In 2025, China's silicon dioxide industry will enter a new stage of high-quality development driven by both technological innovation and market demand. According to the latest report on the panoramic survey and investment prospects of China's special silica industry from 2025 to 2031 released by the Joint Research Industry Research Institute, the market size of China's special silica will reach 16 billion yuan by 2025, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, becoming an indispensable key link in the global industrial chain.
Technological innovation breaks through industry bottlenecks
In the field of semiconductors, a research team from Xi'an Jiaotong University has successfully developed high-performance silicon carbide metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (SiC MOSFETs) through supercritical fluid technology. This technology utilizes low-temperature supercritical carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide fluid treatment to increase the field-effect mobility of the 4H SiC/SiO ₂ interface to 72.3 cm ²/V · s, which is twice as high as traditional processes, while significantly reducing interface defects, providing core technical support for power device upgrades in fields such as new energy vehicles and solar energy. This achievement was released at the International Electronic Devices Conference (IEDM), marking China's entry into the world's top tier in the field of high-end semiconductor materials.
Continuous expansion of application scenarios
The diversified application of silica further promotes industrial upgrading. In the field of glass manufacturing, high-purity silica has become the core raw material for optical glass and energy-saving glass, widely used in products such as camera lenses and building curtain walls; In the rubber industry, precipitated silica is used as a reinforcing agent to reduce tire rolling resistance by 15%, improve fuel economy by 8%, and enhance wet and slippery road grip, ensuring driving safety. In addition, the permeability of nano silica in coatings, plastics, ceramics and other fields has continued to increase. For example, the scrub resistance of exterior wall coatings has increased from 1000 times to 10000 times, and the anti-aging performance of plastic steel doors and windows has been extended by more than three times.
Optimization and upgrading of industrial pattern
Domestic enterprises gradually narrow the gap with international giants through technological accumulation and industrial chain integration. Taking Quecheng Silicon Chemical as an example, the company has built a complete industrial chain from sulfuric acid, sodium silicate to silicon dioxide, with a revenue of 1.81 billion yuan in 2023. Its high-performance radial tire special materials, toothpaste carriers and other products have been exported to markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia. At the same time, the concentration of the industry has further increased, and top enterprises meet the stringent requirements of the high-end market for comparative surface area, pore volume, and other performance through large-scale production and refined processing.
Green development leads the future
With the advancement of the "dual carbon" target, the silica industry is accelerating its transformation towards low-carbon. Enterprises reduce energy consumption and emissions during the production process by optimizing production processes and improving resource utilization. For example, the use of sol gel method instead of traditional high-temperature calcination can reduce energy consumption by more than 30%. In the future, with the continuous breakthroughs in nanotechnology and materials science, the potential of silicon dioxide in emerging fields such as biomedicine and optoelectronic devices will be further released, injecting new momentum into global industrial upgrading.