Collaboration and partnerships
We pride ourselves on the specialist chemistry background which permeates every level of our business and understand the complex challenges faced by customers in many of the markets in which we operate. We believe that collaborative working and mutually beneficial partnerships are key to creating solutions where you need them the most, expanding technical assistance for your business and sharing application knowledge.
We work closely with our customers and partners to meet their current needs and also to anticipate future requirements, build strong relationships and continuously build on our market expertise. Let us work together.
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View our productsSmart partnering
We take advantage of smart partnering to drive long-term sustainable innovation, offering solutions to industry demands and helping customers overcome scientific challenges. Smart partnering helps us to identify the right partners to enable us to remove potential friction and barriers to progress.
Sentient Science
Our subsidiary, REWITEC™ GmbH has worked closely with physical data modelling company, Sentient Science, for a number of years. Using Sentient Sciences’ unique DigitalClone® technology, we have proven the effectiveness of our REWITEC lubricant additive technologies in extending the life of undamaged wind turbine main bearings by up to 12 years and already damaged gearboxes by up to 4.2 years. Research & development collaborations
By working together, our partners can draw upon our in-depth technical knowledge to convert their research projects to commercialised solutions. We provide a dedicated team of scientists, that can support our partners and provide continuous added value through supporting existing and new product development.
Many of our fluid additives and technologies are used in industries where the end-users are engineers. We must therefore translate the fundamental language of chemistry so that it is applied and proven in the end application, so that the benefits of our products are made relevant and obvious to technical research & development engineers.
CFD study: Immersion cooling of batteries
D2H Partnership
We worked with D2H to demonstrate the cooling performance of esters in direct immersion cooling of electric vehicle batteries. The performance of ester based fluids was compared with alternative dielectric fluids and cold-plate and immersion cooling, which involved simulations, CFD analyses and hardware models of battery modules composed of cylindrical cells. The combination of the ester-based fluid and immersion cooling exhibited more efficient heat transfer, with fewer hotspots and more stable characteristics.
This collaboration verified industry trends that immersion cooling of batteries is an effective method of thermal management in high performance electric vehicles of the future and revealed characteristics of novel esters that will maximise the performance of dielectric fluid formulations.
Universities/academia
We believe collaboration is key in order to educate a future generation of scientists, continuously innovate and adapt to new ways of working. This involves working alongside Universities, assisting with PHD’s and Academic/Industrial Partnerships. Our relationships with Universities are vital and help us to understand new scientific approaches whilst passing on our practical, market, application and technical experiences.
Funded research & development
We actively sponsor PhD projects and funded research & development partnerships, with experience both regionally and nationally. We encourage partnerships where we can use our technical expertise and strengths to fulfil your requirements.
Recently, we have worked with The Faraday Institution on a three-year funded project to develop low-cost sodium-ion technology for 12 V SLI batteries. This focuses on the optimisation of rate capability and temperature range. During this project, our team was responsible for developing additives to improve electrode performance.
We are now an active member of another project with The Faraday Institution for NEXTRODE – next generation Electrodes. If you would like to read more about this, please click here.
If you are interested in collaborating on a funded project, please contact us today.
Why work with us
Credible: Our in-depth technical knowledge and individual ability leads to collective expertise and credibilityCollaboration: At the heart of what we do. We thrive by overcoming your obstacles and technical challenges to benefit market developments and offer solutions
Industry leaders: We are experts in creating and making speciality chemicals and additives, with core capabilities in dispersion, tribology, rheology control and electrolyte additives
Open innovation: This enables us to access world class knowledge, expertise, facilities, and equipment which has the power to accelerate time to market and reduce costs. We can then repay the favour by giving those that work with us access to specialist knowledge.
Future partnerships
By 2030 we will be Climate, Land and People Positive. Our partnerships will be carefully considered to ensure they are contributing to this commitment. We have defined the areas where we can offer the most value to partners:
- Electric vehicle manufacturers
- Renewable energy – wind
- Marine
- Sustainable technologies
- Bio-based feed stocks
- Biotechnology.
Sustainability
Croda has aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and Energy Technologies embeds the 17 UN SDGs in our strategic thinking and strive to contribute to a more sustainable world for both people and planet.
PHD collaboration
Imperial college, London
One of our application scientists worked with Imperial College in London on a PHD which studied the Interactions between organic friction modifier additives. This paper looked at how mixing different organic friction modifier additives can affect friction reducing properties of lubricants in the boundary lubrication regime.
If you want to read more, please click below.