Alongside the recent commissioning of its pilot plant producing the world’s first 100% plant-based, biogenic-carbon isocyanate products, the leadership team of Algenesis Materials (San Diego, Calif.; www.algenesislabs.com) spoke with Chemical Engineering magazine to share their scaleup insights and outlook for the next generation of biotechnology-supported industrial processes.
Algenesis has developed a novel flow-chemistry approach that has enabled the production of a range of novel biodegradable isocyanate products using plant-based feedstocks while avoiding the use of toxic phosgene. Now producing 1 kg/d at its pilot plant in San Diego, developed and built under a United States Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, # DE-SC0022936, awarded to Algenesis, the team is looking for ways to further expand. “We’re producing 1 kg/d — that’s 1,000-fold more than we were making last year when the technology was still in the lab. Now, we think that we can get to 10 kg/d pretty easily, but 1 kg/d is enough that we can supply materials to interested parties,” says Stephen Mayfield, chief executive officer and co-founder of Algenesis.
Source: Algenesis Materials
Since isocyanates, such as methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), are key building blocks for many industrial chemicals, including thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), there are a number of value chains where Algenesis’ fossil-free materials present a promising sustainability opportunity, including footwear, sporting goods and more, providing simple carbon footprint reduction, or depending on the TPU grade and application, biodegradability that would not be possible using conventional TPUs.
“We have analytical reports, reactivity metrics and some examples of products in the polyurethane space that can be produced with the isocyanates, and this is what we’re using to engage with early adopters. We have produced our own TPUs to demonstrate that it can be done for coatings, adhesives and all of these different areas of interest, particularly where biodegradability has value in the application,” explains Nick Sandland, chief business officer of Algenesis.
“We do see a lot of companies focusing on simple carbon-footprint reduction because they’re going to get taxed on scope three carbon emissions, so we are working to build out the lifecycle assessments on our materials, so that if you just want that lower carbon footprint, this will check that box. But, if you want elimination of fossil-based chemicals, as well as the biodegradation on the back end, now we have a truly unique value proposition with our materials,” adds Sandland.
The modularity of the system also places it in a unique position in the TPU supply chain. “If you want to build an isocyanate plant, you’re probably going to spend $1–2 billion and it’s going to be a megaton-scale plant. So there are only very few of these plants in the world, and there are only a few companies that can afford to build one. We offer a smaller, modular, scalable process. So conceptually, you could produce the isocyanates onsite where they are used, a sort of plug-and-play kind of system,” says Sandland.
From a safety standpoint as well, traditional isocyanate production would not lend itself to this type of decentralized production. Ryan Simkovsky, Algenesis’ chief technology officer elaborated: “That level of scalability simply can’t be done right now with current systems. The current methods of using phosgene to make isocyanate are just too dangerous and the regulatory and safety concerns surrounding phosgene just make that impossible to do. So this is something truly unique about the technology that we’ve developed that goes above and beyond existing solutions.”
Continuous discovery
The value of research and development does not cease once a scaleup milestone is achieved. In parallel with process scaleup, Algenesis has been supporting ongoing research through its partners at University of California San Diego (www.ucsd.edu), and recent findings, published in the Feb. 2025 issue of Chemistry of Materials, indicated a new paradigm in polyurethane production that is especially relevant to Algenesis.
“Right now, we are making linear aliphatic isocyanates, and anyone in industry would tell you that you can’t make a foam without an aromatic moiety, and that aromatic entity almost always comes from the isocyanate, typically either MDI and TDI,” explains Mayfield. But the team’s research showed that, contrary to popular belief, foam can be made using a non-aromatic isocyanate. These findings will be further explored by Algenesis to continue to expand potential applications for its products.
“This is a type of isocyanate that’s not traditionally used for foams, so showing that we can make foams with it is actually quite novel and pushes against the dogma in industry. We want to show that our aliphatic isocyanates are viable chemicals for thermoplastics, as well as for foams. The current market for aliphatic TPUs is pretty narrow in terms of where it gets used — clarity and weathering resistance are typically where you would use an aliphatic TPU. So, we’re now producing lab-scale materials that are intended to be benchmarked against existing materials,” says Simkovsky.
More sustainable fabric coatings
One particular area of interest for Algenesis is the production of new coatings for high-performance fabrics. Many fabric coatings currently in the market contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which presents many environmental challenges and have necessitated the development of non-fluorinated alternatives. “What TPUs are really good about doing is providing water resistance. These coated fabrics are non-PFAS, water-resistant materials that also have the ability to biodegrade under the right conditions. So they can be water-resistant when you’re using it, such as a backpack or raincoat, but also provide the ability to biodegrade under the right conditions. And this type of biodegradation also means no microplastic are formed. So now you’re not only replacing PFAS, but you’re also giving the ability to reduce the burden of microplastics that are going to be coming off those garments,” says Mayfield. Algenesis also sees the coated fabrics market as particularly promising as an early adopter because of the smaller volume demand. “We think if we can get close to 1 ton/d of production, it will be commercially viable and more than enough to satisfy several customers, since TPU coatings are relatively thin layers — on a raincoat, it’s really only a few mm thick on the surface to give water protection,” he adds.
Collaboration and communication
The Algenesis team agrees that there is one cornerstone to streamlining scaleup activities and reducing uncertainties — communication.
“Reach out to other disciplines early. If you’re a chemist , pull in the engineers and biologists. Start talking to people who have different expertise than you, because all of those areas are going to be required,” recommends Mayfield, also noting the importance of considering regulatory approvals, such as REACH certification, early in process development activities.
“Also, be sure you understand the start-to-finish supply chain and know that there will be many things you didn’t even know you would need to do. But understanding all the different key steps in the supply chain is absolutely critical,” says Sandland.
And finally, the importance of diversity in perspective cannot be overstated. “Being able to do our scaleup has required getting people with a different perspective to take a look at the process and point out the things that we just didn’t even see or think about, like what were the key factors that were going to become bottlenecks down the road, both in terms of our productivity, but also in terms of the safety, and where those limits existed, and what we needed to investigate further,” notes Simkovsky. ♦