Merck inaugurates a new Material Research Center in Darmstadt, Germany. The R&D center has a surface area of 11,000 m2, comprising two six-story buildings as well as a pilot plant with a cleanroom. The building complex cost approximately EUR 50 million, making it the single largest R&D investment within Merck’s Chemicals business sector to date.
The activities performed in the Material Research Center include research and development work on innovative liquid crystals for flat panel displays in televisions and computer monitors as well as materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Further research areas are materials for mobile energy storage systems, for example for use in hybrid or electric vehicles, as well as microbiological test systems for detecting pathogenic bacteria in food.
