NEXSURF develops advanced catalyst systems for the electrochemical conversion of captured CO₂ and CO, targeting fuels and chemicals — syngas, formic acid, methane, ethanol — using renewable electricity, materials science, and computational discovery.
CO₂ is the main driver of climate change — and emissions are still setting records. Capture is finally scaling, but capturing carbon is only half the equation. Converting it into useful fuels and chemicals at scale remains a critical bottleneck — held back by energy demand, product selectivity, and catalyst stability.
Data: Global Carbon Budget 2025 · NOAA · NASA · IEA — NASA and NOAA are U.S. federal agencies; Global Carbon Budget and IEA are international scientific/intergovernmental bodies.
CO₂ is thermodynamically stable and fully oxidized, so converting it into reduced products requires energy. Catalysts can reduce kinetic losses and improve selectivity, while overall economics also depend on electricity, reactor performance, separation, and scale.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy →Catalysts must steer CO₂ toward one target product — say ethanol, or formic acid — rather than wasting energy on a mixture of side products.
Many catalysts restructure, deactivate, or lose selectivity during operation. Long-duration testing is therefore essential before an industrial process can rely on them.
New to this? Get a simple explanation →The next step is not only to capture CO₂, but to transform it. Renewable electricity, advanced materials, and computational discovery make it possible to design potentially lower-carbon routes from captured carbon to useful products. The net climate benefit depends on the CO₂ source, energy supply, product lifetime, and displaced conventional process.
Clean power can drive electrochemical conversion instead of fossil-based chemical routes.
New catalyst families can reduce electrochemical overpotential and improve selectivity toward useful products.
Captured carbon can become a feedstock for real products — syngas, formic acid, methane, ethanol — instead of a waste stream.
The U.S. Department of Energy groups CO₂ conversion into a few broad strategies — chiefly thermochemical routes, which use heat, pressure, and catalysts, and electrocatalytic routes, which use electricity at a catalyst surface — alongside non-conversion pathways like mineral storage.
Decades of research have produced working examples of each, but every route carries a cost, selectivity, or scalability penalty that has kept it from displacing fossil-based production at meaningful scale.
Electrocatalysis — NEXSURF's own focus — carries the sharpest version of that tradeoff: today's benchmark catalysts either cost too much to scale (precious metals) or produce mixtures that are difficult to separate and control (copper).
Mature high-temperature processes hydrogenate CO₂ to methanol or synthetic fuels.
Silver and gold electrodes convert CO₂ to CO with good selectivity and are the current benchmark.
The classic route to valuable multi-carbon products like ethylene and ethanol.
Pioneered in Iceland: captured CO₂ is injected into reactive basalt, where mineral reactions are intended to provide durable geological storage.
Traditional catalyst development often synthesizes and tests materials sequentially.
The platform is designed to work with captured CO₂ streams and connect carbon capture with downstream utilization pathways.
Advanced catalyst surfaces are designed to improve CO₂ activation and steer reactions toward useful carbon-based products like carbon monoxide and formate.
Captured CO₂ is converted into target fuels and chemicals, with early research focus on C₁Products with one carbon atom — carbon monoxide (the basis of syngas), formic acid / formate, methanol, and methane. CO and formate are comparatively simple two-electron products; methanol and methane require deeper six- and eight-electron reduction.Get a simple explanation → and C₂ productsProducts with two carbon atoms — ethanol, acetate, and ethylene. They can address attractive markets but are generally harder to make selectively because carbon–carbon bond formation is required on the catalyst surface.Get a simple explanation →.
Candidates are benchmarked through targeted validation for selectivity, stability, and product formation before partner-facing transfer.
Screening counts are internal project metrics. Predicted performance remains to be confirmed through application-relevant experiments.
Scientific background: U.S. Department of Energy — CO₂ Utilization · DOE National Laboratories — CO₂RUe · American Chemical Society — CO₂ electroreduction
Our three-stage pipeline moves from atomic-scale simulation to planned electrochemical testing and, when performance is verified, toward transfer-ready catalyst know-how for industrial partners.
DFT calculations, data-driven methods, and materials intuition identify promising CO₂-interacting surfaces from a large candidate space — narrowing focus before expensive validation.
Priority candidates move into targeted validation, including electrochemical benchmarking, stability screening, and product selectivity analysis where experimental capacity is available.
Validated catalyst know-how, IP strategy, and performance data can be packaged for industrial collaboration, licensing, or joint development with partners.
NEXSURF is built to de-risk carbon utilization: related independent experimental literature, a compute-first discovery engine, and a patent-pending, licensing-first business model.
Independent published experiments on a representative material related to one development track report CO₂-reduction products including ethanol and acetate. The study's maximum combined C₂+ Faradaic efficiency was 11.75% under its test conditions, and gaseous products were not quantified. It did not test NEXSURF's proprietary candidates; application-relevant benchmarking remains a separate validation step.
Read the ACS experimental study →DFT and machine learning screen hundreds of candidate surfaces before lab validation, so experiments can focus on shortlisted materials. Predicted performance is treated as a hypothesis until it is tested experimentally.
Three priority applications were filed in 2024; the corresponding international (PCT) applications were published in 2026, with national-phase decisions ahead. The applications are pending; publication is not a patent grant.
View the official technology-transfer record →| Development track | Target CO₂ products | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most advanced track | Ethanol, acetate, formate (development targets) | Related independent experimental literature | Literature support; NEXSURF benchmarking planned 2026–2028 |
| Computational screening track | CO, formate | Multi-facet DFT datasets; machine-learning screening | Internal count: 500+ surfaces screened; candidates shortlisted for electrochemical testing |
| Mechanism mapping track | Methane, CO | Carbide CO₂-to-CO and methane pathways; carbonitride CO₂-to-methane pathways | DFT pathways published; screening ongoing; experimental validation pending |
Published studies and DOIs are public. Unpublished compositions, non-public datasets, and partner-specific validation details are shared under NDA.
NEXSURF builds on a track record — published science, patent-pending IP, and catalyst families that have already cleared their first hurdles.
Years of peer-reviewed DFT research on advanced electrocatalyst materials at the University of Iceland.
Initial applications filed for three catalyst-family inventions; all remain patent pending.
Peer-reviewed DFT studies map reduction pathways on carbide, phosphide, and carbonitride catalyst families.
International applications filed for the three catalyst families through the PCT route.
Three international applications became public, and the machine-learning screening method behind the platform was published in a peer-reviewed conference proceeding.
Active discussions with industrial partners and deep-tech investors ahead of national-phase entries in 2027.
Independent published experiments report CO₂-reduction products including ethanol and acetate on a representative material related to this track; NEXSURF benchmarking remains planned.
Multi-facet DFT and machine-learning screening complete; top candidate surfaces shortlisted for electrochemical validation.
Published DFT models of CO₂-reduction pathways; candidate surfaces remain under screening and require experimental validation.
Core experimental validation and benchmarking. Proof-of-concept system design. IP protection through strategic patent filings. Outreach to research and industrial partners.
Demonstrate performance under application-relevant conditions — proof of concept. Expand external testing and strengthen strategic partnerships. Outreach to deep tech investors.
Transition from laboratory validation toward pilot-scale readiness. Secure funding and industrial support for pilot-scale activities.
Scale deployment through strategic pilot partnerships and licensing models. Support industrial integration and joint development initiatives across target markets.
NEXSURF ehf. is a pre-revenue R&D company in Iceland, building on research in computational materials science and electrochemical catalysis. The company combines atomic-scale simulation with targeted validation to develop next-generation catalyst technologies for carbon utilization.
Our initial commercial path is through catalyst IP generation, validation, and technology transfer to industrial partners who are building infrastructure for potentially lower-carbon fuel and chemical production.
Faculty member at the University of Iceland with over a decade of DFT-guided electrocatalyst design for CO₂ and N₂ conversion. Leads the scientific strategy, catalyst design, and IP development.
Develops the causal machine-learning and GNN screening pipeline for catalyst discovery; first author of published work on causal ML for dopant selection in CO₂ electroreduction.
DFT screening of advanced catalyst surfaces for CO₂ reduction; author of the group's foundational catalyst datasets and publications.
Atomic-scale modelling of CO₂ activation and conversion on the platform's catalyst surfaces, extending its families toward new target products.
Public claims on this page are grounded in primary data, U.S. government science, peer-reviewed literature, and the relevant international authorities.
NEXSURF-specific publications and public patent records are linked where their claims appear. Confidentiality applies only to unpublished material and non-public development data.
NEXSURF is entering its validation phase. We are looking for the capital, infrastructure, and industrial partners to carry shortlisted candidates from the lab toward licensing.
Deep-tech pre-seed / seed funding to finance experimental validation, proof-of-concept system design, and the applications' national-phase entries in 2027 — alongside non-dilutive innovation grants.
Talk to us about investing →Carbon capture, e-fuel, and chemical companies for joint development: testing our catalysts under application conditions and shaping early licensing agreements around real industrial needs.
Become a development partner →Electrochemical testing capacity, characterization infrastructure, and academic collaborations to accelerate benchmarking of shortlisted catalyst candidates.
Collaborate on validation →We welcome conversations with industrial partners, investors, research collaborators, and institutions interested in carbon utilization technology.