In July 2000, Henkel, the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a group of professors from various German universities launched an innovative concept for interdisciplinary cooperation: the research company SusTech Darmstadt.

With an international team of 20 scientists, SusTech Darmstadt develops new materials, systems and products in the field of nanotechnology. This form of close cooperation between the private sector and professors and universities in the public sector is referred to as a public-private partnership and was unique in Germany when it was established. For this reason, and because of its orientation toward sustainable products and technologies, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has supported the SusTech Darmstadt projects from the very beginning.

The name SusTech stands for sustainable technologies. In November 2004, SusTech Darmstadt received an Innovation Prize from the State of Hessen in recognition of its successful realization of this public-private partnership, and in particular for the innovative material Nanit®active against sensitive teeth.