WACKER Expands Silicone Portfolio in China with New Specialty Silanes Technology Center

WACKER, together with its joint-venture partner SICO Performance Material, has opened a new application development centre for organofunctional silanes in Jining, China, to strengthen its specialities business. The 2,300-square-meter facility houses multiple laboratories dedicated to developing high-performance additives for the plastics, coatings, and adhesives industries.

The centre serves as a bridge between research, technical support, and production, allowing seamless use of SICO’s nearby production and scale-up capabilities. This integrated setup will accelerate the development and market launch of new products. The investment in the WACKER SICO Application Development Center (ADC) amounts to a mid-six-figure euro sum.

“As a provider of innovative silicone specialities and solutions, we can use this development centre to achieve a key milestone for our business in China. Our focus is on high-margin speciality silanes, for which demand in China is rising continuously. This investment together with our partner SICO strengthens our presence and commitment to the region,” says Tom Koini, President of WACKER’s Silicones business division.

WACKER and SICO Performance Materials bring decades of expertise in organofunctional silanes, which are widely used as adhesion promoters in high-performance adhesives, sealants, and coatings; as binders in composite materials; and as additives to enhance plastics. With their ability to improve the mechanical and chemical properties of end products, speciality silanes have seen steadily growing demand for many years.

“The opening of our Application Development Center in Jining enables us to strengthen our position as a specialities manufacturer in China,” said Koini. “In partnership with SICO, we can now support customers even better in the development and marketing of innovative products.”

During the opening ceremony, Kevin Qu, General Manager of SICO Performance Material, described the new laboratories as a forward-looking investment and a key milestone marking a new era of collaboration between WACKER and SICO.

“We can now pool all of our silane expertise here at our application development centre. This know-how ranges from chemical product properties and supply chain matters through to questions of process engineering and current marketing trends. We will leverage this in-depth knowledge to develop forward-looking innovations for our customers. This work marks a new chapter of success in the history of our joint venture.”

The 2,300-square-metre application development centre is located in Jining, close to SICO Performance Material's production facility. The centre focusses on making additives, adhesion promoters, and stabilisers using organofunctional silanes and functional silicone fluids. These speciality silanes enable the formulation of high-quality adhesives and sealants, coatings, and plastic products used across a wide range of high-tech sectors, including electromobility, electronics, power engineering, telecommunications, and coatings. In addition to extensive application expertise, the center's team also has deep knowledge of production and process engineering.

Source: WACKER