Glycolic acid has a wide range of applications and there are opportunities for industry development

Glycolic acid, also known as glycolic acid and glycolic acid, is the simplest hydroxy acid, and its chemical formula is C2H4O3. Glycolic acid appears as a colorless transparent liquid or colorless crystal. It is soluble in water and organic solvents such as methanol and ethanol, but insoluble in hydrocarbons. Glycolic acid contains a special structure of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups and is widely used in medical and health, organic synthetic materials and other fields.

There are many methods for producing glycolic acid, mainly including dimethyl oxalate hydrohydrolysis, formaldehyde cyanation, formaldehyde hydrogen carboxylation and chloroacetic acid hydrolysis. Formaldehyde cyanidation and chloroacetic acid hydrolysis can easily cause environmental pollution and are therefore not suitable for large-scale production. The dimethyl oxalate hydrohydrolysis method has the advantages of rich sources of raw materials, green environmental protection, stable operation, and high production efficiency. It is gradually becoming the mainstream preparation method of glycolic acid in my country. However, the production cost of this method is high and it is still in the research and development stage in my country.

Glycolic acid is mainly used in the chemical industry and can be used as a bactericide, industrial cleaning agent, electroplating surface treatment fluid, etc. Glycolic acid contains a carboxyl group and a hydroxyl group, and has the dual properties of carboxylic acid and alcohol. It can form a hydrophilic chelate with metal cations through coordination bonds, which inhibits bacterial growth, so it is often used as a bactericide. In recent years, affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, my country’s demand for fungicides has continued to grow. In 2021, the size of my country’s fungicide market will exceed 6 billion yuan. Against this background, my country’s glycolic acid production continues to increase.

Glycolic acid is an important raw material for polyglycolic acid (PGA). As a synthetic polymer material with good biodegradability and biocompatibility, polyglycolic acid can completely replace ordinary plastic products. As the national environmental protection policy gradually takes effect, the prosperity of my country’s polyglycolic acid industry continues to increase. Driven by leading enterprises, my country’s polyglycolic acid has achieved industrialization layout in 2021, with annual production capacity exceeding 4,000 tons. Benefiting from the continuous expansion of the polyglycolic acid market, my country’s demand for glycolic acid has increased significantly, and the industry has entered a stage of rapid development.

According to the “2022-2027 China Glycolic Acid Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Trend Forecast Research Report released by the Industrial Research Center, In terms of the global market, glycolic acid production capacity is mainly concentrated in European and American countries. The American company Chemours is the world’s largest glycolic acid manufacturer, accounting for nearly 50.0% of the global market. In the local market, my country’s glycolic acid industry is highly concentrated. Hebei Chengxin Group Co., Ltd. and Taixing Votel Chemical Co., Ltd. are my country’s leading glycolic acid companies, accounting for nearly 70% of the Chinese market.

Industry analysts said that glycolic acid, as the smallest alpha-hydroxy acid, has excellent performance and is widely used in many fields. As market demand is gradually released, the development speed of my country’s glycolic acid industry will continue to accelerate. Driven by national environmental protection policies, the prosperity of the polyglycolic acid industry continues to increase. As an important raw material, the glycolic acid industry will usher in good development opportunities.