Breakthroughs alone don’t build markets. Standards do.

The next breakthrough in catalysis won’t scale on science alone; it will also depend on the standards that enable the market to trust it.

That’s the case Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Seidel made at Malvern Panalytical’s Future Days: Catalysts event, and he has the track record to back it up. From 2019 to 2023, he chaired ISO/TC 261, the International Organization for Standardization’s committee for additive manufacturing. By his own account, around 80% of the field’s standards were developed during his chairmanship.

Today, Christian is Chief Advisor at Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM International, and Professor for Additive Manufacturing and Manufacturing Technologies at the University of Applied Sciences Munich, where he leads the Smart Manufacturing Lab. His goal is to help the additive manufacturing industry scale tenfold.

His session, ‘Advancing standards, transforming markets: lessons from additive manufacturing for the next decade of catalysis’, explained how industry standards move emerging technologies from the lab to commercial markets, and the lessons that catalysis can apply. Here’s a recap of his insights.

Catch up on the full session and more from Future Days: Catalysts.

Invention is only half the job

The next decade of catalysis demands hydrogen and carbon utilization at industrial scale, sustainable routes that replace incumbent chemical processes, and new entrants joining established value chains. As Christian put it, this is a market question as much as a chemistry question.

Adoption depends on four things:

1. Performance data that buyers can compare across suppliers
2. Reproducible characterization, where the same test gives the same number in any lab
3. Qualification paths that regulators and insurers will sign off on
4. The confidence to invest in new technology, before the market is fully proven

Standards help provide the foundation for all of these.

How standards helped builing a USD 24.2 billion industry

Around 2010, additive manufacturing was a solution looking for problems at industrial scale. Every vendor had its own vocabulary; test data wasn’t comparable; there was no qualification route into aerospace or medical applications, and uncertainty stalled adoption and investment. Christian’s example is a 3D-printed heat exchanger: half the size of a conventional one and four times more efficient, but of little value if no one is allowed to use it.

The turnaround began in 2009, when ASTM International formed Committee F42, despite claims that additive manufacturing was too immature for standards. In 2011, ISO and ASTM agreed to co-develop standards under one vision: one world, one set of standards. The partnership has since published more than 100 standards, with over 70 in development, and brings together more than 1,000 members from 38 countries. Today, printed parts fly on aircraft and are implanted in patients. According to the Wohlers Report 2026, additive manufacturing is now a USD 24.2 billion global industry.

Three lessons for catalysis

1. Agree on language. Additive manufacturing started with one shared terminology standard, ISO/ASTM 52900. Catalysis already benefits from established terminology standards such as ASTM D3766, but emerging areas may require updates and broader adoption across new technology communities.
2. Standardize measurement. Additive manufacturing defined test methods before product standards. Catalysis has a strong base in ASTM Committee D32’s methods, but new technologies such as 3D-printed catalyst supports have no standard yet.
3. Go global from day one. Additive manufacturing avoided competing national standards with one joint ISO/ASTM portfolio. Hydrogen and carbon capture value chains are born global, so their standards must be too. Without internationally accepted characterization and qualification methods, catalysts developed in one region may face significant barriers to adoption in another.

Fear of exposing trade secrets shouldn’t hold companies back. Standards cover how catalysts are tested and qualified, not their formulations. But they’re written for users, by users, so progress depends on the catalyst community joining the committees and bringing its data.

Key questions from the Q&A

What comes first: the vision or the standard?

The vision. Clear demand, such as airlines requiring certified sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), creates the pull. Then you need a strategy that maps out the full set of standards required and slices the work, in Christian’s words, “like an Italian salami” into small, interlinked pieces.

Who needs to join the discussion?

A standard only has impact if it’s known and accepted, so deciding who reviews it should be part of the strategy. The whole ecosystem belongs at the table: academia, regulators, OEMs, and suppliers. A core team of 10–15 people drafting together works best, followed by wider review through committee ballots.

Does standardization slow innovation down?

Rarely. In Christian’s experience as chair, the process was the bottleneck in only one or two cases. The real constraint is the availability of experts, so speed depends on how highly the community prioritizes the work.

Watch the recording of this session to find out how to propose a new standard, why the interface between additive manufacturing and catalysis is ready for standardization, and more from Future Days: Catalysts.