WACKER strengthens silicone business in China with new technology center for specialty silanes

• 2,300-square-meter center consolidates Group expertise in the field of organofunctional silanes
• Focus on high performance additives for the plastics, coating and adhesives industry
• Technology center accelerates market launches of new products
• Tom Koini, head of WACKER’s silicones business: “the new technology center is a key milestone for our growing specialties business in China.”

To strengthen its specialties business, German chemical company WACKER and Chinese specialty silane producer and joint-venture partner SICO Performance Material have opened a new application development center for organofunctional silanes in Jining, China. The approx. 2,300-square-meter facility features several laboratories where high-performance additives for the plastics, coatings and adhesives industries will be developed going forward. In addition, the technology center acts as an interface between research, technical support and production. For example, SICO’s production and scale-up resources, which are likewise located in Jining, can be fully leveraged for development work. The technology center thus enables the rapid market launch of new products. Investments in the WACKER SICO Application Development Center (ADC) facility total a mid-six-figure euro sum.

WACKER and SICO Performance Materials have decades of experience in organofunctional silanes. They are used, for example, as adhesion promoters for the production of high-performance adhesives, sealants and coatings, as binders for composite materials or as additives to enhance plastics. Because specialty silanes improve the mechanical and chemical properties of products, demand for such hybrid polymers has been rising for many years. “The opening of our Application Development Center in Jining enables us to strengthen our position as a specialties manufacturer in China,” said Koini. “In partnership with SICO, we can now support customers even better in the development and marketing of innovative products.”

At an opening ceremony, Kevin Qu, General Manager of SICO Performance Material, praised the new laboratories as an investment in the future and the cornerstone of a new era of cooperation between WACKER and SICO. “We can now pool all of our silane expertise here at our application development center. This know-how ranges from chemical product properties and supply chain matters through to questions of process engineering and current marketing trends. We will leverage this in-depth knowledge to develop forward-looking innovations for our customers. This marks a new chapter of success in the history of our joint venture.”

The 2,300-square-meter application development center is located in Jining, not far from SICO Performance Material’s own production site. The center’s focus is on the development of additives, adhesion promoters and stabilizers based on organofunctional silanes and functional silicone fluids. Such specialty silanes make it possible to formulate high-quality adhesives and sealants, coatings and plastic products, which in turn are used in a large number of high-tech sectors, such as electromobility, electronics, power engineering, telecommunications, and coatings. In addition to broad applications expertise, the center’s experts have extensive knowledge relating to production and process engineering as well.