Bright Prospect of Chemical New Materials
                         Zhang Guo
Chemical new materials  constitute  an  important  material
basis for the development of the  four  pillar  industries
and high and new-tech industries in China. They  are  also
indispensable basic materials for the national economy and
the national defense. Chemical new materials  have  always
been taken as a focus in the  chemical  industry  and  the
scientific and technological development in China.   Major
progress has been achieved and a  considerable  production
  scale  has  been  developed  in  chemical  new  materials
including engineering plastics such as PBT and  polyamides
PA11, engineering plastic alloys, modified PP,  functional
  polymeric  materials  such  as  magnetic  plastics,   and
electrochemical materials such  as  super  pure  reagents,
photoresist with  high  resolving  power  and  fluorescent
powder with high clarity.

(1) engineering plastics PBT and PA11 and their alloys
PBT, PPO, PA,   POM  and  PC  are  called  general- purpose
engineering plastics. They are mainly used in  electronics
and automobiles.
PA11 is an engineering plastics made from castor oil. It is
mainly used in automobile oil pipes and brake pipes, and a
small amount is also used in town  gas  pipes  and  powder
coatings.
China started research in engineering plastics in the  late
50's, and no commercial production scale has  been  formed
yet. The capacity of general-purpose engineering  plastics
is nearly 50 000 t/a The biggest capacity of a single unit
can reach 1 000 t/a.
There are more than 10 PBT producers in China, but  only  2
or 3 producers have a capacity of 1 000 t/a. The output of
PBT was 5 000 - 6 000 tons in 1996. (See CCR No. 24,  page
12) The demand of PBT has developed faster than the output
in the domestic market. The demand was only 2 000 - 3  000
tons in the mid-80's, but rose to over 5 000 tons  in  the
early 90's and further to 8 285 tons in 1995.  The  demand
is expected to reach 12 000 - 15 000 tons  in  2000.   The
  domestic  PBT  producers  have  small  production  scale,
outdated technology and incomplete varieties. The  variety
with high RTI value used in the  automobile  industry  and
the  variety  with  resistance  to  photoaging  and  flame
-retardant precipitation used in energy-saving lamp  stands
still have no domestic production. PBT in China is  mainly
  used  in  electronic  and  electric   appliances.     The
application is being actively expanded in  automobile  and
textile sectors in the recent years.
PA11 used in China has to be imported.  The  import  amount
was 700 tons in 1996 and 1 000 tons in 1997.   The  import
amount is expected to be 2 000 - 4 000 tons in 2000.   The
production in a 100 t/a pilot plant is conducted  only  in
Beijing.
Research in  engineering  plastic  alloys  has  started  to
  develop  in  China  with  the  introduction  of  advanced
technologies and production lines from abroad.   From  the
Sixth Five-year Plan period to the Ninth  Five- year  Plan
period, many famous institutions of higher  learning  have
conducted application research in alloys of PBT, PPO, PA6,
PA66, PC, PET and PPS. However, the  domestic  demand  can
not be satisfied in variety, quantity and quality.   There
is still a great gap with foreign countries.

(2) magnetic plastics
Magnetic  plastics  are  also   called   bonding   magnetic
functional materials. Research  in  magnetic  plastics  in
China  was  at  first  intended  to  meet  the  demand  of
convergence magnetic chips for black  &  white  television
sets and sealing strips for refrigerators. The Ministry of
Electronic Industry and the Ministry of Chemical  Industry
jointly set up a magnetic plastics  task  group  in  1984.
After 5 years' efforts the  process  of  special  magnetic
powder and magnetic plastics was developed. The technology
for production  of  magnetic  plastic  granules  was  also
   mastered.     Convergence   magnetic   components   were
manufactured to replace  imports.   Magnetic  plastics  in
China are mainly used in convergence components for  color
kinescopes, magnetic steel for  micromotors,   instruments
  and  gages  for  automobiles,    magnetic   washers   for
distributors and magnetic rings for pneumatic  components.
The output of like magnetic plastics was 5 280 tons in 1995,
of which more than 280 tons were  used  in  production  of
convergence components. The output  of  opposite  magnetic
plastics was 160 tons in 1995. The output is  expected  to
be 6 480 tons for like magnetic plastics and  1  600  tons
for opposite  magnetic  plastics.   The  output  of  color
kinescopes was 18.35 million pieces in 1997, needing 18.35
million sets of convergence  components.   The  output  of
color kinescopes is expected to be 60  million  pieces  in
2000, needing 60 million sets of  convergence  components.
With the development of small-sized,  light- weighted  and
integrated  products  in  the  electronic  and  automobile
industries, the demand of opposite magnetic plastics  will
i