The Refrigerants & Dielectric Fluids — 3M Exits, Honeywell & Chemours Step In
Liquid cooling needs special fluids. 3M is exiting its Novec PFAS-based dielectric fluids — Honeywell and Chemours absorb the displaced demand.
Liquid cooling and HVAC both need specialty fluids: refrigerants for chillers, and dielectric fluids for immersion cooling (where servers are literally submerged in non-conductive fluid). For years, 3M's Novec products were the immersion-cooling standard. In 2025, 3M exited all PFAS-based products — creating a vacuum that Chemours (Opteon refrigerants + legacy Vertrel/dielectric fluids) and Honeywell (Solstice low-GWP refrigerants) are filling.
3M's exit is a one-time, durable substitution opportunity. Whoever wins the next-generation immersion fluid wins the next 10–20 years of installations.
3 names on the watchlist
Solstice low-GWP refrigerants dominate post-3M-exit. Quantinuum IPO pending (54% owner). Aerospace spin June 29, 2026.
Diversified industrial. Solstice low-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants dominate the next-gen refrigerant market as the F-gas regulations phase out older HFCs. Honeywell also owns 54% of Quantinuum (quantum IPO pending mid-June 2026) and is spinning out aerospace June 29, 2026.
Opteon refrigerants + legacy Vertrel/dielectric fluids stepping into 3M's exit lane.
DuPont spinout. Opteon refrigerants compete head-to-head with Honeywell Solstice . Legacy Vertrel and dielectric fluids are positioned to absorb 3M Novec demand. 2026 EBITDA guide $800–900M. Risk: PFAS liability tail (Chemours is on the hook for some of the historical Forever-Chemicals lawsuits). Higher beta than Honeywell.
Reference only — exiting PFAS-based Novec dielectric fluids in 2025. Creates the substitution opportunity for everyone else.
Reference only — 3M is exiting PFAS-based Novec dielectric fluids in 2025 , the development that created the substitution opportunity for Chemours and Honeywell. 3M itself has a complicated PFAS legal liability profile; not a primary chokepoint name in this thesis.
- GMInsights, Dell'Oro · 2024–2026