Home > Chemistry for sustainable growth > Research and Development

Research and Development

At Tata Chemicals, our focus on green chemistry-led R&D excellence enables us to deliver impactful sciencedifferentiated innovations for a responsible and sustainable future.

SDGs Impacted

Fostering R&D Excellence

Innovation is an embedded ethos driving business segments steered by expert scientific teams located in Pune and Bengaluru. These teams are continuously fostering R&D excellence and delivering customer value through the creation of differentiated and relevant products.

Our efforts are focussed on the development of sustainable, next-gen. science-based solutions that are rooted in green chemistries. Our industry-academia partnerships with leading national and international research institutes and universities and our focus on co-creation with our customers enable us to create innovative products and solutions that are distinct and value creating.

Awards Won During FY 2023-24

Most Innovative Companies of India Award by Marksmen Daily
Global MIKE (Most Innovative Knowledge Enterprise) Award
Grand Winner of CII Industrial Innovation Awards
Global Winner at Tata InnoVista
FICCI Sustainability Award for Biobased Surfactant
'Gold Standard Award' at the 4th CII National EHS Circle Competition

74%

Patent grant rate, endorsing the quality of innovation at Tata Chemicals

We are progressively moving towards high Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) for new product development by applying Rapid R&D Translation within our Stage-Gate framework. This is helping in the effective translation of scientific and research findings into commercially viable technologies.

Key Innovations of FY 2023-24

Led by our R&D excellence, we delivered many significant innovations, focussed around green chemistry across our business segments.

Specialty materials

  • Green silica: Produced trial quantities of specialised grades of highly dispersible silica (HDS) from rice husk ash (RHA) to address the sustainability needs of tyre customers.
  • High surface area highly dispersible silica (HDS): Developed high surface area HDS to serve multiple end-use applications and deliver value to our customers. The process is customisable and the product has shown improved rubber processability with higher silica loading in tyre formulation.
  • Biobased surfactant: Continued the development and scale-up of bio-based surfactant manufacturing technology and achieved the solvent-free process. This process does not generate any solid waste and effluent.

C A S E   S T U D Y

Harnessing Green Chemistry for High Performance Silanes

Our Innovation Centre has used green chemistry principles to develop a cutting-edge, solvent-free manufacturing process for tyre grade organo silanes. Tyre grade silanes are important for the tyre and rubber industry as coupling agent ingredients which bind inorganic fillers to rubber matrix.

Benefits
  • Eliminates the need for organic solvents in the process of extraction and purification
  • Helps in recycling and reusing the aqueous and solid effluents to make other value-added products
Impact
  • Resulted in improved product yield and helped achieve benchmark specifications
  • Product has attracted attention from leading tyre and rubber customers

FOS and Nutrition

  • L80: Co-created application-specific FOS variants to facilitate the addition of dietary fibres for sugar reduction in various application areas, including bakery and dairy
  • Long-chain Oligofructose: Developed an enzymatic process to produce Oligofructose (long-chain FOS), of various chain lengths, from dry chicory, enabling application-specific customisation to expand our prebiotic product portfolio.
  • Probiotics and synbiotics for food and feed applications: Formulated and demonstrated the efficacy of synbiotic formulation in animal model, targeting gut health for food and feed applications

C A S E   S T U D Y

Innovating Formulations to Serve as Sugar and Fat Substitutes

We have created formulations based on FOS that can effectively substitute sugar (via sweetener blend) and fat (via FR texturiser) in food and beverages.

Benefits
  • The original taste and texture is preserved in applications that use the formulation
  • Our customers in bakery, dairy, Indian sweets and confectionery segments have successfully utilised these blends
Impact
  • These solutions are enhancing wellness and wellbeing for consumers
Agrochemicals
  • Developed multiple active ingredients based synergistic herbicidal combination
The way forward
  • Development of safer formulation developments (e.g. water-based, vegetable oil-based, non-solvent based)
  • Exploration of bio-based reaction systems for synthesising the products linked to the biological origin

C A S E   S T U D Y

Improving Rain-fastness of Formulations

Developed a fungicide combination (RIL-354), using a sticker/film forming agent to retain the active ingredient on the plant surface. The rain-fastness of the formulations was evaluated in the lab by applying dye on a diluted sample on Parafilm M® sheets and banana leaves and thereafter allowing the sample droplet to dry. Water was sprayed in the final stage over the substrates, simulating rainfall, to check droplet retention.

Benefits
  • The new formulation remains effective even after a spell of rainfall, thus enabling better bio-efficacy through improved % retention (~27% - 40%)
Outcome
  • The field trials showed improvement in bio-efficacy (>13% better efficacy)
Adopting Digital and Technology
Business Strategy

Copyright © 2024 Tata Chemicals Limited

Designed & Developed by RDX Solutions