The energy-intensive process of separating and purifying chemicals and gases is one of the main reasons why industries like plastic manufacturing cause so much pollution. UniSieve wants to reduce its carbon emissions and operating costs with its technology, which uses a high-precision membrane with special crystals that can filter out specific molecules and ions.
Today, the Zurich-based startup announced that it has raised $5.5 million in seed funding to pilot and expand its operational capabilities. The round, which UniSieve said was oversubscribed, included participation from Amadeus Apex Technology Fund, Wingman Ventures, CIECH Ventures and Zürcher Kantonalbank.
UniSieve was founded in 2018 by ETH Zürich classmates Samuel Hess and Elia Schneider. During the course of their work, they developed a way to embed porous crystals called zeolitic materials into polymeric membranes and use them for high-precision filters.
They also figured out how to make manufacturing scalable. UniSieve is already generating revenue and currently has more than 24 clients, including chemical and energy companies. Currently focused on CO2 capture, UniSieve is also testing hydrocarbon separation applications (organic compounds made of hydrogen and carbon).
Heavy industries, including plastic, chemical and gas plants, have legacy systems worth billions of dollars, Hess said. These often include separation and purification processes that require a lot of thermal energy. UniSieve’s modular filters, which Hess compared to Nespresso capsules, can be integrated into existing manufacturing systems.
UniSieve Membrane Cartridges
UniSieve stands for “universal sieving” and its technology does not use heat energy. Instead, their membranes separate chemicals, energy carriers, and CO2 from flue gases based on size exclusion. To use another coffee-related metaphor, UniSieve’s membranes are like coffee filters that keep your beverage free of grounds. Like printer manufacturers or Nespresso, UniSieve sells containerized separation systems and membrane replacement services.
When asked to explain what it means to “integrate zeolitic materials into polymeric membranes” in simple terms, Hess explained that “it’s like adding special filters to a plastic membrane to make it work better for water purification, gas filtration and performance of other tasks.
Hess and Schneider originally worked on water purification membranes before they had their “lightbulb moment.” The two introduced zeolitic materials, or porous crystals, into polymeric or plastic-like membranes. Hess explained that zeolites have a well-defined pore structure that can selectively trap or filter certain molecules or ions. When added to polymeric membranes, the combination results in improved selectivity, permeability, and stability, especially for gas separation.
UniSieve Team
One challenge UniSieve had to solve is that chemicals can vary in size by a fraction of an angstrom (or one-tenth of a nanometer). That means your filters need to be extremely accurate. Hess said that UniSieve’s ability to be fine-tuned means it can be adapted to many different applications, including the separation of gases other than CO2.
Hess said the UniSieve competes with other new technologies such as distillation or amine scrubbing, which uses special solvents to remove acid gas. “Compared to these systems, UniSieve’s membrane solution is up to 90% more energy efficient and can be applied on both a small and large scale. There are also some start-ups trying to enter the chemical membrane purification market,” Hess said. “Due to operational limitations, a wide application of these competing membranes does not seem realistic.”
In a statement, Wingman Ventures founding partner Lukas Weder said: “The UniSieve technology solution is proven and ready to deploy and is therefore perfectly positioned to help companies rapidly build production processes. very powerful and energy efficient.
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