Arkema partners CANOE in Aquitaine region

12/11/2008    Press Release

Arkema partners CANOE to promote the development of nanostructured materials in France and in Europe from the Aquitaine region

Arkema and the Aquitaine Regional Council are today consolidating the partnership they launched in 2006, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the setting-up of a Europe-wide technological innovation platform dedicated to developing the nanostructured materials sector, through the creation of CANOE, Consortium Aquitain d’Innovation Nanomatériaux et Electronique Organique.

Thierry Le Hénaff, President and CEO of Arkema, and Alain Rousset, President of the Aquitaine Regional Council, have today signed at ENSCPB (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux) in Pessac, the CANOE Memorandum of Understanding to promote, from the South-West region of France, the emergence of a fully integrated nanostructured materials sector, from raw materials to finished products.

Present in Aquitaine through 3 production sites and its Lacq Research Center (GRL), several years ago Arkema undertook a nanostructured materials development program in partnership with the South-West region, its universities and laboratories. This program has led to the launch of a range of block copolymers marketed under the tradename Nanostrength®, the development of a carbon nanotube industrial synthesis process, and the development of nanostructured composite materials under the tradename Graphistrength®.

The CANOE project will help speed up the emergence of a multi-site technological innovation platform (Bordeaux, Pau, Lacq) dedicated to nanostructured materials and capable of sustaining R&D projects and facilitating their implementation through the support of the region’s laboratories and manufacturers providing human and material resources.

The project aptly fits in with other existing initiatives run jointly by Arkema, the Aquitaine region, and the various collaborative research bodies (University of Pau, CNRS, Pôle de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur de Bordeaux, etc.), and further extends to the co-funding of the organic electronics university chair of excellence under the responsibility of Georges Hadzioannou, CNRS Research Director.

It also runs alongside the GENESIS program which brings together, around Arkema, major industrial groups, SMEs, and a number of university laboratories in order to develop an innovative and competitive sector in nanostructured materials in Europe.

« Nanostructuration is a tool allowing the design of new materials combining a number of different properties and functions, sometimes antagonistic originally. They represent one of the key drivers of innovation and industrial development for the years to come. The creation of this consortium is the concrete realization of the huge groundwork undertaken in recent years by Arkema and its various partners » explains Christian Collette, R&D Vice President at Arkema.

Operationally speaking, the management of CANOE will be entrusted to Patrice Gaillard, who heads Arkema’s carbon nanotube project, as part of an « Industrial Chair » dedicated to the promotion of nanostructured materials, to fulfil the needs of SMEs / SMIs by helping them include nanostructured materials in their products and formulations.

A global chemical company and France’s leading chemicals producer, Arkema consists of three strategically related businesses: Vinyl Products, Industrial Chemicals, and Performance Products. Arkema reports sales of 5.7 billion euros. Arkema has 15,200 employees in over 40 countries and six research centers located in France, the United States and Japan. With internationally recognized brands, Arkema holds leadership positions in its principal markets.