Green synthesis technology is concentratedly implemented, and the entire silicone oil industry initiates a low-carbon production transformation

1. The shortcomings of traditional processes become prominent, and environmental policies force industrial innovation
For a long time, the mainstream synthesis process of domestic silicone oil adopts the intermittent catalytic polymerization mode, which has problems such as high energy consumption, large residual amount of cyclic bodies, and difficulty in recovering volatile waste gas. With the continuous implementation of domestic carbon neutrality policies and the tightening of REACH regulations in the European Union on the content of cyclic bodies and volatile components, the traditional high-energy-consuming production route gradually loses its market competitiveness. Many chemical industrial parks have raised environmental access thresholds, set stricter standards for wastewater and waste gas emissions, and a large number of outdated production lines are facing rectification pressure. The industry urgently needs a clean and low-consumption new preparation solution, and process upgrading has become a consensus for the entire industry. 

2. Breakthrough in continuous polymerization technology, with significant reduction in production energy consumption
In 2026, a number of self-developed catalytic and continuous synthesis technologies in the industry achieved industrial trial production. The new heterogeneous solid catalyst replaced the traditional liquid catalyst, with milder reaction conditions and no need for high temperature, high pressure, and long-term reactions; closed-loop continuous distillation and film evaporation supporting equipment were popularized, enabling real-time recovery of volatile cyclic siloxane raw materials during production, with the raw material reuse rate increasing to over 96%. Measured data shows that the production line using the new process has a nearly 10% reduction in energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of output compared to the traditional process, and significant reduction in electricity and steam consumption per ton of product, reducing pollutant emissions at the source. 

3. The solvent-free route has been implemented, and the mass production of high-purity low-ring body products has accelerated.
The two routes of solvent-free in-situ polymerization and aqueous dispersion polymerization have been gradually applied on a large scale. They completely abandon the traditional organic solvent dilution synthesis mode, and the VOC emissions in the production process have decreased by more than 90%. Relying on new purification technologies, low-ring body dimethylsilicone oil has achieved stable mass production. The total ring content of D3-D10 can be controlled within 100 ppm, with a volatility lower than 0.1%. The product indicators fully meet the strict application scenarios of cosmetics, medicine, and high-end electronics, and the performance gap between domestic high-purity silicone oil and imported products has gradually narrowed. 

4. Establishment of recycling system and resource utilization of silicon waste
The industry has begun to establish a recycling system for silicon oil waste. The chemical depolymerization technology converts used silicon oil and production scraps into basic monomers. The recycled raw materials can be reused in the synthesis of silicon oil, and the purity of the recycled products shows no significant difference from the new raw materials. The entire recycling scheme can reduce the carbon footprint by approximately 70%, and in the future, it can significantly reduce the consumption of fossil raw materials. Industry experts predict that the proportion of green production capacity will exceed half in the next three years, and low-carbon silicon oil will become the mainstream procurement category in the market.