The Chemicals Powering the Chip Industry

The Chemicals Powering the Chip Industry

Published: July 7, 2026

Duration: 1:18:49

We cover:

How the Iran War has exposed vulnerabilities in the semiconductor industry’s chemical supply chains.

The chemistry behind chip manufacturing — why advanced semiconductors depend on toxic, explosive, and highly reactive chemicals and why some are purified to levels measured in parts per trillion.

How China went from virtually no semiconductor-gas industry to the ability to supply almost every critical chipmaking gas in just fifteen years.

America’s CHIPS Act versus China’s Big Fund — why building fabs domestically is easier than building the chemical ecosystem beneath them, and why many criti...