Home > Chemicals & Materials > Specialty Chemicals > Custom Synthesis > Sodium Silicate Market
Sodium silicate is generally utilized as liquid form in majority of applications. Liquid form of this compound generated revenue over USD 5.5 billion in 2016. Liquid form has some unique properties like solubility, which makes it different from powder. Such properties together with a low-cost result in increasing use of the product in various industrial applications. Liquid form is used in binding fiber drums, paperboard laminates, cores of toilet tissues & paper towel etc. Manufactures prefer the compound due to its nontoxic nature, low cost and being environment friendly characteristics.
Detergent hold the major sodium silicate market share in application segment of the product. The product has a high demand in detergent manufacturing application owing to excellent emulsification, deflocculating and wetting properties. Usage of the chemical compound in detergent helps in reducing surface tension which in turn improves soil and dirt removal mechanism. There are several detergent operations which are performed by using granular and liquid form of sodium silicates. Some of these operations include textile processing, metal cleaning, washing dishes, laundering etc. In textile industry, the product is used with soaps, bleaches, wetting agents and in various alkalis to perform tasks such as kier boiling cleaning and finishing, degumming etc. Sodium silicates are also added in detergent pastes to control the viscosity in the manufacturing of detergent powder of desired density.
Asia pacific has the highest growth in the projected time frame owing to increasing infrastructural development in emerging economies. Improving socio-economic factors in Asia Pacific is a major factor propelling product demand for its usage in detergents, food and healthcare applications. Another region having a high growth rate is North America led by the U.S. The country dominates the sodium silicate market as a result of presence of several pulp & paper industries, detergent manufacturing companies. Also, geographical advantage of the U.S. in terms of raw material availability is an added advantage to the industry. It is largely used in wastewater treatment applications in the region as it is approved by EPA and FDA to be utilized in drinking water as an additive for human consumption.