Having recently announced plans to cut jobs, mainly in Germany, silicones supplier Wacker is strengthening its specialties business in markets that are profitable, especially in Asia.
The company has tied up with Chinese specialty silane producer and joint-venture partner Sico Performance Material to open a new application development centre for organofunctional silanes in Jining, China.
The 2,300-sq-m facility features several laboratories where high-performance additives for the plastics, coatings and adhesives industries will be developed going forward.
In addition, the technology centre 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 centre thus enables the rapid market launch of new products.
Investments in the Wacker Sico Application Development Centre (ADC) facility total a mid-six-figure euro sum.
The companies say they 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.
Furthermore, the application development centre is located in Jining, not far from Sico’s own production site.
The centre’s focus is on the development of additives, adhesion promoters and stabilisers 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.
“As a provider of innovative silicone specialties and solutions, we can use this development centre to achieve a key milestone for our business in China. Our focus is on high-margin specialty silanes, for which demand in China is rising continuously. This investment together with our partner Sico strengthens our presence and commitment to the region,” said Tom Koini, President of Wacker’s Silicones business division.