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Advanced Energy Materials, LLC (ADEM) was founded in 2009 with a vision to commercialize nanowire materials for lithium-ion batteries and energy storage applications. Very soon, the company found its niche application in the catalysis market and started to develop catalyst products for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and refinery applications.

Since its inception, ADEM received $3.2M in federal and state SBIR funding and continues to develop advanced nanomaterials for a wide range of applications. The company has an exclusive license agreement with the University of Louisville with a patent portfolio of 9 issued and 4 pending patents. ADEM also owns 4 additional patents pending, that are based on its scale-up methodology and catalyst formulations for desulfurization applications. Its products can replace current state-of-the-art catalysts for traditional refining using hydrogen and also for new refineries that do not use hydrogen. ADEM has developed five different catalyst products: AdE-Sulfur™, AdE-Scat™, AdE-Ccat™, AdE-Sorb™ and AdE-Biocat™ and has completed initial product testing in 2016. In 2017, ADEM set up its commercial manufacturing and R&D facility to supply catalyst products. AdEM is also developing commercial scale production of lithium ion battery materials.

Bert Thin Films was founded in 2014 to commercialize Conn Center research towards replacing silver front side conductors with copper. The company was awarded a phase I SBIR in 2015 and has raised over $1.2M in non-dilutive funding since. The product, CuBert™ is a screen printable paste that can directly replace silver pastes without having to add any infrastructure, thus potentially yielding significant savings to the industry. Testing has demonstrated that the new paste can meet the requirements of the industry without affecting the warranty of the products.

As one of the world’s leading specialty chemical companies, Clariant contributes to value creation with innovative and sustainable solutions for customers from many industries. Clariant’s research and development is focused on addressing the key trends of our time. These include energy efficiency, renewable raw materials, emission-free mobility, and conserving finite resources. Our business units are organized into four business areas: Care Chemicals, Natural Resources, Catalysis and Plastics & Coatings. Clariant’s catalysis unit is a partner with our advanced energy materials theme.