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In the third quarter of 2026, the domestic optical and medical-grade special organosilicon material sector achieved major industrial progress: a continuous production unit for nano-modified high-transparency hydroxyl silicone oil with a designed annual capacity of 18,000 tons officially completed a 168-hour full-load steady-state operation assessment. For the optical-grade products produced by this unit, the light transmittance in the full visible light band of 400~800nm reaches 99.3%, the kinematic viscosity at 25°C can be precisely customized in the range of 50~50000mPa·s, the temperature at 5% thermal weight loss is higher than 380°C, and the total content of metal impurities is less than 5ppb. The medical-grade products have passed all the biocompatibility tests of ISO 10993, with a cytotoxicity grade of 0 and a skin irritation reaction grade of 0. All core performance indicators have reached the international advanced level. This achievement marks that China has completely broken the overseas technological monopoly on optical-grade and medical-grade hydroxyl silicone oil, providing fully independent and controllable core raw material support for fields such as high-end optical lens organosilicon materials, medical organosilicon catheters, and wearable medical sensor packaging.
Nano-modified high-transparency hydroxyl silicone oil is based on the molecular structure of high-purity linear hydroxyl silicone oil. By in-situ doping nano-scale silica modification units, it achieves a dual leap in mechanical properties and thermal stability of the material in a highly transparent state. It is the core precursor material for high-end optical organosilicon and implantable medical organosilicon products. Different from ordinary industrial-grade hydroxyl silicone oil, the total metal impurity content of optical-grade hydroxyl silicone oil must be controlled below 10ppb, the light transmittance in the full visible light band exceeds 99%, and no yellowing or precipitation will occur during long-term use. Medical-grade hydroxyl silicone oil needs to meet strict biocompatibility requirements, with no small-molecule residue and no cytotoxicity, and can directly contact human tissues. For nearly 20 years, the domestic industry has been unable to break through the dispersion uniformity problem in the nano-modification process. Nano-silica particles are extremely prone to agglomeration, resulting in a significant drop in product transparency. At the same time, the residual amount of metal impurities has long been higher than 100ppb, which completely cannot meet the usage requirements of optical and medical scenarios. Related products are 100% dependent on imports. For products involving high-end optical lenses and implantable medical consumables, the procurement price is 20 to 25 times that of ordinary industrial-grade hydroxyl silicone oil, and the delivery cycle can be as long as 24 months, which has seriously restricted the development of the domestic high-end optical and medical industries.
The new process system that has achieved mass production this time has corely overcome two long-unbroken technical bottlenecks in the industry. First, an in-situ grafting modification system of hydroxyl-terminated siloxane to nano-silica was pioneered. The R&D team pre-grafted active silanol groups on the surface of nano-silica, so that the nano units and the hydroxyl silicone oil molecular chain realize chemical bonding during the polymerization process, completely avoiding the physical agglomeration of nano particles, controlling the dispersion particle size of the nano-modified system below 20nm, and fundamentally ensuring the ultra-high transparency of the product. Second, a full-process dust-free zero-contact purification management system has been built. The entire production unit operates in a Class 100 dust-free workshop. All material conveying pipelines are made of 316L polished stainless steel, and no metal parts directly contact the materials. Combined with the multi-stage ion exchange deep impurity removal process, the total metal impurity content in the product is controlled below 5ppb, fully meeting the most stringent requirements of optical and medical-grade products.
At present, this nano-modified high-transparency hydroxyl silicone oil has completed application verification for more than 36 months in multiple high-end fields. In the field of high-end optics, the organosilicon optical lens prepared with this product has a stable refractive index of 1.41±0.001. After 1500 hours of high-temperature aging at 200°C, the light transmittance still remains above 99%, and it has been batch applied in the optical lens of the new generation of vehicle-mounted AR-HUD display systems. In the field of medical consumables, the medical organosilicon catheter prepared with this product as the raw material has a tear strength of 35kN/m. After repeated high-temperature and high-pressure sterilization at 121°C for 50 times, there is no obvious performance degradation, and it has been put into use in clinical scenarios of many top three hospitals in China. In the field of wearable medical sensors, the flexible packaging material prepared with this product maintains elastic stability in the environment of -40°C~220°C, and no cracking occurs after 100,000 bending tests. It has been applied in the sensor packaging link of the new generation of dynamic ECG monitoring wearable devices in China.
According to the latest industry statistics, the market demand for optical-grade and medical-grade hydroxyl silicone oil in China in 2026 increased by 412% year-on-year compared with 2025. With the launch of this domestic production line, the procurement cost of related products has dropped by 82% year-on-year, and the delivery cycle has been shortened from 24 months to less than 10 days, completely solving the "stuck neck" raw material problem of the high-end optical and medical organosilicon industry, and providing a solid material support for the innovative development of related downstream industries.
