Propelling Innovation through Collaboration at Our Discovery Hub

Working alongside customers and partners to advance our industry and inspire the next generation of science and technology leaders.

The Chemours Discovery Hub

The Innovation Hub Fosters Ideation and Ultimately Solutions to Meet The Needs of a World That Demands More.

Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s only through collaboration and iterative refinement that breakthrough technologies are realized. It’s an age-old story, and one that Chemours and its scientists are abundantly familiar. Whether you look at the discovery of the Teflon™ polymer in 1938, of Opteon™ YF refrigerant in 2011, or of our latest Ti-Pure™ titanium dioxide pigment for inks in 2019, innovation is achieved when brilliant minds work together to achieve a common goal.

When Chemours set out to design its new research and development hub, this premise became the guiding principle. Every decision and design element—from the geographic location to floor plan—was made with collaboration in mind.

The Chemours Discovery Hub, a $150 million, state-of-the-art, sustainably designed research facility is located on the University of Delaware’s Science, Technology, and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. This innovation center totals 312,000 square feet, 130 labs, 330 jobs, and is designed to foster collaboration and innovation at every turn. In addition, the center received a rating of three out of four globes by the Green Globes, an online sustainable building rating system, emphasizing our commitment to responsible chemistry.1 

Statistics about The Chemours Discovery Hub.

Built on a growing college campus, this facility will enable our experts to collaborate with, inspire, and develop the next generation of science and technology leaders. With a 32-monitor, three-wall discovery room in the lobby and three stories of window lined halls filled with custom labs, sit-stand work stations, and collaboration spaces, this facility is uniquely designed to bolster ideation and celebrate innovation.

In fact, the facility is literally surrounded by past Chemours innovations―from Opteon™ enabled chillers and LAN cabling insulated with Teflon™ fluoropolymers to paint containing Ti-Pure™ pigments and Opteon™ 1100 spray foam insulation—which will enable the next generation of Chemours breakthroughs.

Discovering Innovation

We’ve been a pioneer in the field of chemistry for decades and are eager to continue leading the way to meet the evolving needs of our customers, partners, and world at large. Throughout our history, we’ve given our customers a market edge by developing products with today and tomorrow in mind.

“The products we make must create value for our customers today and for the long haul,” shared Natalia Duchini, Global Technology Senior Director, Thermal & Specialized Solutions . “Working closely with our customers enables us to look ahead to see which products or solutions they need from us. The Chemours Discovery Hub will help us deliver that and more.”

From evolving alternative energy storage to enabling the development of faster, smaller, and more durable technologies, Chemours will look to its Discovery Hub on the STAR Campus to help drive progress. Though for us, this is about more than a building. It represents a long-term partnership with and commitment to the University of Delaware, its students, our customers, the City of Newark, the state of Delaware, and our shared future.

1"Green Globes." Green Globes. http://www.greenglobes.com/about.asp.

2 "Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents,” National Academy of Inventors. https://academyofinventors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Top-100-2018.pdf.

3 “The Value of Academic-Industry Partnerships,”. BioTechNow, 24 January, 2018, https://www.biotech-now.org/blogs/value-academic-industry-partnerships.

4 Foote, C., & Atkinson, R. D. (2019, August 12). “Federal Support for R&D Continues Its Ignominious Slide.” 12 August, 2019, https://itif.org/publications/2019/08/12/federal-support-rd-continues-its-ignominious-slide.