Startup Engagement as Part of the Technology Strategy Planning -How Rheinmetall Automotive Increases Innovation by Using Corporate Venturing

International audienceIn a fast changing environment that is affected by global megatrends, disruptive technological developments and a growing number of new market players, global tier-one suppliers to the automotive industry have to adapt their technology strategy planning by considering current trends in innovation management to maintain their prevailing leading position. This paper presents Rheinmetall Automotive's approach to adopt modern Open Innovation paradigms with a focus on outside-in innovation through Corporate Venturing. Embedded in their Technological Direction Development Process, Rheinmetall Automotive has developed a strategic model to plan startup engagement to improve the current product development and enhance further diversification. Here we describe the several steps how this company-specific strategic model was designed and what prerequisites have to be taken into account to introduce the model in a corporate context

Synthesis of a Rationally Designed Multi-Component Photocatalyst Pt:SiO2:TiO2(P25) with Improved Activity for Dye Degradation by Atomic Layer Deposition

Photocatalysts for water purification typically lack efficiency for practical applications. Here we present a multi-component (Pt:SiO2:TiO2(P25)) material that was designed using knowledge of reaction mechanisms of mono-modified catalysts (SiO2:TiO2, and Pt:TiO2) combined with the potential of atomic layer deposition (ALD). The deposition of ultrathin SiO2 layers on TiO2 nanoparticles, applying ALD in a fluidized bed reactor, demonstrated in earlier studies their beneficial effects for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants due to more acidic surface Si–OH groups which benefit the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Furthermore, our investigation on the role of Pt on TiO2(P25), as an improved photocatalyst, demonstrated that suppression of charge recombination by oxygen adsorbed on the Pt particles, reacting with the separated electrons to superoxide radicals, acts as an important factor for the catalytic improvement. Combining both materials into the resulting Pt:SiO2:TiO2(P25) nanopowder exceeded the dye degradation performance of both the individual SiO2:TiO2(P25) (1.5 fold) and Pt:TiO2(P25) (4-fold) catalysts by 6-fold as compared to TiO2(P25). This approach thus shows that by understanding the individual materials’ behavior and using ALD as an appropriate deposition technique enabling control on the nano-scale, new materials can be designed and developed, further improving the photocatalytic activity. Our research demonstrates that ALD is an attractive technology to synthesize multicomponent catalysts in a precise and scalable way

Decoupling the Contributions of ZnO and Silica in the Characterization of Industrially-Mixed Filled Rubbers by Combining Small Angle Neutron and X-Ray Scattering

Scattering techniques with neutrons and X-rays are powerful methods for the investigation of the hierarchical structure of reinforcing fillers in rubber matrices. However, when using only X-ray scattering, the independent determination of the filler response itself sometimes remains an issue because of a strong parasitic contribution of the ZnO catalyst and activator in the vulcanization process. Microscopic characterization of filler-rubber mixtures even with only catalytic amounts of ZnO is, therefore, inevitably complex. Here, we present a study of silica aggregates dispersed in an SBR rubber in the presence of the catalyst and show that accurate partial structure factors of both components can be determined separately from the combination of the two scattering probes, neutrons, and X-rays. A unique separation of the silica filler scattering function devoid of parasitic catalyst scattering becomes possible. From the combined analysis, the catalyst contribution is determined as well and results to be prominent in the correction scheme. The experimental nano-structure of the ZnO after the mixing process as the by-product of the scattering decomposition was found also to be affected by the presence or absence of silica in the rubber mixture, correlated with the shear forces in the mixing and milling processes during sample preparation. The presented method is well suited for studies of novel dual filler system