About us

We are one of the world’s leading companies in the production of Ionic Liquids. In addition, our customers profit through innovation-driven new developments.

Our company values

Passion

With 20 years of experience our passion has become the foundation of our success, driving our innovation and relationships within the industry.

People

We are a highly qualified and flexible team of chemists and engineers, working together in a respectful atmosphere to bring solutions to our customers, partners and stakeholders.

Planet

Ionic Liquids have great potential for sustainable applications. We are committed to keep pioneering this potential together with our customers, and develop next generation green technologies for a better future of our planet.

Management Team

Roland Kalb

Scientific Director / Founder

More about Roland

Dr. Roland Kalb is founder and scientific-technical director of the company. After receiving a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Vienna, he worked at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and was Head of the Organic Chemistry at the ECHEM Centre of Competence for Applied Electro-chemistry. In 2003 he invented a halide free, industrial production process for ionic liquids (CBILS®-process) and set up proionic in 2004. In 2017 he obtained a doctor degree from the University of Rostock. He is the key expert in ionic liquids, with almost 20 years of practical experience in development, production and technical application of ionic liquids. Roland Kalb is inventor on numerous international patents and patent applications and a member of multiple technical advisory boards.

Bernhard Ludwig

CEO

More about Bernhard

Bernhard studied Process Engineering and Energy Supply Engineering at the Mining University of Leoben, Austria. Before joining proionic in 2018 as Head of Operations & Sales, he spent most of his career as a project manager in turn-key-plant projects.

Since 2021 Bernhard is Managing Director of proionic, in 2024 he was appointed CEO of the company.

“Being part of a highly motivated team, trying to contribute to solving some of today’s challanges with Ionic Liquids, a quite new chemistry with a volatile and immature market fascinates me. My personal values are highly aligned with those of proionic and proionic’s shareholders, respectively.”

Markus Damm

Head of Research and Development

More about Markus

Markus Damm is Head of Research & Development at proionic GmbH and holds a PhD in organic chemistry. He is responsible for the management of internal and external R&D projects and the continuous improvement and development of high purity Ionic Liquid products. In addition, Markus is managing the submission and processing of funded national and international projects. Another important topic that he is working on is the development of new businesses for proionic.

“What I particularly like about Ionic Liquids is their wide range of applications. This, together with our CBILS process and the resulting high quality of our products, makes working even more exciting! Let’s explore together!”

Our idea of partnership

With our products and solutions, we want to support our partners and customers to be even more successful in the market.

Due to our high innovation and collaboration experience we jointly develop novel market solutions based on Ionic Liquids for and together with our customers.

Working TOGETHER

Listening to our customers, and entirely understanding all their needs, is of utmost importance to develop suitable, high-quality solutions.

Respecting each other

We respect our customers as partners and work to develop solutions at all levels of the development chain.

Our story

We are one of the world’s leading companies in the production of Ionic Liquids. In addition, our customers profit through innovation-driven new developments.

2024

Arkema aquires 78 % of shares.

2023

HIPE-REC® technology: Global Application for basic patent (PCT and Taiwan).

REACH lead registration of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium octanoate EMIM-OOc.

2022

ISO 9001 quality management system certification.

2021

FFG Green Frontrunner project “Ionic Circular Eco”, project volume € 1.8 Mio

“Frontrunner” is aimed at internationally active companies that hold a technological frontrunner position or are on the verge of achieving it. Funding is provided for research and development projects that are embedded in an aggressive business field strategy. “Green Frontrunner” projects also address environmental and climate protection challenges.

Strategic decision to focus on the segments “Biomass / Biopolymers” and “Electrolytes”.

Muenze Oesterreich AG (Austrian Mint) acquires 22 % of shares.

Austrian Mint is a 100 % daughter of Oesterreichische Nationalbank AG (Austrian National Bank).

proionic acquires 5% of Naturbeads.

2019

Shares of VTU Group (70%) transferred to KonValue Holding GmbH.

REACH lead registration of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide EMIM-TFSI.

EMIM-TFSI is a standard IL in electrolyte applications.

Roland Kalb becomes Affiliate Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CA, USA.

2018

Pierer Industrie AG acquires 10% of shares.

REACH lead registration of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM-OAc).

EMIM-OAc is THE “gold standard” for the dissolution of any kind of biomass, e.g. lignocellulosic agricultural waste can be used for the production of biofuels or bio-platform chemicals.

2017-19

FFG Frontrunner project : “New raw materials and production processes for high-purity ionic liquids”, project volume € 1.7 Mio.

2017

Production capacity is expanded to a production volume of up to 100 tons per year.

2016

Roland Kalb is called to the Industrial Advisory Board of the California-based Joint BioEnergy Research Institute (JBEI).

JBEI is a U.S. Department of Energy large-scale project, led by the renowned Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the University of California Berkeley, which aims to entirely substitute petroleum with renewable resources.

2015

Starting up of expanded production capacity of 50 tons per year.

REACH lead registration of the first proionic product.

IL-B2001, the high temperature cooling medium for metallurgical applications becomes the first proionic product to be REACH registered.

2012

Patent application for ionic liquid based cooling in industrial high temperature environments.

2010

Strategic partnership with VTU Holding GmbH, VTU holding acquires the majority of shares.

Medium-term strategy towards ton-scale production of Ionic Liquids.

2009

Application of first patent for hydrogen storage in Ionic Liquids.

2008

FFG A3 technology program project “Safe Hydrogen Storage”, project volume € 420.000.

2005

First development project with an external customer.

2004

Foundation of proionic GmbH.

2003

CBILS® process: Application for basic patent in Europe and USA.

CBILS® is still the most environmentally-friendly process for halogen-free production of ionic liquids of the highest quality.

proionic Services & Products

Ionic Liquid Production

Efficient, halide- and waste-free production from kg- to ton scale using the patented CBILS® process

Research and Development

We develop revolutionary innovations with you. Do not just look for improvements – strive for real leaps in innovation!

Ionic Liquid
Recycling