AC Biode – Chemical Technology for a more Sustainable Future
AC Biode, a start-up with headquarters in Luxembourg and Japan, developed a diverse portfolio of products based on chemical technology designed to provide more sustainable alternatives to conventional practices.
ISC3 Start-up of the Month: April 2025
The company´s most well-known innovation is the AC Biode, which is the first of its kind to store alternating current. This battery is more efficient and safer than current batteries and represents a significant evolution of the common product. By charging ahead with groundbreaking solutions, the start-up is powering the future of more sustainable energy. For these reasons, the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) presented AC Biode as the ISC3 Start-up of the Month for April 2025.
In a direct current battery (DC), the voltage flows in a single direction from one terminal to another, whereas in alternating current (AC), electricity must move back and forth at a specific frequency. Alternating current is primarily used to power the motors of electric vehicles, which operate with a DC battery that converts the energy to AC. In this process a lot of energy is lost.
AC Biode´s key innovation lies in its unique electrode, named “biode,” which is positioned between the anode and cathode. This component enables the world´s first efficient alternating current storage while improving performance. The AC Biode battery is up to 30 percent more compact than conventional batteries, reduces energy conversion losses, and operates more safely due to its lower electrical resistance, which minimizes heat generation and extends battery life. Furthermore, its production process utilizes existing materials and battery manufacturing lines, making large-scale adoption both feasible and cost-effective, thus creating more incentives for producers to change towards a greener solution. Also, the production process requires less material than is needed in conventional batteries.
The whole success story of the ISC3 Start-up of the Month in April 2025 is currently told by the ISC3 on its website at Start-up AC Biode (isc3.org).
Three questions for Robert Kunzmann (Co-Founder & COO of AC Biode):
What led to your solution in Sustainable Chemistry?
Robert Kunzmann: The idea for the company started with a simple question: why don’t we have AC batteries—wouldn’t that make so much sense? That sparked our journey. At first, we tried to invent entirely new battery materials, which didn’t quite work out. But that failure led us to a breakthrough: using existing materials in a completely new way—for AC instead of DC—and it actually worked!
What does being chosen as ISC3 Start-up of the Month mean to you?
R. Kunzmann: We’re grateful to be featured this month—it helps raise our profile, of course—but more importantly, it gives us a platform to shed light on the growing waste crisis. It’s critical that we find better ways to recycle and, even more urgently, to reduce waste at its source. The convenience of single-use plastics comes at a steep cost: they’re polluting our oceans and, increasingly, our own bodies, as microplastic levels in food and water continue to rise.
What’s next up at AC Biode?
R. Kunzmann: Our technology is developing rapidly. Few people realize that Indonesia generates over 100 million tons of waste each year from the palm oil industry alone. We’re turning that challenge into an opportunity—producing hydrogen and other valuable biochemicals from this waste. Thanks to the generous support of the Temasek Foundation, we’re now building a 100-liter demonstration plant in collaboration with the national energy provider, PLN.
Company
International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre ISC3Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
Germany
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