Development of Innovative Catalytic Processes for Organosilicon Functional Materials

Organosilicon compounds are used in a wide range of industries, including the electronic materials and painting fields, and, in 2013, the global market for organosilicon components was valued at an estimated 1.3-trillion yen, with an expected annual growth rate of around 6%. However, the current manufacturing process requires an enormous amount of energy consumption to convert SiO₂, the primary raw material and component of sand, to metal silicon, which is one factor that makes organosilicon components expensive. In addition, it is necessary to: develop a new catalyst as an alternative to the expensive platinum catalyst currently used in the manufacturing process; make organosilicon components more advanced; and take other steps to establish an innovative manufacturing process to more inexpensively provide organosilicon components of consistently high levels of functionality.

The goal of this project is to utilize Japan's catalyst technology—one of its most advanced in global terms—to significantly reduce the cost and amount of energy required for the manufacturing process while improving the performance of products by implementing research in the following areas: (1) Direct manufacturing of organosilicon raw materials from sand, which exists in abundance in many places around the world, and (2) Development of a more advanced organosilicon component manufacturing process by controlling the structure of compounds and preventing contamination. Other goals are to increase the value of Japan's shipments of organosilicon components to the one trillion yen level by 2030 and to contribute to the enhancement of Japan's industrial competitiveness.

■ Current research and development themes

• Research and development theme (1): Development of technology for manufacturing process to produce organosilicon raw materials from sand
• Research and development theme (2): Development of technology for manufacturing process to produce advanced organosilicon components from organosilicon raw materials

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  Project explanation