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November 25, 2009, Hanau, Germany

New Platinum Composite Material for Spark PlugElectrodes Named Best Heraeus Innovation of 2009

Seventh annual Heraeus Innovation Awards

Innovators are the rock stars of industry

At the seventh annual Heraeus Innovation Awards in mid-November in

Hanau, a female researcher has garnered the top honor for the second

time. Dr. Tanja Eckardt of the W. C. Heraeus business segment won first

place with an innovative platinum composite material for a new generation

of spark plugs that utilizes resources more efficiently. Second place went to

Jake Markham (W. C. Heraeus) for developing a highly flexible drive cable

that enhances diagnostic possibilities in minimally-invasive ultrasound

procedures and is less than half a millimeter thick. Third prize was awarded

to Markus Schultheis (W. C. Heraeus) for his powder metallurgical

manufacturing process for tube-shaped sputtering targets, which created a

cost-effective method of coating thin-film solar cells for the photovoltaics

industry. To commemorate the award, the prizewinners received a gold

medal engraved with the words Innovation Award 2009 from Dr. Jrgen

Heraeus, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and patron of the event.

In developing these ground-breaking products, you have once againshown that you truly have the power to innovate. Your power is vital

because your innovations are laying the foundation for tomorrows growth,

noted Dr. Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Board of Management of

Heraeus, in praise of this years award recipients. As our innovators, you

are the rock stars of industry. Dr. Jrgen Heraeus also thanked R&D

departments and their scientists for their efforts during this challenging

year, and celebrated the fact that Tanja Eckardts win recognizes a woman

as a researcher. We have many talented, strong women on our research

staffa fact we can be proud of. The Heraeus Innovation Award was

launched in 2003. All Heraeus researchers and developers worldwide are

eligible to participate. This year, 18 projects were submitted forconsideration. Dr. Frank Heinricht also announced that the Innovation

Award will be expanded in 2010 to include a category for process

innovations.

1st place: Cost-effective platinum composite material for spark plugs

Dr. Tanja Eckardt, a development engineer at W. C. Heraeus, thanked her

team for their support in developing the new platinum composite material

for the next generation of spark plugs. Thanks to the platinum pins on the

tip, todays automotive spark plugs already last three times as long as

traditional spark plugs made of nickel alloys. But the objective is to use new

platinum composite materials to produce these long-lasting electrodes

more cost-effectively and to find a substitute for expensive platinum alloys.

And the new platinum-zirconia composite does just that. Eckardt and her

Press release

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team developed it together with Robert Bosch GmbH as part of a jointproject sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and

Research over a three-year period. The new type of zirconia phase

dispersed in the platinum gives the spark plugs an excellent lifespan in

spite of increasing load, while at the same time lowering the cost to

customers, because of the zirconia that replaces some of the platinum.

This innovative platinum composite material is manufactured using a

special smelting technology under vacuum. The market certainly favors the

new development. Almost one-third of the estimated 1.7 billion spark plugs

needed by the auto industry annually are precious-metal spark plugs, and

the need for high-quality, long-lasting electrode materials will grow. We

can also imagine using our material for high-current contacts in vacuumtechnology or high-temperature components for glass processing, stated

Dr. Eckardt, describing some other promising areas of application.

2nd

place: Highly flexible drive cable for minimally invasive surgery

Delicate catheters with special tools attached provide quick help for

patients using minimal invasive surgery to remove clots (thrombectomy)

and plaque (artherectomy) from blood vessels. The rotating tools are being

rotated using thin drive cables of up to 70 centimeters in length. Jake

Markham (W. C. Heraeus) has developed an innovative, miniaturized and

highly-flexible, less than half a millimeter thin drive cable that particularly

enhances the diagnostic possibilities during the application of intravascular

ultrasound (IVUS). The cable consists of several layers of fine wire coils.

Because it is so small, the drive cable is less invasive to patients and

allows access to very small vessels that, due to the torturous anatomy,

have so far not been accessible. The precisely synchronized positioning of

tools and devices attached to both ends of the cable is the main advantage

of this product that facilitates highly accurate IVUS diagnostic procedures

before applying artherectomy or thrombectomy or placing a stent. With this

new product, Heraeus is expanding its portfolio of medical technology

products, including stimulation electrodes, titanium cases, lead coils for

pacemakers and a variety of metal components.

3rd

place: Sputtering target to coat thin-film solar cells

Harvesting solar energy via thin-film cells is becoming increasingly common

in photovoltaics. Markus Schultheis (W. C. Heraeus) came up with a new

manufacturing process for tubular sputtering targets that enable cost-

effective coating of the cells while increasing their effectiveness. The

quality and purity of the sputtering targets impact a finished solar cells

functional efficiency and performance. Schultheis is the first to use a

powder metallurgic process to develop tube-shaped sputtering targets from

a copper-indium-gallium alloy (CIGS), which are then used to manufacture

high-performance thin-film cells. Up to now, these targets have beenproduced via melting processes. The powder metallurgic process results in

a much finer, more uniform distribution of the metal components. This

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homogeneous distribution also coats the solar cells much more uniformly,enabling them to generate more electricity. In addition, Schultheis

developed a special bond between the target material and the cooled

carrier tube. This allows the target to be operated at high sputtering power,

although the metal alloy becomes molten at just above 100C. By this

sputtering numerous layers are created in the solar cells, such as

semiconductor and conductive layers for the front- and back-side contacts

of the thin energy-producing cells. The semiconductor layer here is only

thousandths of a millimeter thick, making these thin-film cells hundreds of

times thinner than traditional solar cells made from silicon.

Heraeus, the precious metals and technology group headquartered in Hanau,Germany, is a global, private company with over 155 years of tradition. Ourbusinesses include precious metals, sensors, dental products and biomaterials, aswell as quartz glass and specialty lighting sources. With product revenuesapproaching 3 billion and precious metal trading revenues of 13 billion, as wellas nearly 13,000 employees in more than 110 companies worldwide, Heraeus holdsa leading position in its global markets.

For additional information, please contact:Dr. Jrg WetterauCorporate CommunicationsHead of Technology Media & Innovation

Heraeus Holding GmbHHeraeusstrae 12-1463450 HanauGermanyTel. +49 (0) 6181.35-5706Fax +49(0) 6181.35-4242E-mail: Joerg.wetterau@heraeus.com

www.heraeus.de