Coatings World: How is Wanhua Chemical’s R&D investment in the coatings field? Can you share some breakthrough technological innovations in recent years?
Hua: In 2024, Wanhua’s total R&D investment exceeded 4.5 billion yuan, with more than 4,700 R&D personnel. Focusing on the coatings sector, we have established an integrated R&D platform and a full-industry-chain advantage, building 9 major coating R&D platforms. We adhere to innovation and environmental protection, making breakthroughs in core materials and launching over 400 coating raw material solutions, including isocyanates, special amines, resins, additives, acrylic acids and etc.
Driven by customer needs, Wanhua’s technology continues to advance, expanding new products to provide customers with more efficient and greener isocyanate curing agents.
For example, our newly launched low-viscosity isocyanate curing agent can not only reduce the VOC emissions of the system but also significantly improve the application efficiency. We are also constantly expanding downstream to develop IPDI trimer series products, fast-drying isocyanate curing agents, which have excellent chemical resistance and quick drying performance. They can effectively shorten the drying time and reduce energy consumption, and are widely used in automotive OEM coatings, refinish coatings, and industrial coatings. In addition, there are blocked isocyanate curing agents, which have excellent chemical resistance and weatherability resistance, and can be applied in coil coating and metal coating. Among them, the product WANNATE® ITBL has been certified by the FDA and can be directly used in food contact areas, such as cans coating.
Focusing on the safety and health of downstream coating applications, Wanhua Chemical has become one of the first coating suppliers in the industry to launch “zero” SVOC technology products. Wanhua Chemical’s unique solvent-free technology is an innovative coating production technology. By adjusting the molecular weight and controlling the polymer cross-linking sequence, this technology significantly enhances the performance of the coating film. The core of this technology lies in achieving “zero” VOC (volatile organic compounds) and “zero” SVOC (semi - volatile organic compounds) emissions from the coating, thereby greatly reducing the potential harm of the coating to the environment and human health. Since it contains no harmful substances, this technology does not release harmful gases during application, posing no threat to the health of the applicators and occupants. Moreover, the use of this technology helps to reduce indoor air pollution and improve indoor environmental quality.
Coatings World: What is Wanhua Chemical’s R&D progress in renewable raw materials and bio-based coatings? Will there be increased investment in this area in the future?
Hua: Green and environmentally friendly materials are the way of the future. Wanhua Chemical is actively seeking and utilizing raw materials with bio-based, biodegradable, and recyclable attributes as alternatives to petrochemical-based products. For examples, HDI, IPDA, IPDI, HEMA, and water-based resins. By producing with renewable raw materials, we provide customers with more sustainable and eco-friendly products, reducing the carbon footprint of our products while ensuring the continuity of product performance.
1) Bio-based PDI
At present, Wanhua Chemical can supply PDI made from biomass raw materials to global customers. The raw material for PDI is bio-based lysine, with a bio-based carbon content of over 71%. Compared to chemical isocyanates, it reduces CO2
emissions by 20%.
2) Bio-based Emulsions
In the wood coatings sector, we have currently developed two bio-based acrylic emulsions and one bio-based polyurethane emulsion. Their bio-based content is 40%, 55%, and 31% respectively. In the architectural coatings sector, we also have currently developed three bio-based acrylic emulsions. These are high-end interior wall latex emulsions prepared through emulsion polymerization using key bio-based monomers derived from plant-based ethanol or butanol, with biomass content in the emulsions reaching 30%, 30%, and 50% respectively.
Coatings World: With the launch of various AI products, the impact of digitalization and intelligent transformation is growing. What are Wanhua’s layouts in this regard?
Hua: AI has brought tremendous opportunities to the chemical industry, enabling enterprises to achieve significant improvements in production efficiency, cost control, safety protection, and R&D innovation. This, in turn, enhances their market competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities. Currently, Wanhua Chemical has developed and implemented dozens of AI application scenarios, including using AI accelerate the R&D process; building smart factories to fully integrate the production and supply chain and achieve integrated and efficient coordination of production operations in the park; and constructing intelligent parks to ensure the safety, intelligence, and greenness of the park.
Computational chemistry and machine learning are utilized to assist in the molecular design of catalysts. By establishing structure–activity relationship models, the algorithm can recommend potential molecules based on given selectivity and other indicators of the catalysts, which are then synthesized and verified. This approach can identify feasible schemes from thousands of possibilities involving dozens of materials, significantly improving research and
development efficiency.
Also, in 2024, we officially launched the Wanhua Materials Intelligent Assistant, a large-scale material model-based intelligent Q&A system. This system leverages AI technology to provide customers with more efficient and convenient services for product consultation and technical support. By conducting secondary pre-training, fine-tuning, and alignment of open-source large-language models, it has been transformed into a “versatile and specialized” material-oriented large-scale model. Moreover, the model integrates the company’s product knowledge base, enabling it to offer customers Q&A services for product consultation, grade recommendations, and technical support. This helps customers obtain company product information more conveniently and quickly, understand product features, application scenarios, and common problem-solving methods, and enhance customer experience and efficiency.
Coatings World: How does Wanhua Chemical layout the global market to cope with international competition and challenges?
Hua: 1) Competitive Product System: Wanhua Chemical has established itself as a pioneer in developing and applying high-performance materials. We have built seven R&D centers across Yantai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing in China, as well as in Spain and Hungary. Our continuous investment in frontier technologies like synthetic biology, electrochemistry, and CO2 utilization keeps us at the forefront of technological innovation.
2) Global Supply Network: With nine major production bases and plants strategically located worldwide, including in China, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, and over 60 storage centers supporting 144 countries and regions, Wanhua ensures stable and efficient product supply. We not only guarantees efficient production but also utilizes advanced logistics and warehousing technologies for quick delivery and real-time monitoring, ensuring rapid response and high customer satisfaction.
3) Localized Services: By establishing subsidiaries and offices in 18 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, we have formed a strong marketing network to manage our global business. Wanhua ensures efficient support and localized services for global customers. This global marketing layout brings us closer to markets, allowing us to understand customer needs and provide more targeted products and solutions, enhancing customer satisfaction and market competitiveness.
Coatings World: How does Wanhua Chemical help customers achieve sustainable development in coatings?
Hua: With the establishment of industry-related laws and regulations, as well as the growing demands of customers, Wanhua has been continuously investing in green and environmental protection, energy-saving and emission-reduction, and energy efficiency improvement. From the very beginning of developing coating resins, Wanhua has prioritized the environmental-friendliness and high performance of products. In addition to the bio-based products mentioned earlier, we also have the following:
1) Water-based Systems:
The industry is shifting from solvent-based to water-based coatings, we have established technology platforms for water-based polyurethane, acrylic, UV - curing, 2K, and epoxy coatings. These platforms cover multiple fields, including building materials, industrial coatings, adhesives, and packaging inks.
2) Process Optimization:
Adhering to the concept of “reducing, lightening, and low-energy-consumption,” we have built research and development platforms for microspheres, water-based spray-able damping materials, and low-temperature-unblocking curing agents. Under the premise of ensuring performance, these platforms can effectively improve product utilization efficiency, reduce the weight of coatings, and lower the energy consumption during the coating application process, thereby achieving lower carbon emissions.
3) New Energy Applications:
• The raw materials for wind power are being iterated and upgraded. The epoxy-amine curing agents made from WANAMINE® IPDA/H12MDA/8100 have high reactivity and excellent corrosion resistance, weather resistance, and heat resistance. During the resin impregnation of fibers, they can maintain a low viscosity. At the same time, they meet the characteristics of long operation time for large-structure molding processes and fast post-curing. They are the most suitable curing agents for the epoxy resin matrix of wind turbine blades. In addition, structural adhesives can also be prepared from WANAMINE® IPDA/H12MDA/8100. During the curing process, the shrinkage rate is low, avoiding structural defects caused by internal stress. After curing, the toughness is excellent, providing a strong bond between the web and the blade cavity to resist tensile and shear stresses during the rotation of the blade.
• New energy vehicles have become an important driving force in reducing exhaust emissions and promoting the transformation of the energy structure. The epoxy curing agents for composite battery casings made from WANAMINE® IPDA/H12MDA have high reactivity, good mechanical properties, and excellent heat resistance. The insulating varnish made from WANAMINE® MDA-100 has good electrical insulation, heat resistance, and high mechanical strength. The damping coatings Antamp® 0647 and Antamp® 0649 for passenger vehicles have achieved an 80% reduction in TVOC through low-odor technology, with a dry-rubber-odor rating of less than 2, reaching the leading odor level for passenger vehicle damping coatings and thus gaining recognition from mainstream automakers.