Dioxycle, a France-based startup founded in 2020, develops electrolyzer technology that converts harmful carbon emissions (COx) into energy-rich small molecules. In 2024, they received the “Best CO2 utilisation 2024” innovation award, and was recognized in the World Economic Forum’s UpLink Global CCU Challenge for its work in carbon capture and utilisation.
Unlike conventional chemical companies that rely on fossil-fueled systems, Dioxycle is redesigning industrial processes around electrified pathways and renewable energy integration. These innovations accelerate industrial decarbonization and significantly reduce climate impact.
Inside Dioxycle’s carbon conversion system
What sets Dioxycle’s technology apart is its ability to transform COx into high-value chemicals, most notably, green ethylene. Beyond its functionality, the electrolyzer’s core architecture differs significantly from conventional systems. It features a modular, multi-stacked plates design that distributes COx inputs across its catalytic cores, enabling efficient electrochemical reduction into valuable products such as ethylene and syngas. This design enhances system scalability and performance by optimizing ion transport, gas flow, and product selectivity.
Why green ethylene matters for climate and industry
Ethylene is a key feedstock in the chemical industry, valued for its versatile and widespread applications. With a market size estimated at $154.12-billion in 2025, it remains one of the most commercially significant raw materials in manufacturing. In particular, ethylene is commonly used in the production of polyester fabrics, plastics for consumer goods and packaging, and construction materials. However, the large-scale ethylene production poses serious environmental issues.
Conventional ethylene production relies on steam cracking of fossil hydrocarbon feedstocks at high temperatures, which consumes high amounts of energy. This process releases large amounts of carbon emissions, which directly contribute to global warming and climate change.
To address this, companies are developing alternative processes for green ethylene production. This article explores Dioxycle’s patenting activity related to its electrolyzer technology and how it has supported its progression from laboratory research to pre-industrial scale development.
Dioxycle: Patenting Activity
Dioxycle’s patent filing activity grew steadily after its founding in 2020 and increased significantly in 2021, coinciding with the early development of its first electrolyzer prototype. This early milestone and the continued research advancements was supported by the funding and mentorship of the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program, which accelerated their laboratory-scale innovation into commercialized technology.
Patent filings peaked in 2022, as Dioxycle finalized its lab-scale prototype and began pre-industrial scale development, including the design of the multi-cell electrolyzer stacks. This scale-up phase introduced technological breakthroughs to address design challenges, prompting a wave of filings to secure IP protection in Dioxycle’s core electrolyzer architecture. Patent filings continued in 2023, supported by the $17M Series A Funding raised in July. This funding supports on-site testing and the development of an industrial prototype ahead of Dioxycle’s targeted commercialization in 2028.
Dioxycle: Top Jurisdictions
Most of Diocycle’s patents are filed in the United States, despite the company being based in France. This partly reflects the influence of Breakthrough Energy, Dioxycle’s first funder, being a US-based climate-focused initiative. It may also reflect the importance of the U.S. market in the advancement of decarbonization technologies, as it is the second largest emitter of CO2 globally. The filings under the PCT system follow this, suggesting an intention to pursue broader international patent protection.
Dioxycle: Top Law Firms
Majority of the patents filed by Dioxycle are primarily handled by the U.S.-based law firm, Daylight Law. This is followed by Haseltine Lake Kempner for filings before the EPO. Other notable firms include FPA Patent Attorneys in Australia, Fukami Patent Office in Japan, and Meitar Patents in Israel. Additionally, Nam IP Group through patent attorney Si Yong Lee handled patents filed in South Korea. Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala is responsible for the patent filed in Canada.
Dioxycle: Top Technology Areas
Dioxycle’s global patent filings demonstrate a strong emphasis on technologies that support its electrolyzer systems. The leading CPC classes, C25B and C01B, reflect the company’s focus on electrochemical processes for the production of inorganic compounds or non-metallic elements. This is followed by Y02E, which aligns with Dioxycle’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to energy generation. Additional filings are concentrated in areas such as separation processes (B01D), gas purification (C10K), and syngas production (C10J), reinforcing the company’s pursuit of sustainable carbon utilization and climate-driven innovations.
Patents behind Dioxycle’s electrolyzer innovation
Dioxycle is steadily securing patents related to its electrolyzer technology, focusing on advancements in design, operation, and integration. These filings are part of a broader effort to protect the company’s core proprietary innovation and strengthen their position in the growing carbon-to-value industry.
Converting furnace off-gases into useful chemicals
The growth of the industrial sector drives a higher demand for fuel and chemical production, which are essential raw materials in product manufacturing. However, producing these materials generates harmful industrial emissions that contribute to atmospheric pollution. With a total global CO2 emissions reaching 41.6 billion tonnes in 2024, there is an urgent need to develop technologies that can economically capture, convert, and reduce industrial carbon emissions.
U.S. Patent No. 12,258,671 addresses this issue by presenting a method for converting COx emissions from metallurgical furnaces into valuable chemical products. Instead of releasing COx emissions into the atmosphere, the system integrates an electrochemical reactor that captures and transforms these gases into ethylene and syngas.
The reactor is designed to operate under conditions compatible with the composition of furnace exhaust, allowing for more efficient conversion without significant process disruptions. This solution not only reduces the environmental impact of high-emitting sectors like steel production but also creates a circular pathway for generating useful materials from waste gases.
The patent, titled “Reactors and methods for production of sustainable chemicals using carbon emissions of metallurgical furnaces”, was filed on June 9, 2023, and was granted on March 25, 2025. The inventors are CEO and co-founder, Sarah Lamaison; co-founder & CTO, David Wakerley; Ruperto Mariano, Jonathan Maistrello, Adnan Ozden, Bastien Faure, and Lindsay Leveen. This filing was represented by Eric Scheuerlein and Isa Kohls from Daylight Law.
Real-time optimization of electrolyzer performance
While COx electrolysis offers a promising way to make carbon emissions valuable, these processes are often difficult to operate and maintain. Multi-cell reactors are especially complex because if one cell underperforms or fails, it can affect the efficiency of the entire stack. Moreover, maintenance is also challenging due to limited accessibility and can lead to long downtimes and high costs.
U.S. Patent. No. 11,519,089 introduces a system that enables real-time monitoring and automated optimization of the electrolyzer by detecting underperforming cells within the stack. It then adjusts the operating parameters to maintain overall system performance without requiring immediate manual intervention.
By responding dynamically to changes in cell behavior, the system reduces the risk of performance loss and extends operating time between maintenance cycles. This approach helps lower maintenance costs, improve reliability, and support continuous, scalable operation of COx electrolysis systems in industrial settings.
The patent, titled “Methods and systems for automated optimization of COx electrolysis reactor”, was filed on August 16, 2021, and was granted on December 6, 2022. The inventors are Bastien Faure, Sarah Lamaison, and David Wakerley, and they were represented by Eric Scheuerlein and Isa Kohls from Daylight Law.
Improving syngas yields from carbon-based feedstocks
While prior advancements have focused on improving the efficiency and reliability of COx electrolysis systems, issues on the production of clean fuels, such as hydrogen gas and syngas, with low carbon emissions remain.
Blue hydrogen presents a lower-emission alternative, but the high cost of its carbon capture method continues to limit its application in the industrial scale. Many facilities still release CO₂ during syngas production, making it challenging to achieve a fully-closed carbon cycle.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 2024/0158927 offers a way to lower emissions from syngas production by integrating electrolysis into existing processes. This method adjusts the hydrogen-to-carbon ratio without relying solely on costly carbon capture systems.
By introducing electrochemically generated hydrogen into the syngas stream, the process reduces reliance on fossil-based hydrogen sources and converts CO₂ into useful products, helping lower net carbon emissions. This enables more efficient, lower-carbon hydrogen generation, improving the viability of cleaner fuel production at scale.
The patent, titled “Augmenting syngas evolution processes using electrolysis”, was filed on January 18, 2024, and published on May 16, 2024. The inventors are Sarah Lamaison, David Wakerley, and Jonathan Maistrello, and was represented by Eric Scheuerlein and Isa Kohls from Daylight Law.
Next steps in Dioxycle’s greener future
Looking ahead, Dioxycle is working toward scalable, cost-effective CO₂-to-chemical conversion technologies to support global decarbonization goals. After the successful demonstration of its laboratory-scale electrolyzer, which is capable of converting 10 kg of CO2 emissions daily, the company is now focused on developing its first large-scale industrial prototype.
Designed to operate under real-world conditions, this system will bridge the gap between laboratory validation and commercial deployment, with a release planned for 2026. Moreover, to accelerate future development and scale-up, Dioxycle is also hinting on a potential new fundraising round as they aim for an initial commercialization by 2028.
