SULPHURREAL
The SULPHURREAL consortium is developing an innovative process to use sulphur as a storage medium for (renewable) energy.
ExoMatter is a pivotal partner in materials development in this EIC Pathfinder project, and additionally received funding in a booster grant to explore market opportunities for sustainability analyses of novel materials.
SULPHURREAL is developing a breakthrough thermochemical process for the long-term storage of solar energy by converting it into solid sulphur, enabling carbon-free, on-demand energy storage and chemical production. ExoMatter contributes its AI-powered materials discovery platform to identify and optimize novel catalysts and redox materials for the key sulphur trioxide (SO₃) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) splitting reactions. Using high-throughput computational screening, ExoMatter evaluated more than 1,000 candidate materials and identified promising alternatives to conventional catalysts based on performance, cost, and sustainability, significantly reducing the need for experimental trial-and-error. The project brings together leading European research institutes and industrial partners to establish a scalable, sustainable energy storage technology based on abundant, non-critical raw materials.
Partners: DLR Institute of Future Fuels, Germany; Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH), Greece; Agenzia per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA), Italy; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Sweden; University of Patras, Department of Chemical Engineering (UPAT), Greece; Trinity College, University of Dublin, (TCD), Ireland; Saint-Gobain (SG), France; ExoMatter, Germany.
Photon-NRW
Photon-NRW is a collaborative research effort targeting the production of base chemicals in an innovative photochemical reactor.
To achieve long-term climate neutrality, sustainable production of carbon-based chemicals and synthetic fuels, particularly for the chemical industry and transportation, is needed. The Photon-NRW project aims to use solar energy in a novel photoreactor to produce the key intermediate and end products carbon monoxide and methane, thereby helping to close the carbon cycle.
ExoMatter contributes its AI-powered materials discovery platform to identify and optimize promising photoactive materials for the photoreactor, significantly accelerating the search for high-performance candidates. By combining computational materials screening with experimental validation, the project reduces the need for costly trial-and-error approaches and enables more efficient reactor development. ExoMatter works closely with DLR and the other project partners to evaluate material performance under realistic operating conditions and support the selection of the most promising reactor concepts. The project brings together complementary expertise in materials science, reactor engineering, sensor technology, and process development to advance sustainable production of carbon-based chemicals and fuels. Ultimately, Photon-NRW aims to establish a scalable, fossil-free route for producing key chemical feedstocks while strengthening Europe’s resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Partners: DLR Institutes of Solar Research and Future Fuels, GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG, Luna innovations Germany GmbH, ExoMatter; associated partners: TNO, Solifos AG.
SolaGrAm
SolaGrAm targets the production of ammonia, a crucial base chemical for fertilizers, which currently accounts for ~1.5% of worldwide annual CO2 emissions. The project partners are demonstrating that nitrogen, a key component required for ammonia production, can be produced using solar energy.
ExoMatter contributes its AI-powered materials discovery platform to identify and optimize oxygen carrier (redox) materials capable of efficiently removing oxygen from air, a key step in the solar-driven nitrogen production process. The platform was used successfully to select the most promising materials for experimental validation. The project combines expertise in solar thermochemistry, reactor engineering, and materials science to develop a scalable, fossil-free route for ammonia production.
Partners: DLR Institute of Future Fuels, Forschungsinstitut für Glas | Keramik GmbH, thyssenkrupp Uhde GmbH, ExoMatter.
Porotherm-Solar
Porotherm is a collaborative research project on using perovskite oxides as storage media for renewable energy in the form of heat.
Through thermal reduction reactions in charging phases, followed by re-oxidation in the discharge, energy can be stored chemically, in addition to sensible heat in traditional storage media. ExoMatter contributes its AI-powered materials screening platform to identify suitable redox-active metal oxides for thermochemical heat storage. By evaluating thousands of candidate materials, the platform helps identify perovskite compositions with the optimal balance of oxygen exchange capacity, heat capacity and cost. Suitable oxides of abundant chemical elements are successfully identified, outperforming the state of the art significantly. The selected materials are then manufactured into open-pored storage structures using extrusion and 3D printing and validated in a demonstrator under realistic operating conditions. The project brings together expertise in materials science, ceramics, additive manufacturing, and energy systems to advance scalable, high-performance thermal energy storage for solar thermal power plants and industrial waste heat applications.
Partners: DLR Institute of Future Fuels, ECT-KEMA, Keramik-Institut, Kraftblock, WZR Ceramic Solutions, ExoMatter.
