Aepnus Technology

Aepnus Technology is an Emeryville, California cleantech startup that builds ultra-efficient, catalyst-free electrolyzers to turn sodium sulfate - a low-value waste salt produced in enormous volumes by battery-material and critical-mineral plants - back into two industrial staples: caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and sulfuric acid. By splitting waste salt on-site with renewable electricity, Aepnus lets manufacturers cut disposal costs, reduce emissions, and shorten fragile chemical supply chains, converting a roughly $350-per-tonne waste-handling problem into about $700 of usable reagents per tonne.