Olefin block copolymer (OBC) has excellent properties and good industry application prospects

Olefin block copolymer (OBC) is an elastomer whose main raw materials are 1-octene and ethylene. The ratio of ethylene and octene is controlled through polymerization reaction to produce alternating “soft segments” and “hard segments”. Aligned olefin copolymers. Due to its multi-block structure, OBC has better performance, higher melting temperature, lower glass transition temperature, high elasticity, easy processing, fast crystallization rate, fast crystallization rate, and tensile strength. It has high advantages and is an elastic material with wide application prospects.

Current OBC production mainly adopts the chain shuttle polymerization method. Compared with the traditional living polymerization method, this method has higher chain initiation efficiency, the utilization rate of the catalyst is greatly improved, and it can meet the application in actual industrial production. With the advancement of modern industry, in order to prevent the precipitation of crystalline polymers, Dow Chemical has developed a high-temperature continuous solution polymerization method, which can continuously add new catalysts and remove deactivated catalysts from the polymerization system, thus maintaining The concentration of the catalyst in the polymerization system remains unchanged, eliminating impurity reactions.

Compared with other materials, OBC has the advantages of high elasticity, heat resistance, wear resistance, and fast processing speed. It is used to produce pipes, hoses, elastic films, foam materials, elastic fibers, etc. It is mainly used in electrical equipment, Automobiles, footwear, home appliances, building materials and other fields.

Olefin block copolymers (OBC) are currently mainly used as shoe materials. Currently, China is the world’s major shoe-making country, accounting for about 60% of the world’s shoe production. As domestic labor production costs increase, the shoe-making industry is gradually developing into countries such as India and Vietnam. Affected by the epidemic, global shoe production has declined. Although my country is the world’s major shoe-making country, most companies are OEMs, and their products are concentrated in the low-end market. The demand for materials is relatively low-end, and the demand for OBC applications is relatively small. However, benefiting from the high-end development of the global shoemaking industry and the stability of output, OBC application prospects are good.

According to the released “Olefin Block Copolymer (OBC) Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Forecast Analysis Report 2021-2026” It shows that OBC is mainly developed and produced by Dow Company, which initially used chain shuttle polymerization technology to achieve industrial production. The company has many OBC product brands to meet the needs of the downstream market.

Industry analysts said that OBC, as a new type of polyolefin elastomer material, has high commercial value due to its high elasticity. , heat resistance and other properties, it can replace traditional polyolefin elastomers and has good future application prospects. At present, OBC is mainly used in the production of footwear products, with limited application demand and slow industry development. In terms of production, Dow is a major global manufacturer and mainly uses the chain shuttle polymerization method for production. This method is the most effective and promising industrial production process. However, due to production technology and patents, my country has not yet been able to achieve OBC production. .