Using AI to sustainably produce chemicals

Renewable energy and waste streams power the discovery process

Spotted: Direct CO2 emissions from primary chemical production reached a staggering 925 megatonnes in 2021, with the chemical industry being the largest industrial energy consumer overall. In the race against irreparable climate change, artificial intelligence (AI) can enable the speed required to scale successful and sustainable alternatives. One solution of Mattiq’s is using this technology fueled by clean electricity to create new and sustainable electrochemical components for industrial manufacturing.  

Mattiq deploys AI to evaluate millions of potential chemical combinations by running possibilities through miniature replications of entire chemical production processes. The algorithm analyses the results, and promising catalysts are then tested in life-size laboratory machines before being validated at industrial scale. Feedback is then gathered and rerun through the miniature process to improve and test new options. The result of the miniature tests is a multitude of material ‘megalibraries’ and Mattiq expects its AI to have analysed one trillion new material combinations by 2024 for use in electrochemical production processes. 

The potential applications of Mattiq’s technology are plentiful, including helping to manufacture sustainable fuel cells, green hydrogen, hydrocarbon commodities, biomass fuels, and hydrogen peroxide. Having recently closed a $15 million (around €14 million) round of seed funding, the company plans to focus on continued commercialisation of its technology and wider sharing of the information in its ‘megalibraries’.  

Improving the health and efficiency of worldwide production processes is a global imperative, with Springwise spotting innovations that include the use of AI to track industrial energy use, and bio-based chemical compounds that replace palm oil and fossil fuels.   

Written By: Keely Khoury