(July 15, 2026) Recently, the complete set of national standards for "Methylphenylsilicone Oil General Technical Specifications," which was compiled under the leadership of the National Organic Silicon Standardization Technical Committee, was officially implemented. This is the first national standard in China to cover the synthesis of phenylsilicone oil raw materials, production control, and performance testing for all types of products. It marks the end of a phase in the development of China's phenylsilicone oil industry characterized by the lack of unified specifications, and it significantly accelerates the process of domestic substitution for high-end phenylsilicone oils.
The newly issued national standards establish classification indicators for methylphenylsilicone oils with low, medium, and high phenyl content, setting mandatory requirements for product purity, metal ion residue, volatility, stability at high and low temperatures, and radiation resistance. These standards are specifically designed to meet the material needs of four strategic sectors: semiconductor immersion liquid cooling, new energy thermal management, aerospace lubrication, and high-end optical packaging. The standards require that electronic-grade phenylsilicone oils have a total metal ion content of less than 5 ppm, and high-phenyl radiation-resistant grades can operate at temperatures up to 320°C. This fills a gap in the evaluation system for high-end special phenylsilicone oils in China and provides an authoritative basis for downstream companies in selecting raw materials and conducting quality inspections.
I. Technological Mass Production Breakthroughs, Shaking Off Long-Term Overseas Monopolies
With the simultaneous implementation of national standards, there has been a leapfrog upgrade in the mass production capacity of the industrial chain. As of July 2026, leading companies such as Xin'an Group, Hesheng Silicon Industry, and Dongyue Organosilicon have built multiple production lines capable of producing tens of thousands of tons of high-purity phenyl silicone oil continuously. Xin'an's 12,000-ton ultra-high phenyl (with a phenyl molar content of 45%-60%) silicone oil plant is operating at full capacity with a product purity of 99.98%, completely breaking the decades-long monopoly held by companies like Dow, Wacker, and Shin-Ei in the high-end phenyl silicone oil market. Hesheng Silicon Industry's Xinjiang base has fully utilized its 100,000-ton annual production capacity for functional phenyl silicone oil, including 18,000 tons per year dedicated to AI computing immersion liquid cooling modified phenyl silicone oil. Thanks to the closed-loop nature of its entire industrial chain, the comprehensive cost of raw materials is more than 30% lower than that of imported products, and it has already supplied this material to top computing power companies such as Alibaba Cloud, Inspur, and ByteDance.
At the technological level, domestic companies have independently developed a three-stage molecular distillation technology with narrow distribution polymerization, which controls the batch variation in phenyl silicone oil viscosity within ±3% and reduces the content of harmful metal ions such as Na, K, and Fe to below 0.8 ppm. The core performance of these products matches that of internationally renowned imported brands.Compared to the six-month delivery cycle of overseas manufacturers, domestic manufacturers can produce small batches of samples in 7-15 days and provide stable, large-scale supply in 30 days. Additionally, with the recent 15% price increase for electronic-grade products by major overseas silicone oil companies, the cost-effective advantage of domestic phenyl silicone oils has become even more prominent. Many semiconductor and new energy companies have started to replace imported materials, resulting in a 22% reduction in the overall material cost for some IGBT thermal conductive gel manufacturers.
II. There is a structural surge in downstream demand, with AI liquid cooling becoming the largest growth driver.
Industry research data shows that the domestic phenyl silicone oil market is expected to exceed 16.5 billion yuan by 2026, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%. AI server immersion cooling, 800V high-voltage new energy vehicles, and power semiconductor packaging are the three core markets with significant growth.
AI computing power immersion cooling: Traditional methyl silicone oils are prone to volatilization at high temperatures and have high thermal weight loss, making them unsuitable for the heat dissipation requirements of high-density data centers. Phenyl-modified silicone oils, with their excellent thermal stability, insulation properties, and low volatility, have become the core material for immersion cooling fluids. The demand for phenyl silicone oils specifically for liquid cooling is expected to increase by 41.3% in the first half of 2026, with an annual additional demand of 18,000 tons, making this the fastest-growing segment of the market.Thermal Management in New Energy Vehicles: CATL and BYD have released new versions of their battery material whitepapers, which specify that the thermal conductivity of phenyl silicone oil must be such that the weight loss at 150°C over a thousand hours is ≤0.8%. This has led to a continuous increase in the procurement of mid-purity phenyl silicone oil for battery pack sealing and motor insulation applications. The market size for phenyl silicone oil in the power battery sector has exceeded 2.2 billion yuan, with an annual growth rate of over 28%.
Aerospace and Nuclear Power: High-purity, radiation-resistant phenyl silicone oil has been included in the "First Batch of Key New Materials Application Demonstration Catalog (2026 Edition)" and is used for lubricating spacecraft bearings and as a sealing medium in nuclear power plants. It can withstand gamma radiation levels of up to 10⁶Gy, with annual special procurement orders exceeding 320 million yuan.
In addition, high-refractive-index, high-purity phenyl silicone oil is seeing increasing penetration in the fields of premium cosmetics, optical lens packaging, and high-temperature resistant coatings for wind power systems. Medical-grade, low-cyclic phenyl silicone oil has obtained USP VI-level biocompatibility certification, expanding the market for lubricants in medical devices and cosmetic skincare materials.
III. New Trends in Industry Development: High purity, customization, and green, low-carbon practices are advancing concurrently.
Industry experts analyze that the phenyl silicone oil industry has shifted from simple expansion to high-end, precision customization.In the past, the industry mainly used general-purpose, low-phenyl silicone oils. Nowadays, companies are developing specialized grades based on specific downstream applications: low-freezing-point phenyl silicone oils suitable for extremely cold scientific research equipment at -65°C, long-chain phenyl silicone oils for high-temperature-resistant coatings that can withstand temperatures up to 400°C for extended periods, and ultra-low-purity lubricating silicone oils for semiconductor wafer processing. These differentiated products are being mass-produced, and the high-value-added specialty phenyl silicone oil market is expected to grow by more than 42% by 2026.
Green production has become a mandatory requirement for the industry's development. The new national standards include provisions for cleaner production and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emission control. Leading production lines are equipped with closed-loop distillation and waste gas recovery systems, which reduce volatile organic pollutant emissions by 60% compared to traditional batch processes. There is strict control over the residue of D4 and D5 cyclosiloxanes in products; the total amount of these compounds in cosmetics and electronic-grade products is kept within 10 ppm, meeting the global export compliance requirements of the EU's REACH and the US's FDA regulations. In the first quarter of 2026, domestic exports of high-end phenyl silicone oils increased by 72.4% year-on-year, and the average export price steadily rose. Overseas orders from ASEAN, the Middle East, and Europe continued to grow.
IV. Industry OutlookWith the standardized implementation and the maturation of domestic technologies
China's self-sufficiency rate of phenyl silicone oil is expected to exceed 95% by 2026, completely reducing its dependence on high-end material imports. The next step in the industrial chain will focus on two main areas of innovation: first, the development of optical-grade silicone oil with extremely high phenyl content to overcome the bottleneck in high-end lens and AR optical packaging materials; second, the performance improvement of thermal-conducting modified phenyl silicone oil to further enhance the efficiency of AI liquid cooling systems. As the manufacturing sectors of new energy, artificial intelligence, and aerospace continue to expand, phenyl silicone oil, as an irreplaceable functional silicone material for extreme operating conditions, holds broad long-term growth prospects and will continue to support the independent and controllable development of high-end materials in China.
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