U.K. advanced materials company Nanomox Ltd. has introduced a cosmetic-grade zinc oxide designed to address two persistent challenges in mineral sunscreen: visible whitening and energy-intensive production. Developed using the company’s patented Oxidative Ionothermal Synthesis (OIS) process, the material is engineered at the particle level to improve UV protection while delivering greater transparency on skin.
Nanomox Ltd. has introduced a cosmetic-grade zinc oxide designed to address two persistent challenges in mineral sunscreen: visible whitening and energy-intensive production. Nanomox
The launch comes as mineral UV filters continue to face a familiar formulation trade-off: zinc oxide provides broad-spectrum UV protection, but conventional materials can leave an undesirable white residue, particularly at the concentrations required for high SPF. Nanomox says its proprietary process enables precise control over zinc oxide’s particle size, shape and crystallinity, allowing the company to tune the material for both optical and UV-performance characteristics.
Independent third-party testing provides an early indication of the material's performance potential. In a simple mineral sunscreen containing 20 wt.% Nanomox Zinc Oxide Cosmetic Grade (nano) as the sole UV filter, the ingredient achieved an in vitro SPF of approximately 43, compared with approximately 37 for the highest-performing commercial zinc oxide benchmark tested under identical conditions.
Nanomox says the results demonstrate the potential for its engineered particle design to deliver higher UV protection while maintaining enhanced transparency. The company is continuing to optimize the material for both performance and cost competitiveness.
The first commercially available material is an uncoated, cosmetic-grade nano zinc oxide dry powder intended for formulation development and evaluation. Nanomox is also developing non-nano and coated zinc oxide grades, as well as ready-to-use dispersions designed to simplify incorporation into commercial sunscreen systems.
Nanomox says the results demonstrate the potential for its engineered particle design to deliver higher UV protection while maintaining enhanced transparency. The company is continuing to optimize the material for both performance and cost competitiveness.Nanomox
The company says it has already secured initial purchase orders and is working with beauty and skin care brands, formulation partners, contract manufacturers and R&D teams to evaluate the ingredient in mineral sunscreen formulations.
The more significant innovation may sit behind the ingredient rather than in the sunscreen itself. Conventional zinc oxide production is highly energy intensive, typically using furnaces to heat metallic zinc to temperatures above 900°C before it reacts with oxygen.
Nanomox's OIS technology instead uses ionic liquid chemistry at substantially lower temperatures. The company calculates that its process can use up to 97% less energy than conventional zinc oxide production. Because the process is powered by electricity rather than the natural gas typically used in furnace-based production, Nanomox says there is also a pathway to further reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions as electricity supplies become increasingly renewable.
That gives the material a sustainability proposition that goes beyond the finished sunscreen: the company is attempting to redesign the upstream manufacturing process for the UV filter itself.
Nanomox's longer-term ambition extends beyond producing zinc oxide from virgin metallic zinc. Its ionic-liquid platform is also being developed to recover valuable metals from industrial waste streams and mineral ores, including zinc, manganese and copper.
One target is electric arc furnace (EAF) dust generated during steel production. According to Nanomox, steel mills produce an estimated 16 million tons of EAF dust annually, containing as much as 2.8 million tons of zinc that is currently landfilled. The company estimates the zinc represented in this waste stream has a potential annual value of approximately $9 billion.
The roadmap therefore moves from producing zinc oxide more efficiently toward creating a potential circular supply chain for the raw material: recovering zinc from industrial waste, refining it and ultimately converting it into high-performance zinc oxide for applications including cosmetics.
Nanomox's sunscreen launch follows a £2.4 million seed investment round announced in February 2026, comprising a combination of equity and grants. The round was led by TSP Ventures and Boast Trading LLC, with participation from Imperial College Enterprise Fund 3, SNØCAP VC, the Circular Innovation Fund, EIT RawMaterials and U.K. angel investors. The funding also includes support through the Innovate U.K. Investor Partnerships program.
The capital has supported the establishment of Catalyst 1, Nanomox's first commercial pilot plant and R&D facility in London. Imperial College London says the facility is intended to allow the company to scale production of its initial commercial materials to tonnes per month, while providing a platform for further development of its metal-recovery technology.
The investment is particularly significant because it moves Nanomox beyond laboratory validation toward industrial production. The company was founded in 2020 as an Imperial spinout based on research by CEO Francisco Malaret, Ph.D., and the new facility is designed to support both commercial manufacturing and continued R&D.
While sunscreen is Nanomox's first commercial application, the company views zinc oxide as an entry point for a much broader materials platform. Its OIS technology is designed to engineer metal oxides with tightly controlled properties, potentially opening applications across electronics, catalysis and other advanced materials. At the same time, the company's resource-recovery work could eventually allow the same underlying technology to extract critical metals from waste streams.
For beauty, however, the immediate opportunity is more focused: a zinc oxide that aims to make mineral sunscreen more transparent without sacrificing UV performance, while potentially lowering the environmental burden associated with producing the UV filter itself.
Nanomox is now supplying samples of its nano zinc oxide worldwide and working with industry partners on formulation trials, with additional non-nano, coated and dispersion formats in development. Its first commercial product launch follows the company's earlier target of bringing its zinc oxide technology to market in Q3 2026.
