Recently, at Yangzhou Chenhua New Material Co., Ltd., a batch of silicone oil products for phenolic foam was being dispatched to an enterprise outside the province for manufacturing phenolic foam plastic sheets. "Our independently developed new silicone oil, a surfactant, enhances the comprehensive properties of phenolic foam plastics and has successfully achieved domestic substitution," introduced Jia Zhengren, Minister of After - Sales Service and Deputy Director of the R&D Department at Chenhua Co., Ltd. The company is currently adjusting formulas to expand into new application fields.
Phenolic foam plastic, the third - generation emerging thermal insulation material, is widely used in green construction, automotive, aerospace, and other fields for its excellent flame resistance, low smoke emission, and stable high - temperature performance. Due to its chemical composition and pore structure, phenolic foam has high water absorption, which can lead to accelerated powder degradation, reduced compressive strength, affected bonding performance, and decreased thermal insulation. The manufacturing process needs to solve technical challenges of balancing hydrophilicity, pore size, and strength.
Surfactants are known as "industrial monosodium glutamate." How does Chenhua Co., Ltd.'s new "industrial monosodium glutamate" empower phenolic foam plastic manufacturing? Jia Zhengren explained that the R&D team significantly reduced the hydrophilicity of phenolic foam by precisely adjusting the ratio of hydrophilic and lipophilic raw materials in silicone oil; improved the pore size and strength of phenolic foam through material modification; and used composite acid as a catalyst to not only increase reaction conversion rate but also achieve low acidity in products, enhancing production efficiency and quality.
It is understood that in the domestic market, high - end silicone oil products for phenolic foam have long been monopolized by foreign enterprises. The silicone oil products developed and manufactured by Chenhua Co., Ltd. have not only achieved domestic substitution, providing more choices for domestic enterprises, but also forced foreign products to reduce prices by 30% in the domestic market.
Breaking through the technological monopoly of foreign enterprises to develop new silicone oil is the result of Chenhua Co., Ltd.'s adherence to the specialized, refined, characteristic, and innovative development path. Located in Caodian Town Industrial Park, Baoying County, Chenhua Co., Ltd. has been synthesizing organosilicon surfactants (textile silicone oil) since 1986 and has now grown into a national specialized, refined, characteristic, and innovative "little giant" enterprise, with domestic leading production scales of products such as polyetheramine (amino polyether) and alkyl glycoside.
The R&D team of the silicone oil project for phenolic foam includes many core members with more than 20 years of R&D and manufacturing experience in polyether synthesis and hydrosilylation, who have presided over or participated in the formulation of more than 10 national and industrial standards. "During product R&D, we also carried out industry - university - research cooperation with scientific research institutes such as Nanjing Forestry University, East China University of Science and Technology, and Dalian University of Technology, digesting and absorbing the latest industry research achievements." It is reported that while consolidating the market for phenolic foam plastic sheets, Chenhua Co., Ltd. has developed and sold silicone oil for phenolic flower mud applied in the flower market by adjusting raw material formulas, and is currently aiming at the polyurethane continuous foam sheet and spraying thermal insulation market to accelerate product testing and promotion.