Our reporter learned from the acceptance meeting of the National Key R&D Program "Advanced Organic Silicon Materials" project that a research team led by the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and participated by enterprises such as Chengguang New Materials and Huitian New Materials has successfully developed a special silicone rubber that can withstand high temperatures of 350 ℃ and has a tensile strength of 30MPa, breaking the foreign technology monopoly and marking China's achievement of full chain independent controllability in the high-end organic silicon field.


Technological breakthroughs: from molecular design to large-scale production
The team has been working for 5 years, focusing on two core technologies to meet the demands of high-end fields such as aviation and semiconductors:


Innovation in high-temperature resistant molecular structure: By introducing phenyl vinyl dual functional groups, a three-dimensional cross-linked network is constructed to enable silicone rubber to maintain elasticity at 350 ℃, improving its temperature resistance by 100 ℃ compared to traditional products;
Low volatile matter control process: Develop supercritical fluid extraction technology to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) content in silicone rubber to below 0.01%, meeting the "zero pollution" requirements for semiconductor packaging.
At present, the relevant technology has achieved mass production of 10000 tons in Sinopec's factories, and the products have been certified by international giants such as Boeing and Intel, with a unit price 40% lower than imported products.
Application Expansion: From "Heavenly Palace" to "Chip" Full Coverage
Aerospace field: This silicone rubber has been applied to the fuel system seals of the Long March series rockets, achieving "zero leakage" in extreme environments ranging from -60 ℃ to 350 ℃, and assisting in the successful launch of the Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft in 2024;
Semiconductor manufacturing: As a lubricating coating for wafer transfer robotic arms, it solves the problem of traditional fluororubber releasing particles and contaminating wafers at high temperatures, increasing the yield rate by 2 percentage points;
New energy vehicles: used for battery pack sealing and wire harness insulation, resistant to electrolyte corrosion and high temperature of 150 ℃, with a single vehicle usage of up to 5 kilograms, reducing weight by 30% compared to traditional materials.
Industrial upgrading: driving the development of clusters worth billions of yuan
According to statistics, the export volume of organic silicon in China increased by 22% year-on-year in the first half of 2024, with the proportion of high-end products rising from 15% to 28%. Ding Jianfeng, Chairman of Chengguang New Materials, said, "In the past, the high-end silicone rubber market was monopolized by Dow Corning in the United States and Wacker in Germany. Now, our products not only achieve import substitution, but also export to Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Our overseas sales are expected to exceed 500 million yuan in 2024
At present, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other regions are building industrial clusters around organic silicon materials, with plans to form a production capacity of 2 million tons by 2025, driving downstream industries such as automobiles, electronics, and healthcare to generate output values exceeding 100 billion yuan.
Chen Kelong, Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, emphasized that "organic silicon is a key basic material for strategic emerging industries. The next step will be to increase policy support and promote the industry's transformation towards high-end and green industries