ELEMENTS - The Innovation Magazine by Evonik

Mobility

Turning with the times

Numerous elements in cars are already made of plastic. However, steel has been used for transmission components up to now. The Technical University of Munich now wants to create a new application - gear wheels made of high-performance polymer - and thus help to drive forward the transformation of urban mobility

Pharma

A Better Catch

Squalene enhances the effect of pharmaceutical products and plays an important role in research into new therapies. Until now this raw material was primarily extracted from shark livers. Evonik is now presenting an alternative product made from amaranth oil

Medtech

Close to the bone

PEEK is an important material in the medical device industry. Together with an ambitious inventor and entrepreneur, Evonik has developed a variant of the thermoplastic that allows the manufacturing of 3D-printed implants that could improve the health of patients

Chemistry

ELEMENTS Audio

Here you can listen to ELEMENTS: In our podcasts, we let experts have their say and report directly on their projects.

Sustainability

It's all about sustainability

Pharma

A Better Catch

Energy Transition

Power-to-X for sustainable future

Professor Walter Leitner is the speaker of the Power-to-X consortium of the Kopernikus initiative. The project deals with the storage and use of electrical energy from renewable sources by means of conversion into fuels and chemical products.

Consumables

Better than Real

The market of artificial leather is booming, but its production is currently not very sustainable. Researchers have developed an additive that paves the way for environmentally friendly production processes.

Climate Protection

A green transformation for the chemical industry

There are many ways to make chemical production sustainable. One of these ways is to convert not only the big reactors but also just about everything around them. Managing raw materials, energy or waste flows smartly can be the key to a green future. Evonik wants to demonstrate this with its Herne Green Deal. A site visit

Hydrogen

Hydrogen fuels hope

When it burns it only produces water, its supply is inexhaustible, and its applications are manifold: Hydrogen has what it takes to fundamentally transform our economic system. Evonik is working in many areas to help make this vision a reality

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In my Element

“When you're free-diving, your strength comes from serenity”

Dr. Andrea „Annie“ Kritcher ist Kerntechnikerin und Physikerin an der National Ignition Faculty des Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Kalifornien. Für das Experiment im Dezember 2022 hat sie die Kapsel mit dem Brennstoff aus Deuterium und Tritium entworfen.

“I’m reaching for the stars”

Dr. Andrea “Annie” Kritcher is a nuclear engineer and physicist on the National Ignition Faculty at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. For the December 2022 experiment, she designed the capsule that contained the deuterium and tritium fuel

"Iron forms the basis of my collection"

I haven’t always been passionate about chemistry. At school, I didn’t understand much of it at first.

Interviews

Interview

The goals must be measurable

Ecosystems are under threat all over the world. But Katrin Böhning-Gaese, the director of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, believes that a turnaround is possible - under strict conditions

Interview

“Plastics help to reduce CO₂ and conserve resources”

High-performance polymers easily withstand impacts and high temperatures, are lightweight, and can be formed into every possible shape. They play an important role in many products. Dr. Ralf Düssel, the Head of Sustainability at Evonik and the chairman of Plastics Europe Germany, talks about the advantages of this material—and how it can be recycled even more thoroughly in the future

Interview

Germany is living on its capital

The US economist David Audretsch praises Germany as a highly attractive industrial location. His French colleague Sylvain Broyer begs to differ. A debate about the industrial engine of Europe

Interview

How can we protect water?

Today a large proportion of our freshwater is disappearing unused into the ocean, causing additional rising of the sea level. The hydrologist Dr. Johannes Cullmann works as a scientific advisor for the United Nations. He believes that the water challenge can still be solved at the global level—if the steps are implemented at a faster rate than climate change

Ferdi Schüth, 62, ist seit 1998 Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Von Juni 2014 bis Juni 2020 war der Chemiker Vizepräsident der MaxPlanck-Gesellschaft, für die er Energiethemen repräsentiert. Bereits 2007 koordinierte Schüth innerhalb der deutschen Chemieorganisationen ein Positionspapier, das die Bedeutung der Branche für die Energieversorgung und eine effiziente Energieverwendung aufzeigt.

Interview

Planning and prioritization for climate neutrality

Ferdi Schüth is one of the most renowned chemistry professors in Germany and the managing director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung. He thinks it is technologically possible for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. However, the attainment of this goal will require the chemical industry to radically restructure its material and energy flows

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Turning with the times

A Better Catch

Close to the bone

ELEMENTS Audio

Trends & Topics

Sustainability

A Better Catch

Power-to-X for sustainable future

Better than Real

A green transformation for the chemical industry

Hydrogen fuels hope

In my Element

“When you're free-diving, your strength comes from serenity”

“I’m reaching for the stars”

"Iron forms the basis of my collection"

Interviews

The goals must be measurable

“Plastics help to reduce CO₂ and conserve resources”

Germany is living on its capital

How can we protect water?

Planning and prioritization for climate neutrality

Interviews

Elements Newsletter