{"id":120167,"date":"2026-03-12T03:24:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T06:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/898880893"},"modified":"2026-03-12T03:24:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T06:24:30","slug":"uk-start-up-cooloop-to-produce-world-first-carbon-negative-acetic-acid-using-monash-university-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/uk-start-up-cooloop-to-produce-world-first-carbon-negative-acetic-acid-using-monash-university-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Start-Up COOloop to Produce World-First Carbon-Negative Acetic Acid Using Monash University Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A UK-based start-up, co-founded by Monash University PhD graduate Dr Rajan Lakshman, has secured \u00a3150,000 in seed funding from Carbon13 Ventures to commercialize technology developed at Monash.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company is pioneering a world-first catalytic process that converts captured CO2<\/sub> and renewable hydrogen<\/a> directly into acetic acid, offering a carbon-negative alternative to fossil-based production.<\/p>\n

Every year, the world produces around 20 million tons of acetic acid, a key chemical used in plastics, textiles, paints, adhesives and food products, almost entirely from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

COOloop\u2019s world-first Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) catalyst enables direct CO2<\/sub> conversion, potentially eliminating millions of tons of carbon emissions while remaining cost-and scale-competitive with traditional methods.<\/p>\n

The research behind COOloop\u2019s technology was developed by Professor Akshat Tanksale and his team at Monash University, supported by the Faculty of Engineering\u2019s Research Accelerator Award in 2019.<\/p>\n

Working through the COVID-19 lockdowns, the team invented a novel iron-based catalyst that converts CO2<\/sub> and methanol into acetic acid, replacing expensive noble metals. This work was published in Nature Communications in 2023. The team then developed a cobalt-nickel bimetallic catalyst capable of producing acetic acid directly from CO2<\/sub>, eliminating the need for methanol as an intermediate.<\/p>\n

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Related Stories<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

COOloop co-founder and CEO Ike Omambala said the partnership with Monash is key to commercial success.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt COOloop, we\u2019re turning carbon from a liability into a valuable resource. Partnering with Professor Akshat Tanksale’s group at Monash allows us to bring cutting-edge, world-first catalysis from the lab into industrial reality. This collaboration shows how science and entrepreneurship can build a circular carbon economy and accelerate the transition to net-zero chemicals.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

COOloop co-founder and CTO, Dr Rajan Lakshman, a Monash PhD graduate under the supervision of Professors Tanksale and Alan Chaffee, reflected on moving research into industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my PhD at Monash University, I worked on developing new ways to convert carbon dioxide \u2013 one of the world\u2019s most significant greenhouse gases \u2013 into valuable chemicals. My research focused on transforming carbon dioxide into acetic acid, and our first breakthrough catalyst led to a patent filing,\u201d<\/em> Dr Lakshma said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly exciting to see this work now gaining real-world momentum through the formation of our spin-off company. COOloop represents an opportunity to take this technology beyond the lab and towards industrial application, with the potential to make a global impact on sustainable chemical production.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

COOloop will continue to collaborate with Monash University to make the process economically viable and industrially scalable<\/p>\n

Professor Akshat Tanksale highlighted the broader potential of the technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thrilled to see our research translated into practice by COOloop. Negative carbon technologies are essential for achieving net-zero emissions. Starting with acetic acid, COOloop\u2019s world-first technology could be a platform for other chemical applications, and our team will continue working with the company to demonstrate feasibility at scale.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Monash University <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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… from Carbon13 Ventures to commercialize technology<\/span> developed at Monash. The company is … . The research behind COOloop\u00e2\u0080\u0099s technology<\/span> was developed by Professor Akshat … represents an opportunity to take this technology<\/span> beyond the lab and towards industrial …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}