{"id":170165,"date":"2025-11-12T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T06:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=170165"},"modified":"2025-11-06T12:07:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:07:40","slug":"co2-utilization-technology-makes-renewable-acrylonitrile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/co2-utilization-technology-makes-renewable-acrylonitrile\/","title":{"rendered":"CO2-utilization technology makes renewable acrylonitrile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Nearly all of the currently produced building-block chemical acrylonitrile (AN) results from the ammoxidation of propylene, a process that requires precise heat control and generates several toxic side products, such as hydrogen cyanide. The startup company Mars Materials has developed an alternative process that utilizes captured CO2<\/sub>\u00a0or bio-based feedstocks, improves the yields of AN and eliminates production of key toxic byproducts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the incumbent process, side reactions generate toxic impurities that end up creating problems in the final AN products,\u201d explains Mars Materials CEO Aaron Fitzgerald. \u201cOur carbon-negative AN process improves yields and safety while producing an impurity-advantaged AN product.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AN is used in a wide range of products, including polymers like acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and nitrile rubber (NBR). Also, when AN is polymerized, it can be used as a matrix for carbon-fiber composites. But Mars will initially focus on bio-converting its AN into acrylamide and water-soluble polymers, which can be used in drinking water purification and paper products. This is a unique advantage for Mars\u2019 pathway. The company recently announced it overcame a decades-long incumbent barrier to demonstrate that its AN can serve as a drop-in feedstock for global acrylamide industry leader, SNF Andr\u00e9zieux, France.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Mars Materials\u2019 AN technology was licensed from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for commercialization, and has been adapted to utilize CO2<\/sub>\u00a0by Mars Materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mars\u2019 process converts three- to five-carbon ester and acid intermediates \u2014 derived from CO2<\/sub>\u00a0or biomass \u2014 into AN with high selectivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe underpinning technology, known as nitrilation, leverages decades-old thermocatalysis and off-the-shelf equipment, along with Mars\u2019 proprietary process parameters, to produce impurity-advantaged AN,\u201d Fitzgerald explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AN then enters a series of distillation columns, where ammonia and solvent are recovered and recycled, to produce high-purity AN (see diagram). The main byproduct is water. By leveraging an endothermic reaction pathway, the process enhances safety while reducing capital intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzgerald says the Mars renewable AN process is currently producing kilogram-scale amounts at a pilot plant located at the Shell Technology Center, a research and development facility in Houston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly all of the currently produced building-block chemical acrylonitrile (AN) results from the ammoxidation of propylene, a process that requires precise heat control and generates several toxic side products, such as hydrogen cyanide. The startup company Mars Materials has developed an alternative process that utilizes captured CO2\u00a0or bio-based feedstocks, improves the yields of AN and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":170175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The startup company Mars Materials has developed an alternative process that utilizes captured CO2\u00a0or bio-based feedstocks","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[6843,22614,5842,10744,12330,10743],"supplier":[18473,371,27182],"class_list":["post-170165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-biochemicals","tag-biofeedstocks","tag-biomass","tag-carboncapture","tag-ccu","tag-useco2","supplier-mars-materials","supplier-national-renewable-energy-laboratory-nrel","supplier-snf-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170165"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=170165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}