Immaterial Labs

Immaterial is a cleantech company that develops and manufactures monolithic metal-organic frameworks (m-MOFs), a class of advanced porous materials designed for high-efficiency gas storage and separation. The company spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2015, founded by Professor David Fairen-Jimenez, Dr. Andrew Marsden, and Tian Tian. Professor Fairen-Jimenez leads the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory at Cambridge and his research into MOFs underpins the company's core technology. The key innovation is a proprietary one-step synthesis process that creates MOFs as monoliths rather than fine powders, overcoming a significant barrier to industrial adoption by improving volumetric capacity and eliminating issues like pressure drops in reactors.

The company's primary business model focuses on supplying its m-MOF materials and integrated systems to industrial clients. Its main markets are clean energy and emissions reduction, with a focus on two key areas: point-source carbon capture and hydrogen storage. For carbon capture, Immaterial's materials offer highly selective CO2 removal, even in the presence of humidity, aiming to provide a lower-cost alternative to traditional amine scrubbing technologies. For the hydrogen economy, the m-MOFs enable storage of hydrogen at lower pressures, which reduces costs and improves spatial efficiency for transport and intermittent storage applications. Immaterial works with clients to design and deploy compact, modular systems tailored to their specific operational needs.

Immaterial has received funding from various sources, including a Series A round in September 2023 led by SLB, with participation from Chevron Technology Ventures, JERA, and AP Ventures, among others. This funding is aimed at scaling production to multi-tonnes per annum and accelerating the deployment of its first demonstrator systems at partner sites. Keywords: metal-organic frameworks, carbon capture, hydrogen storage, porous materials, gas separation, gas storage, advanced materials, cleantech, nanomaterials, emissions reduction, monolithic MOFs, industrial decarbonization, energy transition, air purification, chemical engineering, material science, adsorption technology, hydrogen economy, sustainable technology, molecular engineering