Advanced materials and specialty chemicals

Glass, membranes and optical materials 3 companies

These companies make glass, membranes and optical materials that manufacturers build into their products.

Corning Inc.Corning, with engineers in Pune and Delhi, makes Gorilla Glass for phones, optical fibre, and the ceramics in car exhausts.Pune

W. L. Gore & AssociatesW. L. Gore, with engineers in Bengaluru, makes GORE-TEX, and the very thin sheets used in filters, medical implants and cables, which let some things pass and stop others.

Coherent Corp.Coherent, with engineers in Hyderabad, makes semiconductor materials for lasers and high-power electronics, lasers, and the optical parts inside fibre networks.

The tech, explainedAdvanced materials AI materials discovery

Speciality chemicals 5 companies

These companies make chemicals in smaller amounts, each for one job, which buyers choose for what they do.

BuckmanBuckman, with engineers in Chennai, makes speciality chemicals for paper mills, water treatment and leather.ChennaiHiring now

MomentiveMomentive, with engineers in Bengaluru, makes silicones, the rubbery materials used in seals and coatings. It is a different company from Momentive Software.

Element SolutionsElement Solutions makes the chemicals used to make circuit boards and chips.

Kluber LubricationKluber Lubrication makes speciality oils and greases that reduce wear in machines.

TopsoeTopsoe, with engineers in Delhi, makes catalysts for refineries and fertiliser plants, which speed up a chemical reaction without being used up. It also makes electrolysers that produce green hydrogen.

The tech, explainedSpeciality chemicals

Hydrogen electrolysers and solar modules 2 companies

These companies make hydrogen electrolysers and solar modules.

First SolarFirst Solar, with engineers in Chennai, makes thin-film solar modules at its plant in Tamil Nadu.ChennaiSee alsoRenewable energy and battery storage

OhmiumOhmium, with engineers in Bengaluru, makes hydrogen electrolysers.See alsoRenewable energy and battery storage

How it all worksMaterials scienceGlass that survives a drop, a jacket that breathes.

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What's changing

The material found by AI.

Discovering a new material has always taken years of trial in the lab. AI models now predict which mixtures will have the properties wanted, and robotic labs test them round the clock. Batteries, catalysts and semiconductor materials are the first fields where materials found this way are reaching production.