Polymers from carbon dioxide

On November 13 and 14 a press conference organized by Bayer was held in Aachen and Leverkusen to present the CAT Catalytic Center, the achievements of the past year in terms of revenues, and the return on R&D investments of approximately 3 billion euros every year.
The first day was dedicated to a visit to the CAT, a significant outgrowth of the research effort at the University of Aachen (RWTH). The Center was founded in 2008 by RWTH and Bayer with the aim of creating an innovative research facility that interfaces directly with the chemical industry and the various areas of application.
A promising project was presented at the press conference that involves the use of carbon dioxide in the production of polyols, which are used in the production of various polymers such as polyurethane, elastomers and thermosetting polymers. The project is making good progress and the resulting polymers are scheduled to be marketed in 2015. Their characteristics will be comparable or superior to traditional polymers while ensuring lower environmental impact, reduced production costs, and greater energy savings.
Day two took place at Bayer headquarters in Leverkusen and was dedicated to the objectives and progress underway at the three divisions: HealthCare, CropScience, and MaterialScience. In attendance were 140 journalists from 27 different countries. The press conference was led by Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers, who described the latest news, also reporting figures for the MaterialScience division, where 232 million euros were invested in 2012 and 246 patents were obtained in 2011 through collaboration with universities and research institutes on 60 projects.