The Dawn of a New Chemical Era: Mars Materials' Sustainable Acrylonitrile Achieves Commercial Validation with SNF
For over half a century, the chemical industry has relied on a single, emissions-intensive process to produce acrylonitrile, a fundamental building block of modern manufacturing with a significant environmental toll. Many have tried to find a better way, but the path has been fraught with technical challenges.
At the start of our journey, global leaders in the field shared a cautionary note around the technical challenge ahead: “You can make ‘good’ acrylonitrile that doesn’t polymerize properly.”
It was a stark warning about a fundamental barrier. In the world of industrial chemistry, creating a pure molecule is only the first step. If it cannot perform reliably in complex, real-world applications, it remains a laboratory curiosity. The "polymerization problem" has long been the great filter, preventing sustainable alternatives from reaching commercial scale.
At Mars, our mission has always been to create a blueprint for chemical production to reverse the industrial carbon footprint associated with historic supply chain emissions. To do that, we had to solve this foundational challenge.
Our CTO, Kristian Gubsch, speaks to the rigorous engineering that prepared us for this moment:
“I’m incredibly proud of our team for demonstrating a full suite of engineering capabilities. From designing and fabricating the core reactor to commissioning the entire pilot plant and now scaling its operations, we've shown we can manage the full lifecycle of a complex chemical process. This robust in-house expertise is what allows us to move quickly and de-risk our technology for partners and investors.”
After years of disciplined work, we sent our first pilot-scale sample for evaluation. Today, we can announce a historic result.
We have successfully completed a full validation in the broad $11B polyacrylamide and water-soluble polymers market with SNF, the global market leader. Our CO2-based, impurity-advantaged acrylonitrile met all performance standards across its extensive portfolio of polyacrylamide-based products and other water-soluble polymer chemistries.
The paradigm has shifted.
This is a turning point for the industry. We have established a commercial foothold in the $11 billion acrylamide market and proven that a circular economy for chemicals is not a distant vision, but a tangible reality.
Acrylamide-based polymer expert and Mars advisor, Cédrick Favero, understands the weight of this achievement: “As someone who has spent their career in this space, this is a truly exciting development. To see a novel, performance-advantaged acrylonitrile not only work but also meet the stringent quality standards for bioconversion to acrylamide monomer and subsequent use in polymerization on the first attempt is a game-changer. It opens up a credible pathway for decarbonizing a massive and critical market.”
This landmark validation is just the beginning of building a new industrial ecosystem. Our immediate focus is to build on this success and demonstrate that our acrylonitrile can also produce high-performance, sustainable carbon fiber. This is how we move beyond simply creating sustainable chemicals and begin turning everyday products into carbon sinks, building a truly circular carbon economy.
Our next target for market validation is the $4 billion carbon fiber industry, a sector where lightweight, high-strength materials are critical for everything from aerospace to electric vehicles.
What’s next in building this new era?
With this validation complete, we are moving full speed ahead. Our focus is on:
Deepening market penetration: Completing validation with other global acrylamide manufacturers to broaden our commercial footprint.
Designing for commercial scale: Recruiting partners to support critical long-duration operational data collection from our pilot plant. This data is essential for designing our first commercial demonstration facility.
Entering the carbon fiber market: Validating our acrylonitrile for carbon fiber production, a key step in our mission to decarbonize high-performance materials.
To power this next chapter, we are currently raising funds to accelerate scale-up activities and validate its acrylonitrile in new high-value derivative markets. We are seeking strategic partners and investors who share our vision for a decarbonized industrial future. This is more than an investment in a single company; it's an opportunity to build the foundational supply chains for a new, circular carbon economy.
With your support, let’s make the Mars mission real.
SNF product from Mars Materials acrylonitrile
