Silica gel as a highly active adsorption material has strong market demand

Silica gel, also known as silicic acid gel, is a highly active adsorption material. It is an amorphous substance and is mainly used as a desiccant and an adsorbent in column chromatography and thin layer chromatography. Silica particles accumulate in space to form silica gel, and the cavities between the particles during accumulation are silica gel pores. According to different pore sizes, silica gel can be divided into extra coarse pore silica gel, coarse pore silica gel, mesoporous silica gel, fine pore silica gel and extra fine pore silica gel. Silica gel is a solid substance with a transparent or milky white appearance. Its moisture absorption capacity is as high as 40.0%. It also has the characteristics of heat resistance, cold resistance and weather resistance.

According to the “2022-2027 Special Survey Report on Silicone Benchmark Companies and Competitors released by the Industrial Research Center, my country is the largest producer of silicone In this big country, the silicone production areas are concentrated in Dongguan, Guangdong. Dongguan has many manufacturing talents and is supported by government policies. Its number of silicone product manufacturers and silicone product output rank first in the country. At the same time, Dongguan is located on the east bank of the Pearl River Estuary, and sea transportation is very convenient. In recent years, my country’s silicone industry has developed rapidly. As a plastic substitute, the export scale of silicone has continued to grow. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s silicone export volume reached 130,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%.

The upstream of the silica gel industry chain supplies raw materials and equipment, including silica, metallic silicon, methanol, methyl chloride, rubber mixing machines, sandblasting machines, and hydraulic presses. As an important raw material for silica gel, metallic silicon is becoming increasingly mature. In 2021, China’s metal industry Silicon production accounts for 77.7% of the global total, and sufficient supply of raw materials provides the foundation and guarantee for the development of the silica gel industry; the midstream is silica gel production and manufacturing, including inorganic silica gel based on beer silica gel, pressure swing adsorption silica gel, medical silica gel, and color-changing silica gel. Silicone rubber, silicone resin, silicone oil, and silane coupling agent-based organic silica gel; downstream are application fields, including construction engineering, medical equipment, transportation, electronic appliances and other fields.

The continuous expansion of application fields has driven the rapid development of the silicone industry. In the field of construction engineering, silicone sealants play an important role as silicone products, enabling non-corrosive bonding of metals without the use of primers. Prefabricated buildings are a green and environmentally friendly building form that is vigorously promoted in my country. The building structure is made up of some or all prefabricated components. A large number of gaps will be created during splicing. Silicone sealants can be used as waterproofing to fill these gaps. In addition, silicone sealants can also be used in mobile phone screens, glass, electronic boards and other fields.

Industry analysts said that silicone is widely used in various industries due to its advantages such as non-toxic, tasteless, heat resistance, cold resistance and weather resistance. In large fields, as market demand continues to grow, silicone will usher in broad market prospects. At present, silicone, as a high-quality material that can replace plastic products, has attracted attention from overseas markets. Under the influence of the concept of green environmental protection, the scale of my country’s silicone exports will further expand, which has a positive impact on the development of the industry.