Polymercaptan epoxy curing agent has excellent low-temperature curing performance. The technical level of Chinese enterprises needs to be improved.

Polymercaptan epoxy curing agent is a room temperature and low temperature rapid curing agent, which belongs to one of the subcategories of epoxy curing agents. Compared with ordinary epoxy curing agents, polythiol epoxy curing agents have high strength, low toxicity, light color, high adhesion, strong waterproofing, strong aging resistance, good corrosion resistance, easy processing, fast curing speed It has advantages such as fast speed and can be used to produce anti-corrosion coatings, ceramics, glass, optical materials, electronic adhesives, electronic thermal adhesives, silicon rod cutting adhesives and other products. The terminal application fields include automobiles, electronics, photovoltaics, construction, etc.

According to the “2023-2028 Polymercaptan Epoxy Curing Agent Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Forecast Analysis Report” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that polythiol epoxy curing agent can be prepared from sorbitol, thioglycolic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, and toluene as raw materials, through esterification reaction, vacuum distillation, and adding epoxy resin for chain extension reaction; It can also be prepared by reacting β-mercaptopropionic acid with pentaerythritol to generate polythiol ester, and then adding epoxy resin for chain extension reaction.

Epoxy curing agents are widely used in automobiles, construction, machinery, ships and other fields. In recent years, with the rapid development of the downstream market, its demand has continued to increase. The global epoxy curing agent market size will be approximately US$2.68 billion in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 6.8%. At the same time, in recent years, under the background of rapid market development, epoxy curing agents are constantly being upgraded in the direction of non-toxic, environmentally friendly, multifunctional, and low-temperature curing.

Polymercaptan epoxy curing agent is a type of functional upgraded product of epoxy curing agent. It has the advantages of fast curing speed, low toxicity, and resistance to yellowing at room temperature or even low temperature environments of -10°C. It is widely used in Scenarios such as outdoor construction under low temperatures and quick glue repair have irreplaceable advantages, and the market development potential is huge.

As a new type of high-end epoxy curing agent, polythiol epoxy curing agent has high technical barriers. Currently, the number of companies in this field is relatively small, including Bruno of Germany, Huntsman of the United States, Toray of Japan, and SC of Japan. International companies such as chemicals, as well as Chinese companies such as Shandong Yifeng New Materials, Guangzhou Geling New Materials, and Guangxi Boyuan New Materials. Among them, leading international companies have long occupied a major share of the global polythiol epoxy curing agent market. Chinese companies have low technical levels and are still at a disadvantage in market competition. They need to continue to improve their technical levels in the future.

Industry analysts said that polythiol epoxy curing agents are a new type of high-end epoxy curing agents The product has great advantages in low-temperature curing, environmental protection and low toxicity, and can be widely used in automobiles, electronics, construction and other fields. At present, the number of enterprises in my country with the capacity to produce polythiol epoxy curing products is still relatively small. In the future, local enterprises will need to continue to introduce advanced technologies, and the industry will have huge room for growth.