Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) is formed by the condensation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and butyraldehyde, which is the most important variety of polyvinyl acetal products that have been industrially produced. PVB resin and plasticizer triethylene glycol diethyloctanoate (3GO) or di-n-hexyl adipate (DHA) can be mixed, plasticized, extruded, and cast to obtain PVB film materials (i.e., PVB interlayer film or PVB film), which are mainly used in architectural laminated glass, automotive front windshield safety glass, photovoltaic encapsulation film and other fields.
Since its inception in the 1930s, PVB film has been an excellent laminated material in the field of safety glass such as construction and automobiles, and in recent years, the application field of PVB is still expanding, and high-performance categories are constantly penetrating in the fields of photovoltaic encapsulation film, bulletproof glass and aerospace materials.
Due to the strong adhesion of PVB, the glass fragments of architectural laminated glass and automobile front windshield can still firmly adhere to the PVB film after self-explosion or external force breaking, which can greatly reduce the safety threat of glass fragments falling from a high altitude or impact shattering, and the PVB laminated glass itself has excellent impact resistance, and its multi-layer structure or special PVB laminated glass can resist the penetration of bullets and has excellent safety performance. In addition, according to Changchun Chemical’s PVB product manual, in the same test environment, PVB laminated glass is significantly ahead of ordinary glass in terms of ultraviolet isolation ability and sound insulation effect, and PVB laminated glass also has the advantages of heat insulation and energy saving, color-changing light, non-toxic and environmental protection.
According to Markets, the global PVB market size was approximately US$3.1 billion in 2019, with a CAGR of 6.7% in ’09-19, and is expected to reach US$4.4 billion in 2024 (CAGR of about 7.3% in ’20-24), mainly benefiting from the increasing demand in emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific, as well as the application penetration of automotive high-grade glass, photovoltaic and protective glass. According to MordorIntelligence, in 2021, the automotive and construction sectors accounted for nearly 90% of the global PVB downstream applications, and in terms of the consumer market, according to the data of China Research Network, in 2019, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America accounted for about 40%/28%/25% of consumption, respectively. Domestically, according to the China Research Network, the domestic PVB market size will be about 8 billion yuan in 2020, and it is expected to reach about 12.1 billion yuan in 25 years, with a CAGR of 9% in 21-25 years, mainly benefiting from the improvement of building safety, energy-saving requirements, and the growth of demand under the continuous penetration of applications in the fields of automobiles and photovoltaics.
In terms of laminated glass in buildings, according to the “Regulations on the Management of Building Safety Glass”, the parts that need to use glass as a building material such as exterior windows of buildings with 7 floors and above, window glass with an area of more than 1.5 m2 or floor-to-ceiling windows with a glass bottom edge less than 500 mm from the final decoration surface, curtain walls, and parts that are susceptible to human injury caused by impact and impact must use safety glass; Continuously increase the proportion of self-use deep-processed glass, and promote the promotion and application of energy-saving glass products and glass for the solar industry”, under the continuous development of the construction industry and policy guidance, the domestic green and energy-saving glass application market is expected to continue to expand, and the demand for PVB laminated glass is expected to continue to grow because of its advantages in safety, energy saving, sound insulation and environmental protection.
Post time: Feb-03-2024