Sodium borohydride (sodium tetrahydroborate) application demand is growing and my country’s industry concentration is high

Sodium borohydride, also known as sodium tetrahydroborate, has a chemical formula of NaBH4 and is an inorganic compound. Sodium borohydride appears as a white to off-white crystalline powder with a faint pungent odor. It is soluble in methanol, isopropylamine and water, but insoluble in benzene and ether. Sodium borohydride has the characteristics of good chemical stability, strong hygroscopicity, and strong selective reduction. It is widely used in many fields such as medicine, plastics, papermaking, fuel, and chemical synthesis.

The main preparation methods of sodium borohydride include dry method and wet method. The dry method refers to using quartz sand and borax as raw materials, through high-temperature melting, pressurization and other processes, then adding hydrogen and metallic sodium, and fully reacting to obtain the finished product; the wet method refers to using methanol and boric acid as raw materials, first preparing methyl borate, Then add hydrogen and metallic sodium to prepare sodium borohydride. In recent years, with in-depth research, the maturity of my country’s sodium borohydride technology has continued to improve, and its output and quality have also increased.

According to the “2023-2028 China Sodium Borohydride (Sodium Tetrahydroborate) Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report》shows that sodium borohydride is mainly used in medicine, plastics, papermaking, fuel, chemical synthesis and other fields. In the field of medicine, sodium borohydride can be used to produce highly effective antibiotics, antiviral drugs, anti-cancer drugs, etc., with dihydrostreptomycin as its end product; in the field of plastics, sodium borohydride can be used as a plastic stabilizer and plastic expansion agent. In the production of foam plastics; in the field of papermaking, sodium borohydride can be used as a papermaking bleach, papermaking sewage treatment agent, etc.; in the field of chemical synthesis, sodium borohydride can be used to synthesize various polymer materials.

In addition, sodium borohydride has also been widely used in the field of scientific research. In February 2023, Professor Zeng Jie’s team at the National Research Center for Microscale Physical Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China successfully prepared Sb1Cu catalyst using sodium borohydride solution. This product can be used in the electroreduction process of carbon dioxide. It is expected that in the future, as my country’s scientific research level continues to improve, the application demand for sodium borohydride will further grow.

The global sodium borohydride market is mainly concentrated in Germany, the United States and my country. Merck of Germany and Dow Chemical Company of the United States are major players in the global sodium borohydride market. In terms of the local market, my country’s sodium borohydride industry has a high degree of concentration, and Guobang Pharmaceutical is my country’s representative enterprise. Guobang Pharmaceutical has an annual production capacity of 4,000 tons of solid sodium borohydride and 60,000 tons of liquid sodium borohydride.

          Industry analysts said that sodium borohydride, as a reducing agent, is widely used in many fields. Benefiting from the accelerated development of downstream industries, my country’s sodium borohydride market space continues to expand. In recent years, Chinese companies have continued to exert their efforts, driving the continuous expansion of sodium borohydride production capacity, and has become one of the world’s major producers. In terms of market competition, my country’s sodium borohydride industry is highly concentrated. As a leading company, Guobang Pharmaceutical has a competitive advantage in the global market due to product quality.