MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has announced it has entered into a partnership with Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH (NMB) and the University of Bayreuth, according to the company's press release.
Styrolution will complement its existing R&D efforts by tapping into the broad intellectual and infrastructural polymer research resources of its new partners. This goes beyond traditional models of corporate cooperation with academia in that NMB and the university are making their infrastructure easily accessible to Styrolution.
The partnership enables the company to focus its R&D activities on downstream customer innovations across five core industries: automotive, electrical & electronics, household appliances, building & construction, healthcare & diagnostics. Initial projects will focus on the fields of lightweight structures and 3D printing. Addressing the latest trends in material innovation, Styrolution will focus its R&D resources in Bayreuth on the next generation of material development to ensure it continues to remain at the forefront of innovation.
R&D partnership aligns with Styrolution's ‘triple shift' growth strategy: the partnership is in harmony with the company's growth strategy, which calls for three ‘shifts' intended to put greater focus on measures that will expand its footprint in higher-growth industries, styrenic specialties, and emerging markets. It will also make it possible to further develop its portfolio of styrenic specialty copolymers.
As MRC reported earlier, Styrolution and Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in America and a global leader in biopolymers, announced in October the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to investigate the formation of a joint venture in Brazil. The proposed 100,000 tonne plant would supply specialty styrenics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, to customers in Brazil and throughout South America.
The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries , such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
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