Against the backdrop of intensified homogenization competition in the silicone industry, high-end fluorine-containing new materials and special silicone oils are becoming key directions for enterprises to break through. Yu Pengfei, the business unit manager of Xinyuan Chemical (Shandong) Co., Ltd., revealed at an industry technical exchange meeting that his team has made significant progress in the preparation and performance research of ultra-low temperature resistant ethyl silicone oil and fluorinated silicone oil, and has obtained 20 national invention patents.


Ethyl silicone oil exhibits excellent lubricity, dielectric properties, and chemical corrosion resistance due to its unique molecular structure endowed by the ethyl group. Compared with dimethyl silicone oil, the solidification point of ethyl silicone oil can be as low as -70 ℃ or below, making it particularly suitable for instrument oil, hydraulic oil, and damping fluid under ultra-low temperature conditions. Xinyuan Chemical has been laying out the entire industry chain of high-end fluorine-containing new materials since the beginning of this century. It is currently the only high-tech enterprise in China that has a production line for the entire industry chain of fluorosilicon materials. Its technological route provides a model for differentiated competition in the industry.


At the same time, safety production issues have also sounded the alarm for the industry. In July 2023, Jiangxi Qiantai New Materials Co., Ltd. experienced a silicone oil fire accident. Although silicone oil itself produces carbon dioxide and silicon dioxide during combustion, and does not produce toxic gases, large-scale combustion still caused local air quality fluctuations and fire wastewater discharge. Industry insiders remind that although silicone oil is classified as a non hazardous chemical, its flash point varies significantly due to different viscosities - high viscosity products can have a flash point of over 265 ℃, while some low viscosity products have a flash point of only about 55.6 ℃. Storage and transportation must be strictly moisture-proof, sun protected, and avoid acid-base mixing.


Anhui Aiyota Silicone Oil Co., Ltd. (located in Bengbu) has currently incorporated ethyl silicone oil into its core product line, forming a complete organic silicon product matrix with phenyl silicone oil, vinyl silicone oil, hydrogen containing silicone oil, etc. The company leader stated that the demand for ethyl silicone oil continues to grow in precision mechanical lubrication, rubber and plastic demolding, and aerospace heat dissipation scenarios. In the future, the production capacity will be further expanded and the product purity will be improved to over 99.9% to connect with high-end electronic packaging and biomedical "ultra pure" application scenarios.


From a policy perspective, the National Development and Reform Commission's "Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment" has listed phenyl silicone oil, amino silicone oil, polyether modified silicone oil, and other products as encouraged products, while methyl chlorosilane units with a single scale of less than 100000 tons/year are listed as restricted products. This means that the silicone industry is accelerating towards scale and high-end development, and the "money" prospects of deep processed products such as ethyl silicone oil are worth looking forward to.