Despite electrification, the American giant that specialises in material science is bullish about the demand for its filtration substrates as emission norms become more stringent globally.
05 Apr 2025 | 1209 Views | By Mayank Dhingra
American material science major Corning, a key supplier of cellular ceramic substrates that form an integral part of catalytic converters deployed in most modern vehicles to curb their emissions, is betting big on the potential of its products in the coming decades.
Even as electrification is capturing widespread attention amid ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
American material science major Corning, a key supplier of cellular ceramic substrates that form an integral part of catalytic converters deployed in most modern vehicles to curb their emissions, is betting big on the potential of its products in the coming decades.
Even as electrification is capturing widespread attention amid the accelerated push towards sustainable mobility, the company expects ICE to continue to remain strong for another 2-3 decades and therefore, is confident of the prolonged demand for filtration substrates that enable automakers to comply with stringent global emission norms.
According to Dr Willard Cutler, Division Vice President and Commercial Technology Director, Corning Environmental Technologies, "Internal combustion engines are probably going to be used for another few decades because there continue to be several challenges to electrification. While various countries are on a rapid electrification journey, they are electrifying less quickly than originally anticipated. Therefore, our view is that we should try to make internal combustion engines as clean as possible."
For Corning, its business from the automotive sector is largely dependent upon regulations, and with the global march towards carbon neutrality, the tightening of the emission standards augurs well for the company.
"What started from the US in the 1970s has seen emission norms traverse Europe, Asia, and the entire world. In India, for instance, they evolved from Bharat Stage – I (BS-I) norms to today's BS-VI norms, with the country now talking about BS- VII emission standards," he added.
"We are hopeful that someday there would be a regulation that would be fuel neutral, and therefore, apply to all vehicles. While everyone desires clean air, the motivation factor is only driven by regulations," Cutler pointed out. In India, Corning caters to the passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, off-highway, as well as the three-wheeler segments.
With ceramic filtration substrates such as 'Cordierite', Corning plays a key role in the exhaust after-treatment system of a gasoline or diesel vehicle. Cordierite, which is a naturally occurring, cost-effective mineral with high thermal stability by virtue of its low thermal expansion, forms the foundation of a modern-day three-way catalytic converter that breaks down harmful gaseous emissions such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides (NOx), into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water.
Catalytic converters comprise precious metals like platinum, palladium, and rhodium, which, upon attaining a certain temperature, react with the harmful exhaust gas pollutants to undergo oxidation and reduction processes to lower their effect. As gaseous pollutants pass through Cordierite's honeycomb structure, the precious metals inside react with the harmful gases to break them into less harmful elements to comply with the regulatory requirements.
Corning also offers particulate filters that trap particulate matter (PM) from the vehicle's exhaust gases as well as the residual carbon particles from the unburnt fuel that are captured as soot. While diesel particulate filters or DPFs are majorly used by most BS VI-compliant diesel-powered cars and SUVs in India, gasoline-direct injection or GDI engines too are mandated to deploy a gasoline particulate filter or GPF under the ambit of the BS VI emission norms prevalent in the country.
BS VII to Call
For PM Filters As India readies to switch to more stringent BS VII emission norms in a few years, Corning is hopeful of a regulatory guideline to mandate particulate filters in all internal combustion vehicles, irrespective of the segment, engine capacity or fuel type. The BS VII emission norms are slated to significantly reduce the allowed current PM limit from 23 nanometre to 10 nanometre, thereby requiring a more effective PM filter to trap finer particulate emissions.
As per Cutler, whenever there is a steeper transition from one emission norm to the other, what matters most is the cost-benefit equation of an effective technology. He explained that the transition from BS VI to BS VII emission norms will not increase the cost of the substrate or particulate filter significantly as it would continue to require the same manufacturing process, barring changes to the porosity or wall thickness of the filter to enable higher filtration efficiency.
"Generally, any new regulation means that it is tougher to meet that regulation, and OEMs look for products with lower resistance to flow, or with most gaseous conversion in a particular timeframe," he said. Therefore, in its particulate filters, Corning has reduced the mass of the substrate to allow for the catalyst inside to activate quicker upon engine start.
"The highest number of pollutants are emitted during the cold-start phase - within the first two minutes upon the engine getting fired. So, by lowering the composite mass of the particulate filter, the substrate itself would require less heat for getting activated, thereby enabling immediate aftertreatment," he explained, while adding that the lightweighting does not come at the cost of the strength or durability of the particulate filter.
These PM filters would also trap carbon emissions as well as soot, which is burnt away under extreme exhaust temperatures to regenerate the filter. "The filters are sized to last the life of the vehicle," he highlighted.
India Market Strategy
With an optical fibre plant in Pune, a cover glass manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, and a pharmaceutical glass tubing facility in Telangana, Corning envisions India as a key market for its future growth ambitions from across business verticals.
According to Cutler, "Corning has always seen India as an important market and we continue to invest in India, both in its people and facilities. India continues to be important for us because of its growth potential and some of the fascinating market segments, such as three-wheelers as well as two-wheelers, which are at such a large scale in the country."
While it remains one of the major players alongside competitors such as Denso, NGK, and Ibiden in supplying ceramic substrates and particulate filters to OEMs in India, the company imports them into the country from its plants in China, Germany, and the US. Corning is already engaged with most OEMs in India to gear for upcoming BS VII emission standards, and while localization is not immediately in the plans, it would largely depend upon volumes and business case for its products. "India is young, vibrant, and inventive, and that speaks a lot about the possibilities that exist here," Cutler pointed out.
Non-ICE Diversification
Being founded in 1851, Corning Inc, which has been around for more than 170 years, is charting a future roadmap that focuses on a synergistic diversification strategy to maintain the growth of its business through the next century, amidst a wave of disruptive technological trends.
According to Cutler, "The [traditional] automotive industry saw global sales of ICE vehicles peak around 2017, and is unlikely to witness the same level ever again, despite hiccups in the electrification journey. Therefore, we need to keep innovating not only with our existing products, but with products required for electrification as well."
As a result, the company is leveraging another of its core competency – glass – used inside the vehicle both as displays as well as on the windshields, windows and the sunroof. Given the burgeoning software-defined vehicle or SDV trend in the automotive industry, Corning has also developed an optical fibre network to replace the copper network inside vehicles and help reduce weight as well as increase data transfer speeds as modern vehicles are increasingly getting equipped with sensor-heavy autonomous driving features and high-end infotainment systems demanding high bandwidths.
Specifically on EVs, the company is working on solid- state battery materials which are likely to find applications in EVs of the future. "This is going to be the growth path for us. We are an old-fashioned company and are alright if the ceramic substrate eventually fades into the sunset one day. But we will continue to invent things that involve material science and physics," Cutler signed off.