Research and Development
- Innovative products: Styrodur® 3000 CS thermal insulation panel, Seltima® rice plant fungicide, Quice® magnetocaloric materials
- BASF and partner TODA KOGYO CORP. offer cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries in Japan
- Science symposium in Ludwigshafen on occasion of 150th anniversary
With Styrodur® 3000 CS, we have launched an insulation panel whose new production techology allows for a 15% improvement in thermal conductivity across all panel thicknesses. This enables architects, planners and builders to meet legal requirements using significantly thinner insulation panels. By joining thinner panels with good technical properties, we have also achieved improved thermal conductivity for thicker panels.
Our Seltima® formulation offers a highly efficient solution for protecting rice plants from fungal infections. Its special encapsulation technology ensures the precise release of the active ingredient exclusively over the rice leaf’s surface, enabling better protection of both plant and environment. Seltima® has been available in Indonesia since March 2015 and will soon be introduced in further rice-farming countries.
Together with the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology, we have developed magnetocaloric materials that will be marketed under the brand name Quice®. These materials heat up when put in a magnetic field, and cool down when removed from it. As a basis for especially energy-efficient cooling systems, magnetocaloric materials create an alternative to conventional compressor-based technologies. In January 2015, BASF, Haier and Astronautics jointly presented the first prototype of a wine cooler that employs a magnetocaloric heat pump.
At the end of February, we acquired from our partner TODA KOGYO CORP. a 66% share in a company that specializes in cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries in Japan. As BASF TODA Battery Materials LLC, this expands our global network for battery materials. Lithium-ion batteries are used, for example, in cars and electronic entertainment.
In March 2015, the first of three science symposiums was held by BASF for the company’s 150th anniversary. At the two-day conference in Ludwigshafen, 600 experts from science and industry discussed the topic “smart energy for a sustainable future.” The second event will take place in June in Chicago, Illinois, on the topic of sustainable food; the third, on the future shape of urban life, will be held in Shanghai, China, in November.