Product innovation, open innovation and corporate venturing - these are the three cornerstones of innovation at Heraeus.
In Focus: Sustainable mobility
Sustainable mobility solutions
For many people, mobility is a basic need to participate in professional and social life. The effects of the Corona pandemic caused many people to cut back on this mobility - a sacrifice that has had a positive impact on our climate. The decreasing emissions from the transport sector have shown us: the mobility of the future must become cleaner. At the same time, many people's understanding of mobility has also changed during the pandemic. Heraeus is accompanying the mobility change with products from its Global Business Units. We are actively researching and developing solutions for sustainable mobility - from electro mobility to hydrogen propulsion.
Protecting intellectual property even when working from home
The threat to intellectual property (IP) has increased in some ways with the Corona virus. Remote working and home offices create new points of attack for hackers. Innovation-driven companies like Heraeus must be specially prepared for these attacks. On the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day, the company's US IP expert Kim Jessum, who is the current chair of the IP Law Section of the American Bar Association, provides insights into its approach and tips for protecting innovations.
Green chemicals from lignin as a petroleum alternative
Around nine percent of the mineral oil produced worldwide goes to the chemical industry. To reduce their CO2 footprint, chemical companies want to move away from fossil feedstocks. The "black gold" usually serves as a raw material for aromatic compounds, which are the building blocks for plastics, medicines, and paints. The use of lignin from biomass is increasingly coming into focus. Lignin is one of the most abundant polymers in nature. It is an organic raw material that contains a large number of aromatic components.
Biomass from trees, shrubs, or hay consists of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. In paper production, the waste product lignin is currently burned, serving as a source of energy – even though it is a valuable raw material for the chemical industry. The unique structure and chemical properties of lignin enable the production of many chemicals used in our everyday lives. Lignin can be considered one of the most important aromatic resources for the bio-based chemical industry.
One challenge has been to split the macromolecules of lignin into corresponding small building blocks – the so-called monomer, and oligomer units, on an industrial scale. In cooperation with the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Heraeus Precious Metals has developed an industrial precious metal catalyst that precisely enables this splitting.
Our contribution: precious metal catalysts for the use of lignin
Heraeus' precious metal catalysts enable the conversion of lignin into monomers and oligomers on an industrial scale.
The new catalysts for industrial use already have a patent pending. "We have found that heterogeneous catalysts based on hydrotalcite as a support material with precious metal loadings of five percent platinum and one percent nickel work best to convert lignin," explains Dr. Gisa Meissner, project manager in the research department for chemical precious-metal-based heterogeneous catalysts at Heraeus Precious Metals. Hydrotalcite has both acidic and alkaline centers having a positive effect on the reaction. The precious metal catalyst also splits the chemical structure of lignin into phenolic components without producing coke.
The catalyst is not consumed in the process and can be reused several times. Heterogeneous precious metal catalysts from Heraeus are also subject to an ecologically and economically optimal recycling system, as the recycled material finds its repeated use in new heterogeneous catalysts.
Heraeus experts are already working on replacing the powder catalyst used so far with pellets to ensure a continuous processing procedure in large-scale applications. "With our catalyst know-how, we are ready for the growing markets in biomass conversion," emphasizes Dr. Meissner. The new catalysts offer the best conditions for converting the natural material lignin into polymers such as PET, Kevlar, or synthetic resins such as phenolic resins, to become possible in large-scale processes.
Further information about selected Heraeus InnovationCenters:
The InnovationCenter fiftyONE offers our experts and partners a place where they can network and develop innovations together
Welcome to fiftyONE - a place where people network, where new things are created, where knowledge is digitalised and where our customers are the focus of attention. A place that does not restrict. An "Open Space for Open Minds".
Heraeus Innovation: fiftyOne in Hanau
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Take a look at our pilot production space: quick-turn prototyping, testing and pilot production of new products and treatment innovations
Helping medical device customers accelerate the design, development and production of medical innovations
In healthcare, speed-to-market is critical. When patient lives are at stake, the medical device industry works with special urgency to get their medical innovations from the concept stage to real-world treatments.
Because the medical device industry relies heavily on strategic outsourcing partnerships, collaboration is increasingly important for medical device manufacturers to augment their internal teams and accelerate product development. Heraeus Medical Components recently opened its state-of-the-art Collaboration Hub specifically to help medical device customers and partners get their products and innovations to market faster.
Please take a seat: The lobby of our Collaboration Hub in Minneapolis, USA
Consolidating design-development capabilities for “same-place” collaboration
The new 6,200 square-meter facility, located in the heart of “Medical Alley” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, provides customers and partners the opportunity to work on-site or virtually with an ecosystem of Heraeus Medical Components R&D experts, including engineers, designers, materials scientists, production specialists and other technical professionals. By bringing all these critical teams and disciplines together under one roof, collaboration can be faster and more productive.
The Collaboration Hub enables customers to utilize all the needed expertise and development technologies for quick-turn prototyping, testing and pilot production of new products and treatment innovations. The facility’s design and development capabilities include:
Test labs
Clinical simulation lab
Training lab
Machining room
Pilot production capabilities
Heiko Specht, EVP of Innovation for Heraeus Medical Components, sees the Collaboration Hub as a game-changing accelerator for customers and partners to cultivate new ideas, materials and technologies to develop that next breakthrough innovation or treatment. He said, “I am very proud to have all the necessary disciplines under one roof. I truly believe this approach will be a difference-maker. It will help our customers get their products from concept to the real world even faster.”
In our InnovationCenter in Shanghai, Heraeus developers simulate, design and test products and prototypes for the power electronics and semiconductor industries
The Heraeus Electronics InnovationCenter in Shanghai opened its doors in 2018.
On more than 600 square meters, Heraeus developers simulate, design and test products and prototypes for the power electronics and semiconductor industry. Heraeus works with customers at an early stage of development – this supports the development process. Customers are more successful in initial development and introduce the product to the market faster.
With about 58 machines, the
Heraeus InnovationCenter
has extensive testing and simulation capabilities – including a two-chamber vacuum soldering furnace, a wire bonder for aluminum-copper wires, and test stations for endurance testing and X-ray inspection.
For us, the customer is at the beginning of every innovation. With research and application centers around the world, we develop and test products together with customers on site. This enables us to make a relevant contribution to their success and competitiveness. We are convinced that joint research and development makes innovations faster and better. This is why we have extended our innovation work to external partners such as other companies, research networks and universities - and are always open to new partnerships. We offer visionaries a platform to turn their ideas into reality. We are looking for start-ups from various fields worldwide, operate an internal start-up incubator, invest in promising ideas and invite start-ups to participate in our unique Advanced Materials Accelerator Program.
Do you want to work with us on the innovations of tomorrow?
On our career page you will find all open positions and further information about the Heraeus Group.
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