The magazine of the Air Liquide Group | Science

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic plunged most of the world into an unprecedented health crisis. To respond to this emergency, the Air Liquide Foundation created an exceptional fund of over 2 million euros to support scientific research organizations and partner associations. Lhousseine Touqui, Research Director at the Institut Pasteur, received funding through this initiative for his research project on the respiratory aggravating factors of COVID-19.

Gaëlle Uzu is a research officer at the IRD assigned to the Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (Institute for Geosciences and the Environment) in Grenoble. She and her team, with support from the Air Liquide Foundation, are developing new indicators for exposure to air pollution. We met with her to learn more.

In 2018, Air Liquide launched its second Scientific Challenge, focusing on research projects aimed at reducing air pollution and fighting climate change through Essential Small Molecules . In the topic “H₂ is coming!”, the French researcher Christophe Copéret, professor at ETH Zurich, was selected because of the work of his research team on the development of catalysts that convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into methanol.

On the occasion of the 2019 Paris Air Show, Air Liquide presented its innovative solutions in space and aerospace, such as the use of hydrogen as a viable energy alternative for aircraft. It was also an opportunity to discover new technologies developed for the future Ariane 6 launcher or for electric propulsion for satellites and its projects in connection with space exploration (moon village, ExoMars, etc.).

In 2016, the Group launched a contest called the "Air Liquide Essential Small Molecules Challenge". Competing on the topic "Sunny H₂ in a bottle", American researcher Kevin Sivula was recognized for his work on using photoelectrocatalysis to produce hydrogen.

Inventiveness, curiosity, collective intelligence, and entrepreneurial spirit are at the heart of Air Liquide’s innovation approach. That means developing cooperation with the international scientific community (academics, technology institutes, startups, private R&D…): this is why we have launched the second edition of the Scientific Challenge. Now, the laureates are known.

For many years researchers, industry players and students had to search for the information they needed on the molecules used in their plants and laboratories in various publications. This information, scattered, sparse, and sometimes inaccessible, took a long time to collect and sometimes required complex calculations. But one day, Air Liquide's Gas Encyclopedia came along and changed everything. In 2017, a new chapter opens.