Merck and the Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials (EAM), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, have announced their cooperation in the field of new hybrid materials for more energy-efficient processes.
The cooperation centers on catalytic conversion, gas purification, and new functional surfaces. It combines the material and process expertise of the EAM scientists with a number of highly innovative classes of materials from Merck, including ionic liquids, silica-based functional materials, and fluorochemicals. The hybrid materials developed will be tested at EAM pilot plants and optimized in terms of material and process technology. Merck is elaborating application scenarios and aims to develop the results further in the form of prototypes.
The Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials – Hierarchical Structure Formation for Functional Devices has been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) since 2007 as part of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. It is the only materials science cluster of its type in Germany to focus on the research and development of innovative materials having a hierarchical structure formation from the molecular level up to macroscopic scale. In more than 90 projects, 200 scientists from eight disciplines (biological and chemical engineering, chemistry, electrical engineering, information technology, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, physics, and materials science) collaborate along the value chain from molecule to material, developing innovative materials in the areas of nanoelectonics, optics, catalysis, and lightweight construction.
- Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
- Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
