Theses›Datacentre & AI compute›Dielectric coolants

Dielectric coolants

The 3M PFAS exit dislocates the datacentre dielectric-coolant supply

  • Bear
  • Shut
  • $2.5B by 2035

The call3M's exit reshuffles a fixed coolant spend towards Chemours, Shell and Daikin; nobody can own a molecule, so there is no venture market here.

D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1AI racks have gone past what air can cool, and two-phase immersion, the server in a fluid boiling at about 50°C, pulls heat off them densest.
  2. D23M stopped making Novec and Fluorinert at end-2025 and the EU's PFAS restriction keeps pushing the same way, forcing every two-phase user to requalify a fluid.
  3. R1Nobody can own the molecule; three chemistry families work, so the defence is plant, permits and qualification, which the incumbents hold.
  4. R2The AI mainstream is single-phase direct-to-chip, as NVIDIA runs GB200 and GB300, so a qualified two-phase fluid refills a niche.
  5. R3The two-phase revival goes to an incumbent: Chemours' Opteon 2P50 was Samsung-qualified in 2025 and its joint development with 2CRSi puts it on a deployment path.
  6. C1The EU universal PFAS restriction decision; a ban without exemptions strands two-phase fluids and forces requalification across the market.2027-28
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
20272028today123predictionswatch 20272028today123predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1No PFAS-free two-phase dielectric coolant reaches datacentre qualification as a drop-in Novec/Fluorinert replacement by end-2027; the market routes to single-phase PFAS-free instead.Dec 2027 · open
  2. 2Whether any PFAS-free two-phase coolant reaches datacentre qualification as a drop-in Novec replacement; I expect none does.Dec 2027 · open
  3. 3The EU PFAS restriction decision and whether HFO gets an exemption; a ban could still strand Chemours' 2P50.Dec 2027 · open
  • ·Evidence that a clean two-phase fluid can only qualify by licensing a startup's technology, which would change the view.
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
  • 6367.TDaikin Industries,Ltd.
    • expensive
  • CCThe Chemours Company
    • full
  • SHELShell plc
    • fair
  • SYENS.BRSyensqo SA/NV
    • fair
  • DOWDow
    • not screened
     Makes silicone and hydrocarbon dielectric fluids for immersion cooling, sold to cooling-system makers and operators.
  • MMM3M
    • not screened
     Sold Novec and Fluorinert fluorinated fluids for two-phase immersion; manufacturing ceased end-2025, residual stock only.
  • XOMExxonMobil Chemical
    • not screened
     Supplies synthetic hydrocarbon (PAO) and mineral base fluids used in single-phase immersion coolants.
  • SYENSSyensqo (ex-Solvay)
    • not screened
     Sells Galden perfluoropolyether (PFPE) fluids capable of two-phase cooling, in limited commercial supply.
Private · 3 private companies.

Submer · Engineered Fluids · Superliq

1 more private company tracked, not shown

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$56M raised by 3 companies, $78M of it in the last three years. Wave building: Money is arriving: recent rounds, but no runaway leader yet.

  • $56MSubmer
    • Founded 2015
     Growth debt, Dec 2024 $22M (Banco Santander) · Series C, Oct 2024 $56M (M&G, Mundi Ventures, Planet First Partners)
  • ·Engineered Fluids
    • Founded 2017
     Venture Round
  • ·Superliq Rounds not itemised