The challenge of meeting constantly advancing industry roadmaps for making chips smaller and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in metallization is what motivates me every day. As we're ramping up production capacity with new plants in South Korea and Japan to meet growing customer demand, we're already researching the next material to support our customers in developing the chips of the future.
ACCELERATING INNOVATION ALONGSIDE START-UPS
Through ALIAD and Accelair, Air Liquide invests in and supports the development of innovative start-ups. The Group’s venture capital structure, ALIAD, provides financial, technological and commercial support to start-ups in the fields of climate, healthcare and industrial innovation. Another program, Accelair, is an accelerator that supports deep tech start-ups, helping them industrialize their offerings. Here is a closer look at two of these start-ups.
Ekoscan Integrity optimizes industrial performance by inspecting without stopping production
Ekoscan Integrity has been a strategic partner of Air Liquide since 2015 and has been supported by ALIAD since 2021. The start-up streamlines maintenance of Air Liquide’s production units through inspection solutions co-developed with the Group’s R&D teams. These solutions enable safer interventions without requiring work at height, and they help avoid costs associated with production shutdowns by conducting inspections without interrupting operations. By ensuring greater reliability, Ekoscan Integrity’s technologies help extend the lifespan of industrial equipment while strengthening operational excellence.
Aerleum decarbonizes maritime transport-and more
Working with Accelair since 2024, Aerleum is developing a proprietary technology that captures atmospheric CO₂ and converts it directly-combined with hydrogen-into synthetic methanol through an integrated and industrial-scale process. The maritime sector is among the start-up’s priority markets, as it aims to replace diesel and fossil methanol used in freight transport. The synthetic methanol produced can integrate into existing value chains, facilitating industrial deployment of the solution to support the energy transition in maritime transport. This can also be applied to the aviation and chemicals sectors.
INNOVATING FOR AND WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND PATIENTS
From developing new materials for semiconductors to improving quality of life for home patients, Air Liquide’s innovation is built in close alignment with users’ realworld needs. This collaborative approach transforms pain points into opportunities and brings forward sustainable, highperformance solutions tailored to operational challenges.
Co-constructing innovation with semiconductor players
For more than 10 years, Air Liquide has been developing molybdenum-based precursors, a revolutionary molecule that is a promising replacement for traditional chip manufacturing material. In the semiconductor industry, the adoption of a new material follows a rigorous process: R&D, feasibility testing with customers and partners, manufacturing of small quantities of precursors, then increasing production to high-volume. This collaborative process, which spans several years, enables the transition to a new material at the optimal time for customers.