Avantium N.V., a renewable chemistry company, announced that its Avantium Catalysis business unit will expand its business to focus increasingly on R&D solutions for sustainable chemistry. In addition to providing advanced catalysis R&D systems and services to customers worldwide, the business unit will extend its offerings to target specific emerging markets for sustainable chemistry. Avantium Catalysis will be renamed “Avantium R&D Solutions”.

For many years, Avantium’s Catalysis business unit has been helping companies accelerate their catalyst R&D by offering scalable catalyst test systems (Flowrence® and Batchington) and by conducting in-house catalyst research projects. Recently, Advantium has had a significant increase in requests for R&D solutions in sustainable chemistry. With its unique capabilities in innovative chemistry R&D and engineering, Avantium says it’s positioned to support this growing and attractive market segment. Avantium will focus on four emerging markets in the field of sustainable chemistry, offering tailored, innovative R&D units and contract R&D. 

These markets are:

1. Green hydrogen: Avantium will focus on process development (integrated laboratory units) for water electrolysis to produce green hydrogen.
2. Chemical plastic recycling: catalyst and process development to upgrade pyrolysis oil from recycled plastics or biomass, for example by removing impurities such as oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen. This upgraded liquid is then used to replace fossil-based feedstock in the production of a variety of sustainable and circular chemicals and materials.
3. Adsorption: the growth in sustainable chemistry and bio-based products requires more purification of, and separation of contaminants from, product streams by adsorption. Over the past years, Avantium has already built and delivered tailor-made high-throughput test units for liquid, gas and respiratory adsorption for customers such as Ircelyon.
4. Sustainable chemical building blocks: Avantium will build tailored systems for customers to facilitate the chemical conversion from biomass to sustainable chemical building blocks.

Avantium will offer R&D units and services in those fields to existing customers, but also intends to grow its business with new customers.

Steven Olivier, managing director of Avantium R&D Solutions, commented, “We have more than 20 years in experience in R&D solutions with our innovative Flowrence technology and R&D Services. We will now apply that experience to serve customers in the emerging and rapidly growing field of sustainable chemistry. This serves a clear and promising market demand and also fits well within the purpose of Avantium: to help transition the chemical industry to sustainable and circular solutions.”

For more information, visit: www.avantium.com.