Aug 6, 2026
In the newly launched publicly funded project “EthylenDirekt”, ionysis is working with Hahn-Schickard and the University of Freiburg to develop an integrated electrochemical process that directly links CO₂ capture and CO₂ utilization. The project aims to produce ethylene efficiently from CO₂-containing carbonate solutions, avoiding the energy-intensive thermal regeneration, compression and transport of captured CO₂.
Freiburg, August 2026 – Ethylene is one of the most important basic chemicals in the chemical industry and a key building block for plastics, packaging and a wide range of other products. Today, ethylene is predominantly produced from fossil feedstocks such as naphtha or ethane via steam cracking. This creates substantial CO₂ emissions and leaves the chemical industry dependent on fossil raw material imports.
The project “EthylenDirekt” addresses this challenge at a critical point in the value chain. Instead of first releasing CO₂ from a capture liquid, purifying it, compressing it and then feeding it into a separate electrolyzer, the project investigates the direct electrochemical conversion of bound CO₂ from carbonate solution into ethylene. This approach eliminates several energy- and cost-intensive process steps.
At the heart of the project is the development of a novel bipolar membrane as well as suitable electrode and cell designs for direct carbonate electrolysis. The bipolar membrane enables different pH conditions at the cathode and anode. At the cathode, CO₂ is locally released from the carbonate solution and made available for reduction to ethylene; at the anode, the alkaline environment allows the use of cost-effective, precious-metal-free catalysts. At the same time, the membrane concept is designed to reduce undesired carbonate crossover and improve the overall energy efficiency of the system.
ionysis will be responsible for the scale up of the membrane-electrode assemblies and building the demonstrator. The project plans to scale the components to an active cell area of 100 cm² and to demonstrate the EthylenDirekt process in a 0.5 kW setup for up to 200 hours of constant operation. In addition, ionysis will carry out techno-economic analyses and life-cycle assessments to identify industrial boundary conditions, relevant performance targets and suitable next steps toward further scale-upof the technology.
“With EthylenDirekt, we are extending our PFAS-free MEA technology into the field of carbon capture and utilization,” says Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO and Co-Founder of ionysis. “The project is a logical step beyond hydrogen applications: if CO₂ can be converted directly from capture liquids into one of the most important platform chemicals of the chemical industry, it can open a highly relevant pathway toward defossilized chemical value chains.”
The “EthylenDirekt” project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space BMFTR. The project is scheduled to run from March 1, 2026 to February 28, 2029. The total project volume is approximately EUR 2.09 million.
About ionysis
ionysis GmbH develops highly efficient, emission-free and sustainable core components for fuel cells, electrolyzers and emerging electrochemical applications. The company focuses on membrane-electrode assemblies and catalyst-coated membranes with significantly reduced or fully eliminated fluorinated materials. ionysis was founded as a spin-off from Hahn-Schickard and the University of Freiburg and combines deep electrochemical expertise with scalable coating and manufacturing know-how. The company’s mission is to enable high-performance, industrially relevant and more sustainable electrochemical technologies for the transition toward a defossilized energy and chemical industry.