PVDF, or Polyvinylidene Fluoride, is a versatile material that has been gaining significant attention across various industries. Its unique properties make it a key player in the ever-evolving landscape of new energy and advanced manufacturing. Let’s delve into the details of this remarkable material, exploring its applications, the current global market scenario, China’s breakthroughs in the industry, and the future trends that will shape its development.
Applications of PVDF
PVDF finds extensive use in several critical areas. In the realm of lithium batteries, it serves as the core material for the positive electrode binder in ternary and lithium iron phosphate batteries, with a usage amount ranging from 2% to 3.5% per ton of batteries. With the mass production of 4680 large cylindrical batteries, this consumption is expected to rise to 3.5%.
Beyond batteries, PVDF plays a vital role in high-end coatings and diaphragm coating. Through spray drying technology, ultra-fine PVDF powder can be produced, which is used in fluorocarbon coatings for photovoltaic backsheets and lithium battery diaphragm coating. This makes it well-suited to meet the upgrading needs of N-type batteries and high-nickel ternary materials.
The “Two-Tiered” Global PVDF Market
The global PVDF market is currently in a complex “two-tiered” situation. On one hand, there is an explosive growth in demand from the new energy sector. In 2024, the global PVDF market size stood at 1.06183 billion US dollars, and it is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8% from 2025 to 2033, reaching 1.9138 billion US dollars by 2033. China, as the world’s largest market, holds approximately 40% of the share and is growing faster than European and American regions.
The demand in the lithium battery sector has seen a remarkable increase, with the demand for lithium battery-grade PVDF rising from 25,000 tons in 2021 to 94,000 tons in 2024, with an annual compound growth rate exceeding 55%. Based on the global demand for 1.5TWh of power batteries in 2025, the lithium battery sector alone will require about 125,000 tons of PVDF. Meanwhile, the dual-drive effect of the photovoltaic and energy storage sectors is also significant. The increasing penetration rate of double-sided photovoltaic modules has driven the demand for PVDF backsheet films, with global usage reaching 42,000 tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 37%. In the energy storage battery sector, a 1GWh project requires approximately 250 tons of PVDF, and the global energy storage installation exceeded 120GWh in 2023, generating a demand of 30,000 tons.
On the other hand, the industry is facing dual pressures of structural overcapacity and technological substitution. It is predicted that China’s PVDF production capacity will reach 239,000 tons/year in 2025, while the demand will only be 134,000 tons, leading to a possible 阶段性过剩 in conventional products. In 2024, the profits of lithium battery-grade PVDF have already declined significantly. Additionally, solid-state batteries being developed by companies like Toyota and QuantumScape may reduce the demand for PVDF binders. At the same time, the EU’s REACH regulation on perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may promote the use of fluorine-free materials such as water-based coatings and polyimide (PI) to replace PVDF in some fields, further exacerbating market differentiation.
China’s Multi-Dimensional “Breakthrough” in PVDF Industry
Facing the complex global market situation, China’s PVDF industry is breaking through through multiple dimensions, achieving a key leap from technological following to global leadership.
Firstly, with the continuous support of policy dividends, the upgrading of China’s PVDF industry has accelerated significantly. Currently, PVDF has been included in the “Guidelines for the First Batch of Applications of Key New Materials (2025 Edition)”, and power battery-grade products enjoy tax incentives and R&D subsidies. Moreover, 14 provinces including Zhejiang and Sichuan have issued special policies to support project implementation. For example, Quzhou alone provides a maximum of 30 million yuan in technical transformation subsidies to fluorochemical enterprises, strongly promoting the process of intelligent transformation.
Secondly, the depth of vertical integration of the industrial chain has become a core breakthrough in the competition of the PVDF industry. Domestic enterprises, relying on the quota advantage of chlorodifluoroethane (R142b), have built a fully independent “fluorite-hydrogen fluoride-R142b-PVDF” system. Taking Juhua Co., Ltd. as an example, its 30,000 tons/year R142b production capacity makes its cost 18%-22% lower than that of enterprises purchasing from outside. On the downstream side, Lianchuang Co., Ltd. signed a 60,000-ton long-term contract with CATL, locking in the supply from 2024 to 2026 with a price range stable at 360,000-420,000 yuan/ton, forming a synergistic advantage between supply and demand.
In addition, the breakthrough in recycling technology and the construction of a circular economy model have further expanded the development space. The team from Tongji University has innovatively upgraded waste PVDF microfiltration membranes into reverse osmosis membranes, which not only reduces the cost by 76.5%-92.2% but also reduces carbon emissions by 18.6%. China’s first 10,000-ton PVDF recycling line is expected to be put into operation in 2025, with the purity of recycled materials reaching 99.7% and the cost 45% lower than that of virgin materials. Meanwhile, the EU REACH regulation requires that PVDF production must adopt a closed-loop process after 2025, and this external constraint is forcing domestic enterprises to accelerate the layout of recycling technology, promoting the industry to transform towards a green and circular direction.
According to the latest data, China’s PVDF production capacity in 2024 was approximately 224,000 tons/year, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%; the output was about 124,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%. The main manufacturers include Dongyue Group (103,600 tons/year), Juhua Co., Ltd. (planned 40,000 tons/year), Arkema Changshu (14,500 tons/year), Kureha Changshu (5,000 tons/year), Lianchuang Co., Ltd. (8,000 tons/year capacity, 50,000 tons/year under construction in Wuhai), Putailai (20,000 tons/year), Huayi San-Ai Fu (30,000 tons/year), and Shandong Deyi (15,000 tons/year).
Four Future Development Trends of the PVDF Industry
Looking ahead, the development of the PVDF industry will revolve around “technological upgrading, application expansion, and global competition”, with both structural opportunities and challenges.
Technological iteration will focus on high-end and differentiated products. As lithium batteries evolve towards high nickel and solid-state, modified PVDF that adapts to these changes has become a research focus. For example, PVDF-HFP copolymers, which improve electrolyte corrosion resistance and reduce liquid absorption rate, have been verified in 4680 batteries of some automobile manufacturers. At the same time, PVDF for photovoltaic backsheets needs to be upgraded to have stronger weather resistance (ultraviolet aging resistance life ≥25 years) and thinner thickness (≤50μm) to match the power generation efficiency requirements of N-type batteries.
Application scenarios will extend to emerging fields. In addition to core markets such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaics, the application of PVDF in hydrogen energy and semiconductor fields is accelerating. The special PVDF material for proton exchange membranes of hydrogen fuel cells has passed small-scale tests and can withstand extreme environments from -40℃ to 80℃. In the semiconductor field, high-purity (purity ≥99.999%) PVDF, as a sealing material for etching equipment, is gradually replacing imported products with a gross profit margin exceeding 40%.
The global market pattern will be restructured, and regional collaborative development will occur. China is transforming from a net importer of PVDF to a net exporter, with exports expected to reach 32,000 tons in 2024, mainly flowing to the power battery industry chain in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand). Europe, due to insufficient local production capacity (the gap is expected to reach 50,000 tons/year in 2025), is becoming a core incremental market for China’s high-end PVDF. At the same time, the synergistic effect of domestic fluorochemical parks is further highlighted. For example, Quzhou, with Juhua Group as the leader, has formed a full-chain system from fluorite resource development to high-end fluorosilicon material end products.
Environmental protection and circular economy will become a must. As countries tighten restrictions on PFAS, PVDF production will transition to “low emission and recyclable”. On one hand, enterprises need to upgrade wastewater treatment technology (fluoride emission concentration ≤10mg/L), forcing the research and development of clean production processes. On the other hand, the improvement of the power battery recycling system will provide stable raw materials for PVDF regeneration. It is expected that the proportion of recycled PVDF will reach 20% by 2030, significantly reducing industrial carbon emissions.
In conclusion, although the PVDF industry faces short-term pressures of structural overcapacity and technological substitution, in the long run, with the deepening of the new energy revolution and the expansion of application scenarios, PVDF will remain one of the most promising materials in the next decade. Enterprises can only gain an advantage in this global competition by focusing on high-end, differentiation, and greenization.