spider silk into a blouse
Pharma
Perspective on RNA therapeutics, LNPs, and what comes next
Synthetic messenger RNA has revolutionized the development of medicines. While the focus has so far been infectious diseases, attention is now also turning to cancer and rare diseases. A key factor lies in the delivery systems
Lipid Nanoparticles
An Ecosystem for Lipid Nanoparticles
Why Evonik established a presence in Vancouver and Cambridge: to be close to cutting-edge science, innovative startups, and the next breakthroughs in RNA delivery
The idea of sustainability only makes a difference when it is implemented. In this essay, Ralf Düssel, Group Head Sustainability at Evonik, takes a look at the current situation.
Interview
“There are many ways to make glass more sustainable”
As a packaging material, glass faces tough competition from plastic, tinplate, and cardboard—and offers clear advantages when it comes to recycling. Dirk Diederich, CEO of the Institute for Glass and Raw Materials Technology in Göttingen, explains in which applications glass can perform particularly well—and how it can be optimized even further
Circularity
"High-quality feedstock is essential "
As the circular economy takes shape, pyrolysis is viewed in the plastics sector as a promising pathway to repurpose mixed or contaminated plastic waste. In this interview, Nirav Shah, Global Director Re-refining & Re-cycling at Evonik, explains where this development stands today.
Circularity
Cracked Plastic
More plastic is to be recycled worldwide. Pyrolysis, which is the liquefaction of plastic waste, creates new possibilities here. Evonik offers additives and technologies that improve the quality of pyrolysis oil in a manner that makes it suitable for the production of polymers
Politics
Pyrolysis and Politics
The role that pyrolysis oils from plastic waste can play in the production of new plastics in the future is not just dependent on purity and technical feasibility. The political environment is also a factor here and can provide incentives to promote chemical recycling—or not. It therefore makes sense to take a look at the EU, the United States, and China, which together account for around three quarters of global steam cracker capacity
Mercury—A Metal in Motion. Today, due to its toxicity to humans, it is largely confined to niche applications. In the past, it was used not only in thermometers but also in the making of remarkable mirrors—a technique Steffen Noack initially had to teach himself.
“This Blue Is Divine!”
A blue with a history spanning more than a thousand years, made unique by brominated compounds: For the Ptil Tekhelet Association in Jerusalem, it is indispensable for producing the Jewish prayer shawl in the traditional way—the only organization in the world that does so. Physicist and electrical engineer Baruch Sterman explains the background.
"We want to build the most accurate clock in the world"
Time is no longer measured solely in human dimensions. Atomic clocks control and regulate time more accurately than humans ever could. The Vienna University of Technology now wants to go one step further and base clocks on the atomic nucleus.
Hydrogen from the biorefinery
At the Evonik site in Rheinfelden, on the border with Switzerland, hydrogen is produced in an unconventional way.
CATALYSIS
Circularity
Cracked Plastic
More plastic is to be recycled worldwide. Pyrolysis, which is the liquefaction of plastic waste, creates new possibilities here. Evonik offers additives and technologies that improve the quality of pyrolysis oil in a manner that makes it suitable for the production of polymers
Circularity
One more round
In chemical recycling of plastics, the quality of the resulting pyrolysis oil is crucial. The purer the product, the more opportunities it offers for further processing. This is how the cycle works.
Processes
Flow Forward
With the NOBLYST F catalyst product family, Catalysts is tapping into a rapidly growing market segment: small‑scale continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry and fine chemicals.
Climate Protection
CO₂ as a Raw Material for Sustainable Chemistry
Evonik, the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT), and Ruhr University Bochum have discovered a way to directly convert CO₂ into essential raw materials for the chemical industry.
Climate Protection
Climate-Neutral Production of Alkoxides
With the inauguration of a state-of-the-art production facility for alkoxides on Jurong Island, Singapore, the Essen-based specialty chemicals company Evonik has taken a significant step in its global strategy. Designed to meet the highest environmental and safety standards, the facility is not only a technological showcase but also a strategic milestone for the company. The production site operates climate-neutrally in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Care & Cosmetics
Ahead of the Trend
Long before sustainability became a societal trend, Evonik introduced the first enzymatically produced emollients to the market. Today, they are in high demand in the cosmetics industry.
Sustainability
MACBETH heralds a Revolution in the Chemical Industry
The future of chemistry is green. It is also 7.5 meters high, 6 meters wide and weighs tons. It is on display at the Marl Chemical Park.
Opinion
Water as a natural reaction medium
If synthetic organic chemistry is to survive, the transition from its dependence on petroleum products and organic solvents, in particular to nature’s reaction medium, water, must happen quickly
Technology
Turning CO₂ into valuable chemicals
Although the word “plasma” might make one think of science fiction, it may very soon be possible to produce chemicals with such electrified gases. A research group coordinated by Evonik is working on the concrete implementation of this idea
Circularity
Used catalysts for the energy transition
A new technology could help transform the energy industry and contribute to a circular economy. Invented by Porocel—now part of Evonik—this technology reduces waste and greenhouse gas emissions by rejuvenating catalysts for a broad range of oil refining applications. Biofuels might be next.
Proteins are being developed at the University of Graz with the support of artificial intelligence.
Good to Know
Made from milk
Researchers from the USA are transforming casein and whey proteins into a more sustainable plastic for additive manufacturing
Good to Know
Cheaper charging
Energy storage systems are becoming increasingly cheaper, or larger for the same price.
Data Mining
Life and Death
Antibiotics help save millions of lives. However, they pose a problem when added to animal feed in particular, as their mass use promotes resistance. An overview of the situation in figures
Pharma
Dangerous Resistances
The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized medicine—and at the same time sowed the seeds of a global crisis. That’s because it is increasingly the case that bacteria can no longer be combated with the available means
