At present, chemical fiber, as the world's largest textile material, is widely used in clothing, home textiles, industrial textiles and other fields. China is the world's largest producer of chemical fibers, with an output of more than 50 million tons in 2018. accounting for about 70% of the world's total output.

With the increasing attention paid by the country to energy conservation and environmental protection, the high energy consumption and high pollution of traditional chemical fiber dyeing methods have become a major unfavorable factor affecting the development of chemical fiber and downstream textile industries. If the stock solution coloring technology is used, most of the dyeing and finishing processes can be omitted, the discharge of waste gas and wastewater can be reduced, and the production water and electricity can be greatly saved, which is in line with the concept of energy conservation and environmental protection.

Compared with the traditional printing and dyeing method, 1 ton of stock solution-dyed fiber processed into textiles will achieve a reduction of 32 tons and 1.2 tons of wastewater and CO2 emissions respectively, and a reduction of 230 kWh and 3.5 cubic meters of electricity and steam consumption respectively.

It should be noted that the domestic masterbatch technology began in the late 1970s. Shanghai Dyeing and Chemical Plant, Beijing Institute of Chemical Technology and other units took the lead in undertaking research and development projects with the support of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In the 1980s, with the domestic reform and opening up and the comprehensive development of the economy, the output of plastic products also rose sharply.

Functional masterbatch also occupies an extremely important position in the plastic industry. It can be said that the development level of the functional masterbatch industry is also an important symbol of the development level of the entire plastic processing industry, and it is an important guarantee for the diversification and multifunctionality of plastic products. Plastic is an important new material in the future strategic emerging industries. With the continuous advancement of technology, plastic products will be given more functional characteristics.

This also led to the development of the functional masterbatch market. Domestic functional masterbatches can basically meet the development needs of the three major synthetic materials of plastics, rubber and chemical fibers.

Plastics:

The pigment content of plastic masterbatches is usually between 10% and 20%. When used, it is added to the plastic that needs to be colored at a ratio of 1:10 to 1:20. The masterbatch and the colored plastic can be the same variety or compatible varieties.

Masterbatches are relatively mature and widely used in the field of plastic products. 85% of the colorants of plastic products use masterbatches. Polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, plexiglass, nylon, epoxy resin, amino plastics and other varieties all have corresponding masterbatches.

In the plastic industry, the market demand for masterbatches is concentrated in engineering plastic products (home appliances, automobiles), building plastic products (pipes, profiles), agricultural film products, plastic packaging products, etc. The home appliance, automobile, and building plastic products industries have high requirements for masterbatches and large usage, which has a driving effect on the development of masterbatches.

Rubber:

The preparation method of masterbatches for rubber is similar to that of plastic masterbatches, and the pigment content is between 0.5% and 2%. The pigments, plasticizers and synthetic resins selected should be varieties that match rubber. Pigments are mainly used as reinforcing agents and colorants in rubber.

Black pigments are mainly carbon black; white pigments are zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, etc.; other pigments are iron oxide, chrome yellow, ultramarine, chromium oxide green, etc.

Carbon black masterbatches are widely used in wires, cables, and tires, and their usage occupies the first place among all masterbatches. At present, carbon black enterprises at home and abroad cannot fully produce carbon black masterbatches. Research should be conducted on tire carbon black masterbatches to improve the performance of their products, and the market potential is huge.

Fiber:

Fiber coloring is when the masterbatch is directly added to the fiber viscose or fiber resin during spinning, so that the pigment appears during spinning.

Compared with traditional dyeing, fiber solution coloring processes resin and masterbatch into colored fibers and then directly uses them for textiles, omitting the post-dyeing and finishing process. It has the advantages of small investment, energy saving, no three wastes, and low coloring cost. The pigments used in fiber coloring masterbatches are required to be bright in color, good in dispersibility, good in thermal stability, light resistance, solvent resistance, acid and alkali resistance, bleach resistance, and insoluble in water. Inorganic or organic pigments can be used.

With the continuous upgrading of the domestic chemical fiber industry and the continuous strengthening of environmental protection and energy-saving policies, the application proportion of fiber masterbatches, the core raw material of solution coloring, will gradually increase, and product substitution will also strongly promote the rapid development of the fiber masterbatch industry.

As an energy-saving and environmentally friendly material, fiber masterbatch belongs to the green manufacturing field that is supported by the state. In recent years, the domestic fiber masterbatch industry has shown a rapid development trend.

There are many domestic masterbatch production companies, but the production scale is small. There is no large-scale masterbatch production company yet, and the competitiveness is insufficient compared with large foreign multinational companies.