Textiles and Construction Recover While 5G Opens New Frontiers for HCSO


      Textile treatment and construction waterproofing—traditional downstream pillars for HCSO—showed steady growth in the first half of 2026. Simultaneously, booming 5G infrastructure and new energy sectors have opened entirely new application frontiers for HCSO as crosslinkers and in advanced composites.
      In the first half of 2026, as global supply chains stabilized and domestic consumption recovered, HCSO’s two major traditional applications saw notable demand. Yet the real excitement lies in high-end industrial applications, where HCSO is becoming increasingly indispensable.
      In traditional textile finishing, HCSO remains a core component of fabric treatments due to its excellent water repellency and soft hand feel. Compared to conventional silicone oils, HCSO forms a thin, water-repellent film on fiber surfaces without sacrificing breathability. In recent months, downstream dyeing and printing mills have reported full order books, driving demand for highly stable, low-yellowing HCSO. Particularly as functional outdoor apparel exports surge, fabrics must meet higher wash durability standards, pushing HCSO producers to improve emulsification technology and develop products resistant to harsh laundering.
      Construction also provides a steady base load. With urban renewal and old community renovation projects advancing, demand for building waterproofing agents is expanding. HCSO is a key raw material for silicone-based water repellents, widely used for hydrophobic treatment of cement mortar, gypsum boards, and exterior coatings. Unlike traditional film-forming coatings, HCSO penetrates into substrate capillaries, providing structural waterproofing. In Q1 2026, multiple HCSO suppliers reported over 15% year-on-year growth in sales of low-hydrogen-content HCSO for construction, reflecting infrastructure investment pulling upstream materials.
       But the real highlight is in emerging fields. As 5G base stations proliferate and automotive electronics sophistication increases, protection requirements for electronic components have reached new heights. HCSO’s excellent dielectric properties and low surface tension make it widely used for insulation protection and cleaning of electronic components. More critically, HCSO is a key raw material for crosslinkers. In photovoltaic films and high-end wire & cable materials, HCSO acts as a crosslinker, significantly improving heat resistance and mechanical strength.
      According to the “2026-2032 Global and China Hydrogen-Containing Silicone Oil Market Trends Report,” the “silicone intermediate” application segment is growing faster than traditional textile treatment. For immersion cooling—an emerging field—a publicly-listed company’s fundraising project explicitly targets terminal HCSO as a supporting raw material for electronic-grade vinyl silicone oil, aiming at complete solutions for data center liquid cooling systems.
      To meet high-end market demands, production processes are changing. Previously, residual acid catalysts and metal ions in HCSO could compromise electrical insulation. Leading enterprises now generally use more environmentally friendly “solvent-free” or “short-flow” processes, employing molecular distillation to remove low-molecular-weight substances, achieving very low volatile content suitable for semiconductor cleaning and precision electronics.
       From textile waterproofing to electronic protection, HCSO is successfully reinventing itself in 2026 as a story of industrial upgrading, with its value boundaries expanding under the drive of technological innovation.