Science - Metalmark

Inspired by nature. Backed by science.

With over 7 years of R&D, Metalmark’s groundbreaking air-cleaning technology is an essential climate adaptation and resilience strategy.

Nanomaterials

We spend up to 90% of our time indoors, in spaces that can have 2-5x more air pollutants than the air outside.

From the time indoor air filters were first introduced to the market, the underlying science has fundamentally remained the same: air is forced through some material that traps debris or particles of various sizes. Trapped matter gradually fills up the filter, diminishing the system’s effectiveness and forming a reservoir of pollutants.

Employing nano-scale porous materials, we’ve designed a material system with multiple air-cleaning functions. Metalmark’s proprietary coating imparts sorption and catalytic functions. When used in conjunction with the patented Tatama system, it enhances the removal of the trapped pollutants for effective self-cleaning.

Our work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), MassVentures, MassCEC, numerous grants and awards, and private investors.

As a winner of the EPA Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge, our self-renewing design was rigorously tested and validated by the EPA for efficacy and no byproduct emissions during air cleaning.

Bioinspiration

Nature represents the deepest and widest original source of ideas for materials design, engineering solutions, and scientific applications. Bioinspiration—taking inspiration from organisms to inform technological development and scientific discoveries in spheres outside of biology—serves as a key principle of Metalmark’s R&D and product development philosophy.

The Metalmark Butterfly first inspired our multi-functional nanostructured materials design. Ethereal, whimsical, and beautiful, a butterfly’s wings are a marvel of nature’s engineering. Yet we didn’t stop there. We also drew bioinspiration from distributed networks and modular responsiveness as found in many plants, fungi, forest systems, and neural networks. Rather than treating a building as a whole, which sacrifices localized needs, our air cleaning nodes respond to the specific demands of each space served.

Materials found in nature are multi-functional in order to optimize efficient material and energy usage. Our materials were substantially inspired by this concept. Many organisms—such as the leaves of the lotus flower—are also known to be self-cleaning. This is the antithesis of the single-use, disposable approach prevalent in much of today’s economy that is costly to society and the planet.

We have applied nature’s wisdom in the Tatama air cleaning system, which increases the filter lifetime by as much as 10x, reduces maintenance, and optimizes indoor air quality.

Sustainability

The impacts of climate change continue to threaten the health and safety of people and our amazing planet. Wildfire smoke has become a year-round hazard, and its reach continues to widen at an alarming pace. As an established public benefit corporation (PBC), Metalmark is committed to ensuring that our products are supportive of sustainability goals and objectives.

Metalmark’s dedication to sustainability starts with producing products that improve quality of life while minimizing their impact on the environment, including energy, ecosystem services, land use, biodiversity, and more.

While developing our new materials, we constantly ask how we can create solutions with less energy, rare material input, and avoid potentially harmful chemicals. In our product design, we strive to reduce its lifecycle impact and consider reusability and recyclability with all of our input choices.

While perfection is unattainable, we are driven to evolve. So we invite you—our customers, partners, investors, employees, and the community—to collaborate with us toward a more sustainable future.

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Learn more about the science of how we do it

Read our latest blog article on the science-based research behind our technology.

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