Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: "BASF opens Organic Electronics R&D center in Singapore"

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Abstract:
• Expansion of research activities to reinforce commitment to innovation

• Embarks on Organic Photovoltaics project with IMRE

BASF opens Organic Electronics R&D center in Singapore

Singapore | Posted on May 14th, 2007

BASF said today it is investing about S$4 million to set up a new research and development center for Organic Electronics in Singapore as part of the expansion plan of its research activities in Asia Pacific. BASF has embarked on a new project on Organic Photovoltaics with the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in the center.

"Chemistry is the lifeblood of innovation. We at BASF firmly believe that innovation helps our customers succeed and reinforces our leading position in the chemicals industry. In our research and development center in Singapore, we will focus in future on two important growth clusters: nanotechnology and energy management. This new research activity of Organic Electronics expands our global R&D platform and fosters further interdisciplinary cooperation," said Dr. Martin Brudermueller, Member of the Executive Board of BASF responsible for Asia Pacific. "Our investment underlines our firm commitment to Singapore and will generate innovation for our customers in Asia Pacific and other regions."

Opening the new research center, Mr. Lim Siong Guan, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board said: "In many ways, Singapore and BASF share the same beliefs. We both put innovation and research high on our many priorities for future growth. We are glad that BASF has chosen Singapore to expand its upstream research activities with this second center. It says a lot about Singapore's research landscape."

The new research center for organic electronics follows the S$6 million initial investment in the BASF Competence Center for Nanostructured Surfaces announced in April 2006. Between 2006 and 2009, the total research expenditure for both centers is expected to be S$30 million.

In these research centers, BASF will hire a total of 40 employees by the end of 2007. Most of these are research scientists and research officers with outstanding qualifications and experience in chemistry and physics. BASF has around 300 employees working in about 20 R&D sites across the Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Florian Doetz, head of the Organic Electronics laboratory in Singapore said, "Singapore is strategically situated in the heart of a world-class, well-connected environment with a strong and stable infrastructure and a strategic focus in R&D. We are convinced that the huge future market size predicted for the technology Organic Electronics will translate into high growth potential for BASF."

The Organics Electronics lab is a shared technology platform that cuts across BASF's growth clusters Energy Management and Nanotechnology. It will undertake research activities in the areas of Printed Electronics, OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), Organic Biosensors and Organic Photovoltaics.

Printed Electronics are expected to provide a powerful path to low-cost manufacturing of integrated transistor circuits for a broad spectrum of applications such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and backplanes for displays. Organic Biosensors will find their applications in so called "Lab on a chip" devices. These concepts have drawn significant attention to the field of medicinal diagnostics due to an increasing need of biological analytics in the last years. Potential applications range from glucose sensors for diabetics to bacteria detection in food control. Improved materials performance is seen as a key to enable Organic Electronics applications.

OLEDS offer new options for the display and lighting industries. OLEDS are flat, thin light-emitting devices made from organic semiconductive materials. They produce widely distributed light making them very suitable both for lighting and backlighting (LCD) and clearly distinguishing them from conventional point sources of light. In Organic Photovoltaics BASF cooperates with the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), a member of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). The target of the cooperation is the development of innovative devices based on BASF materials. Such devices will be used in portable and building related applications.

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