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In an ETH lab in the middle of a labyrinthine building, two young women have developed a material that could revolutionize several industries and make them both very rich indeed. Julia Carpenter (32) from Aargau studied materials science at ETH and received her PhD there in 2022.
As part of his PhD, he decided to start a company: Apheros, named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty born of foam, and Ferrum, the Latin name for iron. This name is very appropriate because Carpenter and currently St. His business partner, French chemist Gaëlle Andreatta (41), who studies economics at the University of St. Gallen, produces a kind of foam, so to speak, meringue, from various metals. Like Aphrodite, who is considered irresistible as the goddess of beauty and love, the start-up is already receiving a lot of love from investors and the industry.
Metal foam is baked
But first, about the product: The process Carpenter invented is actually something akin to making meringue, he explains: “You buy bits of iron, nickel or copper, add some magic, mix everything together, you can also do this with a home mixer, create a foam.” pick it up, stuff it into the shape you want and bake – done.”
What sounds so simple is much more complex; The magic in question is a secret, complex chemical-physical process that allows Carpenter and Andreatta to control the size of the “bubbles” in their metal glands to micrometer precision, thus controlling whatever they want. features of their products. Depending on the size of the bubbles and the metal used, they are suitable for a wide variety of applications. Currently there are products made of copper, iron, nickel and stainless steel.
Various markets are wide open – Apheros welcomes this
The plates currently created with the new features are approximately one to a maximum of five centimeters long and perhaps five millimeters wide. Something visually inconspicuous. But when it comes to technological and economic potential, the possibilities are huge. It’s so large that Carpenter and Andreatta can choose which applications to focus on first: cooling is one of them. Computers, air conditioning systems, batteries, transformers (the paths along which electrons “travel”) get hot: everything electronic needs to be cooled, and this causes a lot of energy consumption.
Because Apheros plates consist of approximately 90 percent air compared to existing cooling materials thanks to bubbles, they have a very large total surface area compared to their low weight and low mass, approximately a thousand times more than previously available materials. That’s why they are suitable for a wide variety of applications. For example, it can be used for heat exchange, on the one hand for cooling, and on the other hand, depending on the application area, for heat storage, heating or electrolysis; but more on that later.
Applications are numerous in the cooling market segment alone. Carpenter and Andreatta say their product is three times more efficient and less expensive than their competitors. No wonder customers are rushing down their doors. Carpenter and Andreatta currently limit themselves to cooling elements and have already won customers for these elements from Swiss and very large international companies. Large international companies (young entrepreneurs can put it this much) operate, for example, in the consumer goods sector. Soon there may be a piece of Apheros in every car cooling system, every air conditioning system, every heating system, every computer, server or mobile phone.
Everybody wants Apheros
Carpenter and Andreatta, who only founded their start-up in August 2023, are hiring five scientists, as well as two interns, from countries as diverse as Germany, Spain and Thailand, just six months later. They are already so busy that a few more employees will join them in the near future: Apheros is currently advertising positions.
Signs point to rapid growth in other ways, too: Not only have Carpenter and Andreatta been nearly showered with seed funding, but a second round of investors is on the way. The list of collaborations resembles a who’s who of research and technology: the materials research institute Empa works together with the famous German Fraunhofer Institute and, in particular, the so-called “Business Incubator” of the European Space Agency ESA.
So their ten-year plan looks like a kind of world domination: market development for cooling systems is already taking place, in the next phase, that is, in about two years, Apheros wants to devote itself to the development of components used in electrolysis. connection with hydrogen production – dem The energy sources of the future will be used. This is also a huge area with the greatest potential for the future. In the long term, the two company founders also see great opportunities in the energy storage sector such as rechargeable batteries.
Indicators point to growth
The two scientists are motivated by the idea of sustainability and energy efficiency: Their products are cheaper than their competitors, and the potential for energy and CO₂ savings is huge when their products are used in a variety of products.
Julia Carpenter still isn’t entirely happy with it, at least when it comes to sustainability. “If we had unlimited resources, we would instantly optimize and redesign the entire supply chain,” she says. It bothers them that they are at the mercy of an inefficient and vulnerable system. To keep delivery routes short, Apheros will carry out most of the production for initial Swiss and European customers in existing Swiss factories and laboratories, thus creating more jobs in that country.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
