When Professor Omar Yaghi pioneered reticular chemistry in the 1990s, he did not envision that this breakthrough could change the world. He was more focused on the task at hand: stitching molecules together to build an entirely new class of materials. Soon, though, he discovered that the unique properties of his novel reticular materials could hold the key to mitigating the causes and effects of global warming. Now, after decades of progressive innovation, the time is right to leverage this technology to help solve our planet’s most significant crisis: climate change.
Thus, Atoco was born.
CEO, Dr. Samer Taha: “Welcome to the world of Atoco”
Author: Dr. Samer Taha, CEO of Atoco
Atoco: Solving Problems Through Atomic Precision
The reality is that we continue to bear the consequences of climate change because of the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. Unchecked, the annual average global temperature increase, relative to pre-industrial times, may reach 5 °C or more by the end of this century. One of the most severe consequences of climate change is water scarcity, leading to desertification, arid landscapes, and millions of people having insufficient access to clean water. Atoco addresses both the root cause of climate change (emissions of GHGs) and one of its most damaging consequences, global water scarcity.
How will we accomplish this? Over the last couple of decades, Prof. Yaghi and his team of scientists have been advancing their analytical and synthetic capabilities for the development of these new reticular materials. Thanks to their dedication, this work has advanced to the point where scientists can now design and analyze new reticular materials with atomic precision. This unprecedented level of accuracy and control over never-seen-before materials led Prof. Yaghi to direct the design of these novel materials toward solving both climate change and water scarcity.
From R&D to Transforming Climate Change
I’ve been involved in various R&D and technology commercialization projects since 1999, and I know what it takes to transform fundamental scientific breakthroughs into commercial systems. Additionally, since 2018, I’ve been focusing on attracting investments and resources into green and climate change technologies. So, when Prof. Yaghi and I met, we realized the significant potential of working together, and I was honored to be appointed CEO by the board of Atoco.
Having worked with Prof. Yaghi for several years, I am excited to lead Atoco towards its fullest potential, capitalizing on decades of advancement in reticular chemistry to address the very real challenges before us all. At Atoco, we believe that the solution to some of the biggest problems facing our planet starts from a very small and precise point; it starts from the ability of our scientists to design and analyze novel materials with atomic precision. Our R&D scientists integrate these materials into state-of-the-art systems, forming a new class of transformational climate change solutions.
Capturing Water and CO2 Out of Thin Air
Our water harvesting technology can capture and generate pure water from the atmosphere, even in challenging arid conditions with humidity levels below 20 percent. Our solutions are sustainable, energy-efficient, and usable for a broad set of use cases, from drinking water to irrigation or replenishing urban greenery.
Atoco also designs and develops solid-state modules for carbon capture solutions for commercial or industry settings. Our modules support post-combustion capture solutions (PCC) and direct atmospheric capture (DAC) applications. This technology can directly alter carbon output and change the tide in the fight against climate change.
Becoming the Harbinger for Global Solutions
There are endless opportunities where Atoco can collaborate with other industrial partners, governmental organizations, and municipalities for various uses that can benefit from our sustainable and transformational atmospheric water harvesting and carbon capture technologies. I look forward to joining forces with like-minded organizations to serve the planet. At Atoco, we are developing and scaling our technologies that capture water and carbon from the air around us, paving the way for a new economic era, the era of the air economy.