Additives and Polymer Design

The Additives and Polymer Design department develops innovative solutions for circular, reliable, and functional plastics.

We enhance recyclates through innovative additive and formulation concepts for technically demanding applications and tap into material flows that were previously difficult to utilize.

At the same time, we promote the use of biogenic raw materials for additives, polymers, and materials. We adjust biodegradability - either delaying or accelerating it - to suit specific applications.

We ensure durability, reliability, and safety with customized stabilization and flame-retardant concepts as well as through the substitution of critical ingredients.

For elastomers, we develop new recycling strategies and focus on additive selection and formulation development specifically for durable, reliable, and environmentally friendly products.

We give plastics new functions, such as electrical and thermal conductivity or insulation, customized diffusion and barrier properties, and integrate sensor properties.

For our formulations, we use both commercially available components in new combinations and in-house developments that we synthesize internally up to the kilogram scale.

Looking ahead, we are advancing material-design-based concepts such as monomaterial solutions and detachable bonds to increase recyclability and resource efficiency. Digital methods and AI will accelerate our development - from formulation development to polymer design approaches for microelectronics. Additionally, we are applying probabilistic Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to materials in the medium term to better understand the causes of failure at the molecular level and derive more robust, durable, and reliable product solutions from this understanding.

Our key competencies

• Synthesis of new additives and polymers from the laboratory to the kilogram scale
• Mechanical recycling and formulation development of thermoplastics with customized additive packages
• Development and use of halogen-free flame retardants and testing in our own fire laboratory
• Substitution of critical ingredients, such as PFAS, halogenated flame retardants, antimony, and other additives whose use is to be regulated or already is.
• Formulation development of elastomers for sustainable and demanding applications
• Use of renewable raw materials across all areas

Added value for industry and partners

By combining synthesis expertise, formulation development, and evaluation expertise, we help you:

• Minimizing risks: We extend service life, reduce failure causes, and comprehensively mitigate fire behavior, while supporting the substitution of critical ingredients. This creates planning certainty in a dynamically changing regulatory environment.
• Increasing material efficiency and sustainability: By upgrading recycled materials, using biogenic raw materials, and implementing monomaterial or recycling concepts, we enable resource-efficient, circular products without compromising performance or reliability.
• Developing high-performance, differentiated products: Customized additive packages and new polymers with specific functions open up new application areas and facilitate the achievement of demanding specifications

Integration into our R&D services and Research topics

We use sustainable, partly bio-based materials to promote the recyclability of plastics. In doing so, we develop customized additive systems for the use of recycled materials in applications of equal or higher quality.