Pilot Products have been Produced! Wanrun Shares Anchors PEEK New Track

HZ info:On September 18th, Wanrun Co., Ltd. disclosed the latest progress of PEEK (polyetheretherketone) materials on the interactive platform: the company has produced pilot products with a production capacity of about 100 tons. Currently, it is fully promoting downstream market promotion and product verification, and has sent samples to multiple downstream enterprises; We will dynamically optimize production capacity allocation based on market feedback and changes in demand. As early as August 27th, the company had already reported a breakthrough - its OLED photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) finished material (mainly used for OLED panel packaging) had successfully entered the downstream panel factory supply chain and achieved stable supply.

Wanrun Co., Ltd. was established in 1995, formerly known as Yantai Development Zone Fine Chemical Company. The company mainly engages in four major businesses: environmental protection materials, electronic information materials, new energy materials, and life sciences and pharmaceuticals. Its products cover multiple categories such as liquid crystal materials, OLED materials, polyimide materials, zeolites, perovskite photovoltaics, and medical pesticide intermediates.

The legend of PEEK began in the laboratory of Imperial Chemical Company (ICI) in the UK, and its outstanding performance was long limited for application in the field of defense and military industry. Its "hardcore" lies in its combination of multiple extreme properties: it can work continuously for 5000 hours at 260 ℃, with almost no change in strength and a melting point of up to 341 ℃; Mechanical strength and toughness comparable to metals, but able to withstand strong acid and alkali corrosion; Excellent wear resistance and sliding performance, with a density of only 50% of aluminum alloy and 36% of titanium alloy.

These characteristics make PEEK the "ideal material" for the robotics industry. In joint and transmission systems, harmonic reducers made of 30% carbon fiber reinforced CF/PEEK composite materials can increase load-bearing capacity by more than 30% while solving the problem of metal resonance; The knee joint gear set of Boston Dynamics Atlas robot is made of PEEK composite material, which can withstand a 2-meter high-altitude drop without damage. In the mechanical arm and skeleton structure, Tesla Optimus-Gen2 achieves an overall weight reduction of 10kg and a walking speed increase of 30% by applying CF/PEEK. Even for high-precision sensor systems, replacing metal with PEEK elastomer can increase the dynamic response frequency from 500Hz to 2kHz, greatly improving measurement accuracy.

From core moving parts to precision structures, PEEK is becoming the key password for robots to achieve "lightweight, high durability, and high precision".

Global production capacity pattern: domestic breakthrough under the "one super and many strong" situation

The global PEEK production capacity shows significant centralization characteristics. Wigs in the UK holds 60% of the global market share with a production capacity of 7150 tons per year, followed closely by Syensqo in Belgium (a spin off of Solvay) and Evonik in Germany, forming a pattern of "one super and many strong". Due to technological blockade, the research and development of PEEK in China started relatively late, but in the past 20 years, a breakthrough has been achieved from following and running simultaneously.

Jilin University's Special Engineering Plastics Research Center was the first to break the monopoly, and Jilin University High tech, established in 2000, completed industrial pilot testing; In 2014, China National Chemical Corporation achieved a thousand ton production capacity, ranking among the top four thousand ton PEEK companies in the world. Nowadays, domestic enterprises are accelerating production expansion: Pengfulong plans to build a 2000 ton high-performance polymer base, Waters Corporation's PEEK production capacity has been successfully put into operation, Jiangsu Junhua's 1000 ton project has passed the inspection line, and the domestic substitution market continues to expand.

In the upstream of the industrial chain, the localization of key raw material difluorobenzophenone (DFBP) is also worth paying attention to. Xinhan New Materials, Zhongxin Fluorine Materials, and Xingfu New Materials have become major global suppliers. Among them, Zhongxin Fluorine Materials' DFBP products have been certified by domestic and foreign customers and have achieved mass supply, laying the foundation for the independent and controllable PEEK industry chain.

Opportunities and challenges: PEEK breakthrough battle under the wave of robots

As humanoid robots enter the critical point of mass production - with global production capacity exceeding 500000 units by 2025, products such as OptimusGen-3 and Figure02 are accelerating their landing, and demand for PEEK is exploding. Data shows that the use of PEEK in robot joint components has reached 42%, driving material prices up 18% year-on-year; Institutions predict that 195 tons of PEEK will be consumed for every 100000 robots. If the global robot market reaches $12 billion by 2030, PEEK demand will grow exponentially.

However, the commercialization of PEEK still faces three challenges: first, high cost, CF/PEEK prices are about twice that of titanium alloys, which restricts large-scale applications; Secondly, there are technological barriers. The preparation of CF/PEEK prepreg in China is still in the laboratory stage, and high-end carbon fibers rely on imports; Thirdly, the verification cycle is long, with downstream customer certification taking 3-5 years and capacity ramp up taking about 7 years.

However, the dawn of breaking the deadlock has already emerged. Yongzhuo Holdings has achieved mass production of thousands of tons of T1100 grade carbon fiber, Guangwei Composite Materials has accelerated the development of PEEK prepreg test line, and China Research and Development Corporation has cooperated with Donghua University to tackle PEEK fiber technology. Collaborative breakthroughs in various links of the industry chain are driving PEEK from the "laboratory" to the "production line".

In addition, in terms of price, the domestic price of PEEK material is about 380000-410000 yuan/ton, and the foreign price is about 80000-1 million yuan/ton. Domestic products have obvious price advantages, and the trend of domestic substitution is determined.

From 'bottleneck' to 'new track'

The story of PEEK is not only a breakthrough in materials science, but also a microcosm of China's high-end manufacturing breakthrough. From the blocked military materials to the "key puzzle" of the robotics industry, behind its value reconstruction is the leap from "cost advantage" to "technological advantage" in domestic substitution. With the explosive demand in high-end fields such as humanoid robots, aerospace, and healthcare, PEEK is upgrading from a special material to a "new track" core, and the accelerated running of Chinese enterprises will eventually write their own chapter in this global competition.