Digital edition 2/2020

What Comes Out

How Hydrogen Makes a More Sustainable Economy - Surfactants—New Ingredients for Biodegradable Dishwashing - Dream Reaction—An Efficiency Boost in Carbon Chemistry

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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

Interview

Hydrogen: the energy carrier of the future

The President of the Energy Watch Group, Hans-Josef Fell, is calling for the almost exclusive utilization of green hydrogen from renewable sources. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Secretary General of the industrial association Hydrogen Europe, believes this is not enough. A debate.

The end caps of two gas pipelines in light blue

Chart

The All-Rounder

Hydrogen is extremely versatile, which is why hydrogen from renewable energies is a raw material of the future.

Energy Transition

The membrane is the key

Huge amounts of green hydrogen will be needed to create a sustainable economic system. As a result, Evonik is working together with partners to develop a new membrane that will make environmentally friendly water electrolysis competitive

Biotensids

Sustainable hygiene

Without surfactants, dishwashing detergents, shower gels, and shampoos would be ineffective. In cooperation with Unilever, Evonik has now developed an especially efficient surfactant based on rhamnolipids. It comes from biological sources and is completely biodegradable. According to the experts, there is a huge demand in emerging economies in particular

Interview

The potential of biosurfactants

The Unilever expert Bert Nijhuis explains what consumers expect in a dishwashing detergent—and why Chile is the perfect test market for the biosurfactants jointly developed by Unilever and Evonik

Direct Synthesis

A fantastic shortcut

The more efficient reactions are, the more sustainable chemistry becomes. Working together with partners from the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, a group of researchers at Evonik have recently achieved a notable feat—the direct production of the important industrial chemical adipic acid. This breakthrough was even showcased in an article in the journal Science

Night view of the skyline of the central business district in Beijing, China

Evonik Country

China: Determination in Times of Crisis

A spirit of progress and innovative power have made China a growth engine of the global economy. Now that China, like almost every other country, is coping with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, these values are more important than ever

Foresight

The development of hygiene

We live in an era of high-performance medicine. But even today, a long and healthy life would be unthinkable without progress in the area of hygiene

In my Element

"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.