Metallurgy / Chemicals / Rubber & Plastics

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is a special engineering plastic with high performance, which has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength, flame retardancy and so on. It is widely used in the fields of electronics, automobile and environmental protection in China. The "key technology innovation and industrialization of high-end polyphenylene sulfide manufacturing" project, jointly completed by Zhejiang Xinhecheng Special Materials Co., Ltd., Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Xinhecheng Co., Ltd. and Shaoxing Yuchen New Materials Co., Ltd., won the first prize of the 2022 China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation Science and Technology Progress Award, which helped the domestic PPS industry out of the predicament. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Break foreign technology monopoly in 15 years

"If plastic is likened to a pyramid, then the position of PPS is at the top of the pyramid," said Dr. Deng Hangjun, vice president of Xinhe Chengxin Materials Research Institute. In order to make the high-quality materials at the top of the pyramid available at home, the state has vigorously supported enterprises to develop PPS industrialization technology since the 1990s. However, a small amount of PPS resin produced in China was mainly supplied to low-end applications, and high-end PPS production technology has long been monopolized by enterprises in the United States and Japan. In this context, Xinhecheng began its layout 15 years ago and embarked on the R&D of high-end PPS products.

In 2008, Xinhecheng and Zhejiang University began to research and develop key technologies for high-end PPS manufacturing, and completed the first production unit in 2013; The second PPS production unit was built in 2017, and the third PPS production unit was put into operation again in 2022. So far, the total production capacity of Xinhecheng PPS has reached 22000 tons/year. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

What is the concept of 22000 tons PPS annual capacity? Deng Hangjun said: "At present, the largest PPS manufacturer in the world, Japan Toray Co., Ltd., has a capacity of nearly 30000 tons/year, while Xinhecheng is only slightly second, and is also a well-deserved leader in China."

Focus on producing high-end PPS products

According to Deng Hangjun, the key technology of high-end PPS manufacturing has solved three major problems: first, it has solved the problem of difficult recycling of additives during PPS production; Second, it has achieved precise control of PPS product structure and relative molecular weight to meet the special needs of different downstream markets; Third, it can synthesize PPS with ultra-high relative molecular weight, which can be used in scenes with high requirements for relative molecular weight, such as extrusion, film, etc., Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

"Our PPS resin products have narrow molecular weight distribution and high thermal stability. These characteristics are conducive to meet the spinning requirements of high-end PPS fibers." Deng Hangjun said that Xinhecheng has also developed low chlorine PPS, which can be used in 3C electronic field. With this technology, Xinhecheng uses high-end PPS as a breakthrough to promote the high-quality development of downstream industries such as automobile, electronic and electrical, environmental protection and high-end equipment.

Urgent to open up new downstream applications

"Is the domestic PPS capacity so large?" This is a lament that Deng Hangjun often hears from downstream customers. He regrets to point out that many downstream application enterprises have little knowledge of the performance characteristics of PPS, and do not know that large-scale industrialization has been achieved in China, which leads them to deliberately "avoid" the use of PPS in the initial design stage. "I hope that more enterprises can better understand the production technology and products of domestic high-end PPS," he said, according to Huacheng's import and export data observation report.

In order to reduce the information gap between industries and develop more new application scenarios around PPS, he suggested that upstream and downstream units should work together to open up the innovation chain and industrial chain to achieve integrated development. Now, Xinhecheng has reached cooperation with downstream application enterprises to promote the application of PPS heat transfer pipe in chemical heat exchanger to solve the problem of metal pipe corrosion, and strive to promote PPS coating to the application field of equipment corrosion protection; Research and develop the key diaphragm material for hydrogen production from electrolytic water based on PPS, which is used in the process of hydrogen production from alkaline water electrolysis in the hydrogen energy industry.

Deng Hangjun said that in the future, Xinhecheng will try to cooperate with downstream enterprises and strive to do more in emerging industries. "We hope that with our efforts, when downstream application end enterprises have PPS needs, they will no longer focus on foreign manufacturers, nor need to look for more expensive PPS alternatives." He sincerely hoped that Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.