High-temperature nylon refers to nylon materials that can be used in environments above 150 °C for a long time, with a melting point generally 290 °C to 320 °C, and maintain excellent mechanical properties in a wide temperature range and high humidity environment. High temperature resistant nylon has good wear resistance, heat resistance, oil resistance and chemical resistance, and the water absorption and shrinkage rate of raw materials are significantly reduced compared with ordinary nylon, showing excellent dimensional stability and excellent mechanical strength. With the rapid development of 5G-related industries, high-temperature nylon is expected to further broaden the application of downstream markets.
High-temperature nylon varieties are diverse, with automobiles as a traditional application area and 5G as a growth area
The common high-temperature nylons are PA46 (aromatic), PA6T and its copolymers, pa9T. Pa10T as a product developed by Kingfa, although it is not common in other enterprises, its production capacity of 10,000 tons makes it still occupy a more important position in high-temperature nylon.
Table 1 Examples of the main application areas of high-temperature resistant nylon
Because high-temperature nylon can withstand harsh environments such as high strength, high loads, and high temperatures, it is ideal for applications in engine areas such as bonnet covers, switches, and connectors, as well as in drivetrains (such as bearing cages), air systems (such as exhaust control systems) and air intakes. This is also the main application area of high-temperature resistant nylon.
With the spread of 5G applications in China, the application of high-temperature nylon has received more and more attention. For example, 5G macro base stations generally have three-sided AUUs, and the number of oscillators on one side of AAU is 64-128, and the demand for the number of oscillators is greatly improved. Plastic antenna oscillator using high temperature resistant electroplated engineering plastics as raw materials for integrated injection molding to obtain a vibrator body with a predetermined structure, the need to configure a high-precision high-speed machine to achieve good injection molding of plastic oscillators. The plastic oscillator has the advantages of high precision, high integration, strong plasticity, low weight, low cost, etc., and is used as a new type of oscillator in the 5G macro base station to reduce the weight of the antenna and improve production efficiency.
In the design of the new antenna oscillator, there are two schemes. The first is the combination of LDS materials and metal materials. The antenna oscillator is made of LDS material, and the metal material is used on the back to reduce costs, and it is not necessary to do chemical plating in all places. Second, the use of PPS or LCP for plating requires SMT reflow soldering, so the choice is basically high-temperature engineering plastics, which requires high-temperature nylon to play a role in it.
One of the main forces for policy support for the development of the 5G industry
At the same time, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" Information and Communication Industry Development Plan, clarifying the future development goals and directions of the 5G field.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China
Combined with the construction of 5G base stations of various communication companies before, Longzhong Consulting estimates the construction plan of China's 5G base stations by 2025. It can be seen that the number of 5G base stations in 2025 is more than five times higher than in 2020.
Figure 2 China 5G base station construction schedule
Traditional fields are in tandem with emerging demand The demand for high-temperature nylon is growing steadily
The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan" clarifies that by 2025, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China will account for about 25%, the sales volume of intelligent and connected vehicles will account for 30%, and the highly automated intelligent networked vehicles will achieve commercial applications in limited areas and specific scenarios. Industry insiders believe that the development of the new energy automobile industry has ushered in a major positive. From the perspective of industry prospects, the automotive industry, especially new energy vehicles, has received strong policy support from the state, and the development direction of automobile lightweighting has made the demand for modified plastics in the automotive industry will still be in an increasing stage.
At the same time, the rapid development of 5G has been determined, and several major domestic modified plastic factories have begun to enter the 5G era of modified plastic research and development, production, pilot, most of which are LCP and low dielectric. Foreign well-known enterprises have more high-temperature-resistant development, such as DSM and so on.
Table 2 Layout of some modified plastics companies in China in the 5G era
The industry changes in the traditional field and the rapid development of the 5G field have laid the foundation for the steady growth of the demand for high-temperature nylon market. According to Longzhong Consulting's prediction, in the next 3-5 years, with the alleviation of the epidemic, the recovery of the economy, and the direction of vigorously developing new materials in new fields such as 5G base stations and 3D printing in China, the consumption growth rate of modified plastics will also usher in a slow but relatively firm growth, and the consumption of high-temperature nylon will also rise.
Figure 2 China high temperature resistant nylon consumption forecast