Rueil-Malmaison, France, January 13, 2026,
Alessandro Chiovato has been named CEO, while Valérie Buissette has been appointed CTO.
● Alessandro Chiovato, alongside Valérie Buissette, is leading the new company formed by Axens, Syensqo, and IFPEN, which is dedicated to developing and scaling commercial demonstrations of advanced materials for all-solid-state batteries in Europe.
● The company, backed by 10 years of R&D and a strong patent portfolio in the field, confirms its goal of becoming the European leader in sulfide solid electrolytes (SSE) for all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), a breakthrough technology capable of reaching 500 Wh/kg by 2028–2030, while ensuring superior safety and charging in under 10 minutes.
● Argylium has been operational since January 1, 2026, with a team of over 50 experts in France, and is supported by both French and European authorities.
● Argylium is the only European entity capable of developing and producing these materials at the tonne scale.
● It plans two funding rounds over the next three years to finance investments in large-scale pilot synthesis units, notably to enable industrial demonstrations.
Argylium represents a third long-term pillar in Axens' battery strategy alongside the first two, embodied by our active cathode materials plant project in Hauts-de-France, the MACARON project, and by our CathanLoop recycling project led by our subsidiary Eurecat. With Argylium, we are investing in the next generation of batteries while ensuring the development of a sustainable ecosystem.
Alessandro Chiovato - CEO of Argylium
Alessandro Chiovato has been appointed CEO of Argylium. He previously served as Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development – Battery Materials at Syensqo, following more than 25 years with the Solvay Group. A trained chemist with a degree in organic chemistry from the Università degli Studi di Milano, he has held several leadership roles in strategy, innovation, marketing, and business development on an international scale. He has recognized expertise in battery materials markets, supporting them for several years in the areas of portfolio, growth and strategy.
Argylium wants to provide the active materials and the processes to produce them, offering battery market players high-performance technological solutions protected by French and European intellectual property. I am proud to contribute to this ambition.
Valérie Buissette, CTO of Argylium
Valérie Buissette has been appointed CTO of Argylium, where she leads the development and industrialization of advanced materials for all-solid-state batteries in Europe. She previously led Syensqo’s "Solid State Batteries" program. She has held strategic positions both at Solvay and Syensqo, notably in all-solid-state batteries. She holds a PhD in materials science from École Polytechnique and a degree from the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris. She is recognized for her expertise in specialty inorganic materials in various fields of application and has been working on advanced battery materials for 10 years.
I am happy to be able to contribute, alongside all the teams at Argylium and its partners, to the realization of this project, which will strengthen the national industrial fabric in a sector that is strategic for the mobility of the future and next-generation batteries.
A clear R&D and industrial roadmap
Argylium relies on a dedicated team of more than 50 experts across two sites in France :
● A research center in Paris dedicated to innovation (kilo-lab) and to prototyping the product portfolio.
● A development center in La Rochelle, equipped with a pilot unit for the industrial scale-up of its technology and the production of samples.
Argylium aims to scale up its synthesis technology for sulfide electrolytes by integrating the entire production chain, from lithium hydroxide to argyrodite, the active component of the sulfide electrolyte, at the core of this new all-solid-state battery technology.
Argylium's teams have defined a 4-phase roadmap:
1. Qualification and financing (ongoing): Final definition of the product portfolio, while intensifying qualification collaborations for sulfide electrolytes (produced in the Paris kilo-lab and the La Rochelle pilot) with battery manufacturers. Creation of a consortium to finance the next phases of development.
2. Capacity ramp-up and securing raw materials: During this phase, Argylium continues customer qualifications. At the same time, the company plans investments in expanding the La Rochelle pilot unit to increase capacity to several tonnes per year and the construction of a pilot Li₂S production unit, the critical raw material for the synthesis of sulfide solid electrolytes.
3. Industrial demonstration unit and initial sales: Construction of an industrial demonstration unit of several hundred tonnes. Industrial validation of processes, product qualification with users of high-performance batteries, including automotive manufacturers (OEMs).
4. Industrialization and licensing: Industrialization phase at tens of thousands of tonnes per year. Implementing a technology licensing option for industrial partners wishing to enter this market with a competitive process.
About Argylium
Based in France, Argylium is the most advanced company in Europe in the research, development and industrialization of Sulfides Solid Electrolytes. By joining the forces of 3 pioneering industrial players, Argylium helps to accelerate the transition toward next-generation energy solutions. With Syensqo All Solid State Batteries Team, Axens’ deep expertise in inorganic chemistry and industrial process scale-up, and IFPEN’s renowned know-how in materials science, Argylium commits to leading the design and industrial production of high-performance Sulfide Solid Electrolytes for All Solid State Battery markets.
With over 10 years of experience in this field, a world-class R&D team and unique large assets, Argylium is the priviledged partner that supports industries in the design of tomorrow’s breakthrough innovations.
About Axens
Axens is a French MSE in the energy sector, which has become one of the world leaders in mineral chemistry through the production and sale of catalysts for the oil and chemical industry, and the provision of innovative technology. As part of its diversification into low-carbon technologies with adjacencies to its core business, the Axens Group is helping to provide the missing pieces of the French and European value chain for battery production and to meet the exponential needs of future European gigafactories and the automotive industry.