Petrochemical Products - Others

Microcrystalline wax is primarily used in adhesives as a viscosity modifier, tackifier, and filler. It can significantly alter the physical properties of adhesives to meet various application requirements. Reducing viscosity and improving flow: As the component with the lowest viscosity in hot-melt adhesives, increasing the amount of microcrystalline wax can significantly reduce the melt viscosity of the adhesive, improve its flow, and make the application process smoother and the coating more uniform. Adjusting setting speed: By adjusting the amount of microcrystalline wax, the setting speed of the hot-melt adhesive can be controlled, enabling rapid bonding and improving production efficiency. Enhancing cohesive toughness and elasticity: The fine crystalline structure of microcrystalline wax imparts better elasticity, flexibility, and plasticity to the adhesive, making it less prone to cracking.

Key Industrial Applications ‌Petroleum and Lubricants Industry‌: Used as a‌ grease thickener‌ to manufacture instrument greases and sealants; used as a‌ paraffin modifier‌ to enhance the flexibility, flexural resistance, and solvent retention of paraffin, for use in waterproof paper and packaging materials. ‌Rubber and Plastics Processing‌: Added to rubber as an‌anti-cracking agent‌ to prevent surface chalking and improve demolding properties; used in plastics to optimize flow and enhance the wear resistance and anti-adhesion properties of finished products. ‌Packaging and Paper Industry‌: Used in‌packaging paper impregnation, heat-seal coatings, and barrier coatings‌ to impart water-repellent, moisture-resistant, and high-gloss properties; serves as a key component in carbon paper and wax paper.

Industrial-grade microcrystalline wax is refined from petroleum distillation residues. Its key characteristics include a high melting point, strong ductility, excellent oil absorption, and a dense structure. Strong miscibility and modification capabilities: It is miscible with various mineral and vegetable waxes, can raise the melting point of low-melting-point waxes, improve the performance of coarse waxes, and optimize formulation systems. ‌Excellent film-forming and protective properties: The resulting coating has a dense, hard, and smooth structure, offering excellent water-repellent, oil- repellent, rust-preventive, and wear-resistant characteristics. ‌High chemical stability: It is insoluble in water and cold ethanol but soluble in organic solvents such as benzene and chloroform.

In hot-melt adhesives, microcrystalline wax primarily serves as a viscosity modifier and performance enhancer; it improves the adhesive’s flexibility, heat resistance, and bonding strength to certain hard-to-bond materials. Viscosity and Flow Control: This is the most fundamental function of microcrystalline wax. As the component with the lowest viscosity in the formulation, it effectively reduces the viscosity of the hot-melt adhesive in its molten state and improves its flowability, allowing the adhesive to better wet and penetrate the surface of the substrates, thereby enhancing the bonding performance. Enhancing Flexibility and Impact Resistance: Compared to paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax has a finer crystalline structure due to its higher content of branched-chain hydrocarbons and naphthenes. It imparts better flexibility, flexural strength, and elongation to hot-melt adhesives, which is crucial for packaging or bookbinding applications that must withstand a certain degree of deformation.

Microcrystalline wax has a wide range of applications, primarily in industrial sectors such as rubber, packaging, coatings, and papermaking, where it serves to prevent moisture absorption, add luster, provide lubrication, and facilitate demolding.‌‌‌ ‌Rubber Processing‌: Used as a lubricant and release agent in tires, cables, and PVC products, it prevents surface cracking and chalking. ‌Plastics Processing‌: It improves plastic flow, enhances the wear resistance and gloss of finished products, and reduces sticking issues.‌‌‌ ‌Paper Coating‌: It improves the water resistance and wear resistance of paper and is used in corrugated cardboard and packaging paper. ‌Coatings Industry‌: As a thickener, it optimizes viscosity and provides coating hardness and gloss. ‌Printing Inks‌: It adjusts viscosity and adhesion, improving print clarity.‌‌‌

Due to its high toughness, fine crystalline structure, and excellent moisture-proof and insulating properties, Microcrystalline Wax 80 is primarily used in the following industrial fields: ‌Rubber Protection and Modification‌: Added to rubber products such as tires and seals as an anti-ozone aging agent, it migrates to the surface to form a protective film, significantly delaying cracking and chalking. ‌Plastics and Coatings Additives‌: In plastics processing, it improves flowability, wear resistance, and demolding performance; in coatings and inks, it acts as a thickener and gloss enhancer, improving adhesion and surface hardness. ‌Electrical and Electronic Insulation‌: Used in the impregnation of cable insulation paper, capacitor encapsulation, and battery sealing, it protects components from corrosion by leveraging its high resistivity and moisture resistance.

Thanks to its high melting point, excellent flexibility, strong adhesion, and moisture-resistant insulating properties, microcrystalline wax is primarily used in the industrial sector as a modifier, protective agent, and molding aid. Its core applications are as follows: Rubber and Plastics Industry Ozone resistance: When added to tires and rubber products, it migrates to form a protective film that prevents surface cracking and aging, significantly extending service life. ‌Processing Modification‌: Improves the flow properties of rubber and plastics, enhancing the surface smoothness, wear resistance, and anti-adhesion properties of finished products.‌‌

Microcrystalline wax is a high-melting-point, fine-crystalline hydrocarbon mixture produced from petroleum distillation residues through deep refining and deoiling. Its key characteristics lie in its flexibility, adhesion, and thermal stability, which are significantly superior to those of ordinary paraffin.‌‌ Oil Content Control: High-quality industrial-grade products typically have an oil content below 2%. Lower oil content results in higher hardness and minimal shrinkage, while slightly higher oil content provides better flexibility and adhesion. Color and Luster: It typically appears as milky white to pale yellow granules or lumps with a light color. It develops a luster when rubbed, which is advantageous for the production of light-colored products. ‌Solubility and Compatibility‌: Insoluble in water and cold ethanol, but soluble in organic solvents such as benzene and chloroform; miscible with various mineral and vegetable waxes, and capable of raising the melting point of wax blends.‌‌

Microcrystalline wax is commonly used as a raw material for yarn waxing, which is one of its key applications in the textile industry. Reducing friction as a lubricant: This is its most fundamental function. Microcrystalline wax forms a lubricating film on the yarn surface, effectively reducing friction between the yarn and textile machinery, thereby lowering yarn breakage rates and improving production efficiency. At the same time, this protective film also enhances the yarn’s abrasion resistance, enabling it to withstand the rigors of high-speed spinning and weaving processes. Good flexibility and high elongation: When subjected to stress, microcrystalline wax tends to flow plastically rather than fracture brittle, which prevents it from peeling off the yarn surface after application and ensures long-lasting lubrication. High molecular weight and strong adhesion: It has a higher molecular weight than paraffin wax, providing better adhesion to the yarn and forming a more durable coating.

Microcrystalline wax is ideal as a gloss enhancer in paste-based products and is one of their classic core ingredients. Excellent film-forming and gloss properties: Microcrystalline wax imparts outstanding gloss to paste-based products, forming a uniform, lustrous protective film on surfaces such as automotive paint, furniture, and leather shoes, while providing both gloss and care. Good compatibility and stability: It is miscible with various mineral waxes, plant waxes, and hot fatty oils, allowing for flexible formulation design. In paste-based polishing agents, it also prevents oil separation, ensuring the product’s texture remains stable. Ideal physical properties: Microcrystalline wax is highly viscous and ductile, and does not become brittle even at low temperatures. These properties make the wax layer more resilient and long-lasting after application, while also preventing cracking or peeling.

Microcrystalline wax is widely used in paper processing, primarily to enhance the waterproof, oil-proof, heat-seal, and flexibility properties of paper. Enhancing water and oil resistance: Applying microcrystalline wax in the form of a lotion to paper surfaces can impart good waterproof, oil-proof, and water vapor barrier properties to the paper, making it a viable alternative to fluorine-containing oil repellents for packaging paper. For high-end packaging coatings: In cigarette inner lining paper, microcrystalline wax coating serves as a barrier layer, being solvent-free, VOC-free, environmentally friendly, and fast-curing. In packaging box coating formulations, the addition of microcrystalline wax enhances waterproofing, oxygen barrier, and adhesion properties.

Microcrystalline wax is a core physical antioxidant in the rubber and tire industry. Its key advantages in tires and rubber include: ‌Ozone crack resistance: Particularly suitable for areas subject to dynamic stress, such as tire sidewalls, significantly extending service life under outdoor exposure. Low-Temperature Flexibility: The irregular crystal structure of microcrystalline wax provides the protective film with superior low- temperature ductility, preventing the wax film from cracking and failing due to rubber flexing in cold environments. Synergistic Effect: Often blended with chemical antioxidants to form a “physical + chemical” dual-protection network, enhancing overall weather resistance.

Applications as a Lubricant ‌Grease Thickener: Leveraging its high gel strength and excellent adhesion, it serves as a thickener for greases, enhancing their adhesion and protective properties. It is commonly used in greases for instrumentation and sealing applications. ‌Surface Friction Reduction and Release Agents‌: In rubber and plastic processing, microcrystalline wax migrates to the surface to form a film, acting as a release agent and anti-adhesive to reduce frictional resistance; it also reduces fiber friction in textile yarn waxing. Applications as a Coating Material Due to its high melting point, fine crystalline structure, and water- and moisture-resistant properties, microcrystalline wax is an excellent coating material: Protective Coatings: Used in metal anti-rust coatings, cable insulation paper impregnation, and electroplating masking coatings to form a dense protective layer that blocks moisture and oxygen.

In the packaging and printing industries, microcrystalline wax is primarily used to impart moisture resistance, oil resistance, and gloss to materials, as well as to enhance ink performance.‌‌ ‌Packaging sector‌: Used as a wax coating agent for packaging paper (such as food and pharmaceutical paper bags) to provide moisture resistance, oil resistance, and anti-stick properties; it is also used for fruit coatings or impregnation treatments to enhance barrier properties and surface texture; Certain high-melting-point grades can serve as heat-seal layers or adhesion promoters. Printing sector: Added to inks (especially in gravure and flexographic printing) as rheology modifiers, anti-smear agents, and adhesion promoters to improve drying speed, print clarity, and abrasion resistance; it can also be used in varnishes or laminating coatings to enhance gloss and scratch resistance.