BCBusiness
What began as a late-night experiment at SFU became Ionomr Innovations, a cleantech firm whose PFAS-free materials could displace billions of tons of carbon.
Lonely basement laboratories aren’t often home to breakthroughs that could affect the future of the planet. But in 2015, electrochemist Benjamin Britton was sitting in Simon Fraser University’s industrial 4D Labs, accompanied by nothing more than test stations and an industrial fan, when what seemed impossible became possible.
Britton was working on what’s known as an alkaline anion-exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cell and an electrolyzer—both precursors to his groundbreaking work as co-founder and chief technology officer of Vancouver cleantech company Ionomr Innovations. For decades, a system that was non-fluorinated, chemically stable and wouldn’t rapidly break down in high-temperature, acidic or caustic environments was the goal—one that by many was considered a pipe dream.
“There were even papers by some luminaries in the field saying you basically had to break a couple laws of the universe to make these systems last a long time,” says Britton with a laugh.
Typically, Britton would trigger a specific type of chemical reaction, expecting it to fizzle anywhere from 10 seconds to two hours later. Then, one day, the reaction continued and continued, then continued some more—to the point where, after 30 hours, the SFU Ph.D. candidate dared to leave his work station and go home.
“It was just fantastic. It was truly a moonshot,” remembers Britton, who jokes that he was giving himself high fives for setting world records. “Suddenly we had something that just worked, and it lasted for 400 hours. It was considered orders of magnitude better than anybody could do at the time.”
That quantum leap led to the formation of Ionomr, a Vancouver cleantech startup that develops ion exchange membranes and polymer solutions that are significantly more durable, more efficient and less costly than other technologies—and don’t involve environmentally damaging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” What’s more, that 400 hours eventually became 15,000.
The company’s membranes—which either block or pass ions—can be used to drive hydrogen production; power industry, ships and vehicles in hydrogen fuel cells; build storage for intermittent green energy such as wind and solar; help with the recovery of lithium and other chemicals; remediate water through electro-dialysis; support next-generation battery systems and more. As Britton puts it, the technology is the “heart and lungs” of electrochemical systems, allowing them to pump and flow.
The company has raised over $44 million (U.S.) since 2017; among their investors are heavy-hitters such as Shell, Chevron, Samsung and Chinese car manufacturer SAIC Motor. Ionomr’s materials are now used by over 200 original equipment manufacturers, or OEMS—that is, companies that make parts and equipment, then sell to other businesses—and their projected revenues this year are $7 million. This year they also made the prestigious Global Cleantech 100 list for the fourth year in a row.
In early 2025, Ionomr opened a development and manufacturing plant in Boston—a company developing similar materials went up for sale and the Ionomr team jumped at the chance to acquire their multimillion- dollar setup for a fraction of the cost. Then in June, Ionomr announced a partnership with Jolt Solutions, a Spanish company that will provide electrodes to help boost production and reduce costs.
According to Dugan O’Neil, vice-president of research and innovation at SFU, Ionomr could play a key role in the move away from fossil fuels and toward alternatives like green hydrogen—to the point when, as the company’s technology is adopted by companies around the world, it could displace eight gigatons per year of carbon, or roughly all the carbon from global transportation.
“Ionomr can have a very large impact on climate change in the future by providing a carbon-free way to make hydrogen that’s cost- competitive,” says O’Neil, who adds that the Lower Mainland has long been a hotbed for hydrogen research. “With intermittent renewables like wind and solar, you need technology that’s stable and flexible—and if you can do that without chemicals that are about to be banned in large parts of the world, all the better.”
Still, there are headwinds. In the West—especially the United States—political sentiment has shifted away from environmental initiatives, and with it many investors. As Ionomr CEO Bill Haberlin puts it, people are more worried about the end of the month than they are about the end of the world.
On the other side of the planet, however, China is seriously moving the needle. Because the country doesn’t have a mature electrical grid, explains Haberlin, it has an even greater need for energy storage that can be used outside large population centres, and Ionomr offers a cost- effective, PFAS-free option.
“I see things slipping in the West—I don’t think it’s forever, but I think we could be distracted for 36 to 60 months,” predicts Haberlin. By contrast, he adds, several of the top electrolyzer producers in the world—all of them based in China—have active development programs that involve Ionomr’s materials.
“China is going to allow us to sharpen our spear, grow and scale, and allow us to hone our manufacturing and our development and our products,” says Haberlin, who spent 15 years working in Asia. “So, when the West comes back to life, we’ll have the solutions set, which will allow them to become ubiquitous.”
Haberlin predicts that, by 2035, the marketplace for foundational materials like Ionomr’s will be worth $3.5 billion—exponentially more if fuel cells take off—and a key goal for the company is to continue driving costs down, so that hydrogen- fuelled tech becomes more competitive.
For now he hopes governments help the nascent industry by regulating decarbonization and incentivizing green tech, that the corporate world recognizes the long-term potential and that the winds of change begin to blow with more force.
“At the end of the day, what keeps us going at Ionomr is the ability to change the planet and change the trajectory of the world,” says Haberlin. “We’re passionate and we have a vision, and that’s to become the number one material supplier of ion exchange platforms—and to provide a better, cleaner planet as a result.”
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