Brooks Running taps Dr. Raven Baxter to explain the chemistry of its nitrogen-infused shoes

Brooks Running released Run on Nitro, a 91-second film with Dr. Raven Baxter, on July 1, 2022. In it, she explains the chemistry behind the nitrogen-infused foam in three of the company's shoes.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Raven the Science Maven, and this is nitrogen," Baxter says to open the film.

The film arrived during a strong stretch for Brooks. The Seattle company, founded in 1914 and now a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, reported its first billion-dollar year in February 2022. Revenue for 2021 rose 31% to $1.11 billion. In April, Brooks said it had taken the top spot in U.S. adult performance running shoes for the first time. Its first-quarter share was 22%.

Baxter opens the film with nitrogen's share of Earth's atmosphere. Image: Brooks Running video

The film starts with everyday chemistry. Nitrogen "makes up 78% of the Earth's atmosphere, and when infused into everyday things, those things become more awesome," Baxter says.

She then walks through the method Brooks uses, called supercritical fluid foaming. Brooks starts with a preformed midsole. "They then increase the temperature and pressure to the point at which distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist," Baxter explains. According to the film, that step lets nitrogen enter the solid foam and form a cell structure that Brooks calls soft, ultralight and resilient.

The film pairs Baxter's explanation with a drawing of the shoe. Image: Brooks Running video

Brooks says it tunes those cells for each shoe. In the film, the Glycerin 20 gets larger, more consistent cells for cushioning. The Caldera 6 trail shoe uses the same nitrogen-infused DNA LOFT v3 foam. The Hyperion Tempo gets smaller, denser cells, which Brooks says give more energy return and a faster feel.

Brooks first used nitrogen infusion in the 2020 Hyperion Tempo, according to Runlovers, before bringing it to DNA LOFT v3. The company's Australian launch post says the midsole starts at about a third of its final size, then expands with thousands of nitrogen bubbles.

Lab-coat explainers alternate with dance scenes in a room of balloons. Image: Brooks Running video

Six weeks after the launch, Brooks reported an 11% rise in second-quarter global revenue. It said it had launched the Glycerin 20 in June with nitrogen-infused DNA LOFT v3. Chief executive Jim Weber cited "great excitement over our revolutionary nitrogen-infusion technology."

Baxter is a molecular biologist and science communicator, known online as Dr. Raven the Science Maven. She earned her Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo in February 2022, five months before the film's release.

The full film plays on the Run on Nitro partnership page.

Paid partnership with Brooks Running.