On the other hand appending some piece of bullshit to your work so you can continue to get funded to do interesting research doesn't seem like the end of the world. There's a lot worse that research scientists have to put up with.
Sounds easy enough if they believe the applications are vaguely plausible. What if there are no vaguely plausible applications acceptable by reviewers?
A lot of people are keen to work on something like that on their own. I know someone who worked on the thermodynamics of chocolate mixtures for no precise reason whatsoever, and without external funding. These things are typically short one-offs.
There are labs that have larger programs on carbonated liquids, including a well-known (in the field) lab in Reims. Those get some funding from industry in the usual form of money for post-docs or PhDs, funding for experiments, and the occasional in-kind contribution of samples. Nothing out of the ordinary.