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[Industry Reports]：Application and market analysis of polyurethane, EPS, EVA, PE and PP foam materials in various industries

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foaming material, also known as "foaming agent", or foaming substance, refers to foaming substance that can generate bubbles when the substance can not vaporize, making it a multi-empty substance, such as foaming plastic, foaming rubber, foaming resin, foaming food, etc. Due to its wide range of uses, the market size is currently growing at a 20% rate every year. In the field of related new materials, the market growth rate of foaming materials is currently a fast-growing industry in the application field of new materials, which has also attracted great attention from the industry.

Figure 1 Foam Material According to Material Classification

Fig. 2 foaming materials according to the nature of the classification

everyone mentioned foaming materials, the first thought is polyurethane foaming materials, because the polyurethane foaming materials in the scope and scale of application, is China's foaming materials accounted for the largest proportion of products.

Polyurethane foaming materials are mainly divided into soft PU foam, hard PU foam and spray foam. Flexible PU foam is used for various applications, such as cushioning, clothing filling and filtration, while hard PU foam is mainly used for thermal insulation boards and laminated insulation materials in commercial and residential buildings and (sprayed) foam roofs.

the main component of polyurethane foam (PU foam) is polyurethane, and the raw materials are mainly polyisocyanate and polyol. By adding appropriate additives, a large amount of foam is generated in the reaction product, thus obtaining polyurethane foam products. Polyurethane foam is generally only used for cushioning packaging or cushion materials of high-grade precision instruments, valuable instruments, high-grade handicrafts, etc., and can also be made into exquisite and excellent protective packaging containers. On-site foaming can also be used to cushion and pack articles.

The main application
of polyurethane foaming materials is
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Polyurethane foaming materials can be divided into: polyisocyanates, polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polymer polyols, polyurea polyols, among which the types are different, The downstream application is also different.

Polyisocyanates: toluene diisocyanate (TDI), polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate (PAPI), diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and liquefied MDI (L-MDI), etc., can be used to produce high resilience soft foam, whole skin foam, semi-hard foam, high resilience foam.

Polyether polyols: Polyether polyols used to produce polyurethane soft foams are generally long-chain, low-functionality polyethers. High-activity polyethers are mainly used for high-resilience soft foams, and can also be used for semi-rigid foams and other foam products.

Polyester polyols: low-viscosity aliphatic polyester polyols, such as polyadipate diethylene glycol with a hydroxyl value of about 56mg KOH/g, can be used to make polyester polyurethane foams.

polymer polyols: rigid styrene, acrylonitrile homopolymers and copolymers and graft polymers. These vinyl polymers act like organic "fillers" and improve load-bearing properties. It can be used to produce high hardness soft block foam, high resilience foam, hot molded soft foam, semi-rigid foam, self-skinning foam, reaction injection molding (RIM) products, etc.

Polyurea polyol: is also a special polymer modified polyol, which can be used for high resilience soft foam, semi-rigid foam and soft foam. Currently, there are few products on the market.
According to the scale of the industry, the market scale of polyurethane foaming materials accounts for the largest proportion, with a market scale of about 4.67 million tons, of which soft foam polyurethane foaming materials are the main materials, accounting for about 56%. With the vigorous development of China's electronic and electrical fields, especially the improvement of refrigerators and construction applications, the market scale of polyurethane foam materials also continues to grow.
In addition to polyurethane invoice materials, common foaming materials include EPS foaming materials, EVA foaming materials, PE and PP foaming materials.
EPS Foaming Material: is a light polymer. It uses polystyrene resin to add foaming agent and heat to soften at the same time to generate gas to form a rigid closed-cell foam.
of
EVA foaming materials: zhuan foaming materials made of EVA and low-density polyethylbene as raw materials, adding du to other zhi aids, and then molding and foaming dao or injection foaming. With excellent chemical properties, it is widely used in the manufacture of shoe materials, luggage lining, toy materials, sporting goods materials, building materials, and various emerging applications such as electronic accessories and automotive interiors.

PE and PP foaming materials: PE or PP materials are foamed. Generally, they have excellent cushioning properties, heat insulation properties, toughness, etc., have excellent chemical corrosion resistance and processability, and have low cost. It is widely used in machine cushioning materials, instruments, glassware, food cushioning pads, etc.

, the global foaming material market is about 93.9 billion US dollars, of which the annual growth rate is 4%-5%. It is estimated that by 2026, the global foaming material market is expected to grow to 118.9 billion US dollars. Among them, the key to driving the rapid development of foaming materials lies in the increasing demand for foaming materials in developing countries, mainly the increase in investment in infrastructure, new housing projects and non-residential building renovation in China, Brazil, India and other countries. In the future, China's foaming materials will continue to show a rapid growth trend.

01 Application of Foaming Materials in Automobile Industry

. In the growth rate of the foaming market, the development of the automobile industry drives the growth of the demand for foaming materials, which is the main direction of the growth of the foaming material emerging market. Under the dual-carbon trend, energy-saving transformation is an important direction to solve the dual-carbon problem, and automotive lightweight is the mainstream development trend of the automotive industry, and lightweight solutions based on material substitution have attracted the attention of the industry.

In the new trend of automotive lightweight development, material substitution-based lightweight solutions have attracted industry attention. Foamed materials have the advantages of light weight, heat insulation, sound insulation, shock absorption, and low price. They are widely used in automotive interior parts such as instrument panels, ceiling interiors, and door interior panels. In recent years, with the improvement of foaming technology, micro-foaming materials have shone brilliantly in the field of automobile lightweight and are favored by automobile manufacturers.

common vehicle foaming materials mainly include PU foam, EPP foam, PE foam, EPDM foam, CR foam and other types. According to incomplete statistics, hundreds of kilograms of foaming materials are used in a car.

The main foaming material applications
in the automotive industry

.
In the automotive industry, foaming materials are widely used in safety seat shock-absorbing materials, bumper internal anti-collision cushioning materials, sun visors, ceiling linings, side door anti-collision energy-absorbing blocks, cushion materials, armrest tool boxes, sound insulation panels and decorative strips and other interior decorations.

(1)EPP in the automotive industry application survey

EPP (polypropylene) foam material is polypropylene resin as the matrix, after foaming to form a foam material. In addition to high heat resistance, high impact energy absorption capacity, good resilience and thermoformability, it also has the advantage of recycling. Widely used in bumpers, bottom guards, sun visors and other automotive interior and exterior parts. EPP is a kind of high crystalline composite material with excellent performance. With its unique and superior performance, EPP has become the fastest growing and most environmentally friendly compressive buffer and thermal insulation material. EPP can be used in construction, packaging, automobiles, sporting goods, toys, toolboxes, food packaging boxes, home appliances, daily necessities, etc., with a wide range of uses. And EPP is included in the technical materials part of the key field of "Made in China 2025" and is called "green" foam material.

Figure EPP in the automotive industry application

in the front and rear bumper internal anti-collision cushioning materials, EPP accounts for 98% of the car bumper cushioning materials, the main substitute is PU soft foam, but the bumper requires good energy absorption And impact resistance, and the core material is required to be light in weight. EPP is 40%-50% lighter than PU when achieving the same energy absorption effect, in addition, automobile lightweight has always been the development direction of the industry, so PU has little substitution for EPP.

EPP products have high strength, good toughness, non-toxic and environmental protection, and good insulation effect of hollow foaming structure. It is an ideal material for making takeaway boxes. EPP can meet the strength and assembly requirements of products by adjusting the foaming rate. For example, the EPP box can be externally installed with spring handles to facilitate external transportation. In addition, EPP is widely used in the automotive field, such as energy-absorbing material blocks in automobile bumpers, sun visors, steering wheels and safety seats, etc. EPP is used in the automotive industry and can effectively improve fuel efficiency. Due to its elasticity, heat resistance, oil resistance, non-toxicity, recyclability and shock resistance, EPP foam is an important material for the automotive manufacturing industry.

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according to the flat head elder brother preliminary investigation, China's automobile industry in the application of EPP scale in 22,000 tons, the annual rate of about 15% high growth, is expected in the future of the automobile industry EPP consumption scale will reach 6-70,000 tons.

(2)EPS in the automotive industry application survey

EPS for expanded polystyrene, also known as polystyrene foam, is a light polymer, in the automotive industry, is widely used in car seats.

According to the investigation, in the field of car seats, the 80% is EPS foaming material, while the 20% uses other foaming materials, such as EPP, EPE, etc.

According to relevant statistics,

EPS in the automotive industry application scale of about 25.995 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.64%, the automotive industry for EPS seat sales of 17.836 million sets.

(3) Polyurethane foam application investigation

automotive interior decoration materials usually use polyurethane foam materials (soft foam, hard foam), accounting for more than 80%. There are many substitutes, such as EPP, EPS, foamed EVA, XPE, etc. PU materials have obvious light weight and cost advantages compared with other materials, at the same time, it has good heat insulation, sound insulation, energy absorption and vibration reduction performance.

Figure Automotive Interior Use PU Materials

PU (polyurethane) foam is divided into soft polyurethane foam, rigid polyurethane foam, semi-rigid polyurethane foam and self-skinning polyurethane foam four categories.

Flexible polyurethane foam: Flexible polyurethane foam has the characteristics of good toughness, small compression set, fast rebound, etc. Generally used for car sound insulation mats, ceiling lining, carpet backing, cushions, backrests, headrests, etc. In recent years, double-hardness or multi-hardness foam formed by multi-head extrusion die or MDI cold molding process has been used as a car cushion material to better improve the comfort of the cushion and is favored.

Semi-rigid polyurethane foam: It has high compression load and outstanding vibration damping performance, and is very suitable for manufacturing protective cushion materials for automobile instrument panels, handrails, door posts and other components. Among them, the semi-rigid polyurethane foam skin instrument panel replaces the traditional rigid PP instrument panel with better safety and comfort, and is more popular.

Rigid polyurethane foam:

has excellent heat insulation performance, high strength, good flame retardancy, dimensional stability, chemical resistance and other properties, used as engine hood and luxury passenger cars and refrigerated car compartment insulation materials.

self-skinning polyurethane foam: also known as whole skin molded foam. No other plastics are used as surface materials, and foam components are used to form surface materials and foam core materials at one time during foaming, which has good physical and mechanical properties. Widely used in steering wheel, armrest, headrest, door handle, etc.

polyurethane foam has a large foaming ratio range, adjustable density, and its mechanical properties (tensile strength and 50% compressive strength) have great changes with the increase of density, so it can be applied to different parts and different functions of the car Use conditions. At the same time, the 100% recyclable characteristics of polyurethane foam materials also make it meet the current repeatedly strengthened environmental protection regulations. Based on these advantages, polyurethane foam materials are more and more widely used in auto parts.

According to relevant statistical data,

the automobile industry's polyurethane foam material consumption accounts for about 14% of its total consumption, which is one of the key targets of P polyurethane foam industry research and development.

02 Application of Foam Materials in Large Household Appliance Industry

It is understood that foaming materials are widely used in the field of large-scale household appliances, especially refrigerators, air conditioners and other fields. On the one hand, foaming materials are used as heat insulation materials, on the other hand, foaming materials are used as sound insulation materials.

In refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, water heaters and other refrigeration or heating appliances of cold, heat preservation materials, microphones, audio and other electrical appliances of sound insulation lining materials and other fields, the application of foaming materials mainly include: polyurethane foam (PU)(polyether type), polyethylene cross-linked (XPE) and so on.

foam materials used in heat preservation and cold preservation environment are mainly PU (hard foam) and XPE, of which PU (hard foam) accounts for 80% and the main substitute is EPP. PU foam material has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and good processing performance, and is very suitable for use as heat insulation material, so it is widely used in the manufacture of refrigerator door and box insulation.

In addition, XPE is mainly used in the air conditioning field. It has heat insulation and excellent molding performance, and has beautiful appearance. It is generally used in air conditioning insulation pipes and heat insulation special-shaped parts.

substitute EPP has good heat insulation and sound insulation properties, is easy to degrade, can be reused, and is more environmentally friendly than other foaming materials. However, the monomer or raw material of EPP is not easy to obtain, and the production cost is relatively high. At this stage, EPP is not used for cost and process considerations.

In the field of sound insulation materials for large household appliances, glass fiber, asbestos fiber, sound-absorbing cotton and other inorganic materials are mainly used. There are few foaming materials for sound insulation, mainly PU (soft foam), accounting for about 5% of sound insulation materials, which can be replaced by inorganic sound insulation and sound-absorbing materials.

In addition, the opening of PU soft foam has good sound absorption and shock absorption performance, can be used for broadband audio device indoor sound insulation materials, can also be directly used to cover noise sources (such as blowers and air conditioners, etc.), but rarely directly used for sound internal sound absorption and sound insulation.

, according to the survey, at present, China's large household appliances in the field of foaming materials, market consumption growth rate remained at 6% to 8%, 202020due to the epidemic caused by the increase in the consumption of home appliances, from September last year to the first half of 2021, the transition to digest the large household appliances export consumption, resulting in 2021large household appliances export market fell sharply.

For the future, foaming materials in the field of large household appliances will continue to be upgraded and iterated. Among them, EPP has excellent material characteristics and will be widely used in many fields in the future. Relevant powerful enterprises can focus on it.

03 Application of Foam Materials in Shoe Material Industry

It is understood that in the field of shoe materials used foaming materials, mainly EVA, TPU, etc., other foaming materials are relatively cheap, the application accounted for relatively small.

in the field of shoe materials, EVA can show strong elasticity, resilience is very good, it has good heat insulation, shockproof effect, has good weather resistance, so in the shoe industry used very widely. However, EVA foaming raw materials also have certain restrictions, for example, the material is not very strong in tear resistance, and the peeling resistance is weak.

For the future, the use of EVA rubber and plastic is the future development direction of shoe materials. EVA rubber and plastic are blended with EPDM, POE, OBC and other elastomers based on EVA. For example, EPDM rubber type, POE high elasticity, OBC soft crystallinity, TPE softness, etc. are used to achieve the purpose of blending modification, thus improving EVA foaming performance.

According to the investigation, the application of vinyl polymer foam materials in the field of shoe materials, EVA foam materials accounted for more than 85%, is the most important application materials. In addition, there are also PE foaming, POE blending foaming and EPDM/EPM foaming materials in the shoe material field, all of which have a small proportion of applications.

For the future, considering the material characteristics and cost advantages, the application proportion of EVA foaming and POE blended foaming in the shoe material field will remain high, while the application proportion of other materials will decrease.

Figure: Application Proportion of Different Foam Materials in Shoe Materials

, in addition, in the field of shoe materials, the application of polyurethane foam materials accounts for 20%, which is far from the vinyl polymer foam materials account for 80%.

in polyurethane foam materials mainly refers to TPU materials. The prices of several main raw materials used in the production of TPU have shown a gradual downward trend in recent years. Some materials such as BDO have dropped significantly, thus making TPU more and more competitive. The application of EVA in the field of shoe materials may exceed 70% and will be replaced by new TPU.

04 Application of Foaming Materials in Construction Industry

construction is the earliest application field of foaming materials in China, and it is also the largest application field. The foaming materials in the construction field are mainly polystyrene foam board (EPS), extruded board (XPS) and polyurethane board (PU). It is mainly used in building exterior wall insulation board, sound insulation board, floor heating, etc.

, according to incomplete statistics, in 2020 China's construction sector consumption of polyurethane materials scale of more than 1.6 million tons, for many years continued to grow.

Figure

Building Wall Insulation Foam Material

According to investigation, in the field of wall insulation materials, there are materials that replace foaming materials, such as glass wool board, phenolic board, rock wool board, etc. However, because the thermal insulation performance and sound insulation performance are not as good as foaming materials, the current application situation is relatively small, and the walls of large-scale engineering equipment generally use foaming materials.

Figure: Application Proportion of Building Insulation Materials and Forecast of Future Consumption Growth

for the future, with the continuous improvement of China's building energy-saving signs, the market needs more high-quality materials with thermal insulation performance, polyurethane rigid foam will be the most ideal new generation of building thermal insulation materials. Through the development of the national "polyurethane building energy-saving application promotion" work, polyurethane materials have been paid attention to and recognized in the building field for their high-quality thermal insulation performance, and have begun to be applied in the Chinese building energy-saving market. Pingtou elder brother believes that China's polyurethane rigid foam will become an important part of the field of external wall insulation in the future, and it is expected that the future consumption growth rate will maintain 4%-5% growth.

05 Application of Foam Material in Disposable Tableware Industry

foaming materials in the field of disposable tableware. It is the earliest applied foaming material and one of the foaming materials with shrinking consumption growth. It is mainly polystyrene foam board (EPS), polyadipic acid/butylene terephthalate (PBAT) or other foaming materials.

In the field of disposable tableware, EPS is the main foaming material, and currently still accounts for the 95% absolute share of foaming material applications in the field of disposable tableware., the Chinese government listed disposable foamed plastic tableware in the catalogue of backward technology or products in 1999, 2005 and 2011 and was eliminated. However, the National Development and Reform Commission stated on March 28, 2013 that because disposable foamed plastic tableware meets the relevant national food packaging standards and is conducive to energy saving, it has decided to delete this product from the elimination category of the industrial structure guidance catalog and allow production. Use, so there are still EPS foaming materials in disposable lunch boxes.

In addition, on January 19, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution, pointing out that the use of straw-coated lunch boxes that meet the performance and food safety requirements in the field of catering and take-out Bio-based products, degradable plastic bags and other alternative products. By the end of 2020, the nationwide catering industry will ban the use of non-degradable disposable plastic straws. Catering services in built-up areas and scenic spots in cities above prefecture level are prohibited from using non-degradable disposable plastic tableware.

In the field of disposable lunch boxes, degradable materials will be the mainstream in the future, mainly referring to PBAT products. In the future, disposable lunch box applications in the field of degradable material foam material consumption growth rate will exceed 20%.

Figure: Proportion of Foam Materials and Consumption Growth Rate in Disposable Tableware

05 Application of Foaming Materials in Packaging Industry

It is understood that foaming materials are widely used in the packaging industry, mainly in internal packaging, container fixing and related fields, such as packaging materials for wine bottles. In the packaging field, the main types of foaming materials are polystyrene foam board (EPS), polypropylene foam (EPP), polyethylene foam (XPE), etc.

in the packaging field, EPS is the main foaming material, accounting for nearly 60%, followed by EPP, XPE and other foaming materials, accounting for 20% and 15% respectively. For the future, EPS has non-degradable and weak material characteristics, especially the hardness cannot be compared with EPP and other materials. Therefore, the consumption growth rate of XPS in the field of packaging materials in the future shows a shrinking trend, while the consumption growth rate of EPP and XPE foaming materials will maintain a high growth rate in the future, with the estimated consumption growth rate being 7%-10%.

The proportion of foaming materials used in packaging materials is shown in the

diagram.

06 Application of Foaming Materials in Electronic Industry

the electronic field of foaming materials, mainly in the field of wire and cable applications, mainly as the external insulation layer of wire and cable, coating layer, especially suitable for ultra-high voltage cable applications. In the wire and cable industry, foaming materials mainly include polyethylene cross-linked (XLPE), foamed polyethylene (EPE), PVC (cross-linked PVC and PVC plastic), foamed EVA, cross-linked ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (XLEPDM), etc.

Figure

Main Material Composition of Wire and Cable Coating

For the future, XLPE is more suitable for the cladding of high-voltage cables and ultra-high-voltage cables, and has broad development space in the future. In the future, China's wire and cable cladding in XLPE application consumption growth rate of up to 10% and above growth.

07 Application of Foam Material in Helmet Industry

In the inner anti-collision layer of the helmet industry, all foamed materials are used, which mainly play the role of anti-collision buffer and energy absorption. At present, EPS or EPP materials are mostly used as foaming materials in the anti-collision buffer layer of helmets, and other materials are rarely used.

Application of Foam Material in Helmet Industry

According to investigation, the helmet industry's foaming materials, 55% of which are EPP foaming materials, 35% EPS foaming materials, and a small amount of PU and other materials. For the future, EPP has strong rigidity and processability. It is expected that its application in the helmet industry will continue to maintain a high growth rate, with an estimated growth rate of more than 5%. However, EPS has inherent material disadvantages, such as low hardness and fragile characteristics, so the future EPS consumption scale in helmet industry will maintain a shrinking trend.

Figure

Proportion of Foam Materials in Helmet Industry

08 Application of Foaming Materials in Sports Equipment Industry

sports equipment industry also has a wide range of foam material applications, such as protective gear, surfboard, floor mats, sports balls, protective cushions, impact cushions and other sports products, used as cushioning and shockproof materials and filling materials. The main products are polyethylene crosslinking (XPE), polyurethane foam (PU), foamed polypropylene (EPP), pearl cotton (EPE), etc.

In the sports equipment industry, XPE is the main application foam material, accounting for more than 70%, followed by PU, EPE, EPP and other materials. In the field of sports, PU is mostly sponge-like, and open-hole PU soft foam has good shock absorption performance, so it is likely to develop in the direction of combining XPE and PU in the future, I .e. the inner core material is XPE and the surface material is PU.

In addition, EPE can be recycled and environmentally friendly. Therefore, in the future, EPP applications in the sports equipment industry will maintain a high growth rate, with an estimated growth rate of more than 10%. However, EPP, as a substitute, has better cushioning and shockproof performance, but has higher production cost and is mostly used in high-end equipment.

Figure: Proportion of Main Foam Materials in Sports Equipment Industry

Source: China Automotive Materials Network, Chemical Pingtou Brother, Sohu.com,

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