Water-based polyurethane has a wide range of applications and huge industry development potential

Water-based polyurethane, also known as water-dispersed polyurethane and water-based polyurethane, is a new polyurethane system that uses water as the dispersion medium. According to the different properties of the hydrophilic group, water-based polyurethane can be divided into three categories: non-ionic, anionic and cationic water-based polyurethane.

There are many raw materials for water-based polyurethane, including macromolecular polyol compounds, hydrophilic chain extenders, polyisocyanates, salt-forming agents, and water. Polyisocyanates are chemically active and easily react with negative ions in the air, causing yellowing. Overseas developed countries mostly use aliphatic or alicyclic isocyanates to prepare polyisocyanates, which have the advantages of yellowing resistance and good hydrolysis resistance. Affected by factors such as high raw material prices, toluene diisocyanate is mostly used as the raw material for polyisocyanate preparation in my country, which has poor resistance to light radiation.

Water-based polyurethane has the characteristics of low odor, flame retardancy, and good mechanical properties. It is widely used, including leather finishing agents, adhesives, water-based wood paint, water-based coatings, etc. my country is a major leather producer. According to statistics from the China Leather Association, my country’s leather output will reach 600 million square meters in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 4.0%. Driven by technological innovation, the application demand for leather finishing agents in my country continues to increase, which will drive the rapid development of the water-based polyurethane industry. According to the “2022-2027 China Waterborne Polyurethane Industry Market Demand and Investment Planning Analysis Report》shows that my country’s water-based polyurethane sales will reach 136,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%.

In terms of production technology, my country’s water-based polyurethane industry started late. In the 1970s, my country introduced leather finishing agent production technology from the Netherlands, attracting many companies and scientific research institutions to conduct in-depth research on water-based polyurethane. In the early 1990s, my country’s water-based polyurethane officially entered the stage of industrial production. In recent years, my country’s water-based polyurethane production technology has continued to make breakthroughs and innovations, and has the ability to produce high-performance products. Self-crosslinking method and double cross-linking method are the main preparation methods of water-based polyurethane in my country. The above methods can be used to prepare water-based polyurethane with extremely high adsorption and water resistance.

In terms of market competition, the world’s leading waterborne polyurethane companies are concentrated in Germany, the United States and Japan, including BASF of Germany, BAYER of Germany, Alberdingk Boley of Germany, Baxenden Chemicals of Germany, Dow Chemical of the United States, and Japan Mitsui Chemicals, etc. Although my country’s water-based polyurethane industry is developing rapidly, there is still a certain gap compared with overseas developed countries.

Industry analysts believe that water-based polyurethane has excellent performance and is widely used in many fields. With the gradual release of market demand, my country’s water-based polyurethane The scale of the industry will continue to expand. In recent years, my country’s water-based polyurethane production capacity and production technology have continued to improve, driving its output to continue to increase. However, my country’s water-based polyurethane production capacity accounts for a relatively small share of the global market, and relevant companies need to continue to increase investment in research and development to improve core competitiveness.