Acrylic Acid Market Size, Share & YoY Growth Trend | 2034

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Acrylic Acid Market Trends

Acrylic acid is a colorless organic compound with distinctive acrylics that have a high degree of polymerization. The acid is increasingly being used in paints and coatings to ensure a long-lasting, high-performance finish in construction, which in turn, is driving the market. Moreover, it is extensively utilized in the manufacturing of acrylate esters which plays a vital role in adhesives and sealants. Acrylic acid is used by the textile industry as well, for fabric treatments and finishes, making it another key ingredient of this product. High-quality personal care products are thriving, contributing to the overall growth of the acrylic acid market. The acid is also a key ingredient for specialized applications in packaging, automotive, and consumer goods industries.

Acrylic acid is a compound which is used in the production of super absorbent polymers, that is extensively used in the manufacturing of diapers and incontinence products. Market innovations include acrylic acid-based manufacturing processes, primarily for personal care products. Industrialization and urbanization, particularly in emerging economies, are boosting acrylic acid demand in different industries. For example, more than 90% of polyacrylic acid is used in SAP. The potential for market growth increases significantly as these regions develop. In addition, new acrylic acid production technologies keep improving efficiency, thereby favoring the expansion of the market, as well as opening new avenues in consumer goods and industrial markets.

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Application Insights

The acrylic acid market is growing at a noteworthy pace because of the acid’s wide usage across several industries, particularly from the Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) application. Acrylic acid’s high absorption capability makes them widely used in SAP products like diapers, sanitary napkins, and incontinence products. The consumption of personal hygiene products, particularly in the developing economies, continues to boost the sales for SAPs which in turn drive the growth of acrylic acid market.

Acrylic acid has comparable applications for the acrylate esters, which are polymerized as key constituents of paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants. Depending on the molecular weight of the acrylic acid, acrylate esters provide better performance, which comprises strength and elasticity, which are predominantly utilized in different sectors. Additionally, glacial acrylic acid (pure acrylic acid) is extensively utilized to produce water treatment chemicals, detergents, and more applications for industrial use.

End Use Insights

Acrylic acid is used in a wide variety of end-use industries, with surfactants and surface coatings being the most significant among the different end-use segments of the global acrylic acid market. It is utilized in manufacturing surfactants with a high-performance level for cleaning products and surface coatings with great wetting and durability characteristics. It contributes significantly to organic chemicals production as it is used in creating a whole range of high-value chemicals used in various manufacturing processes. This versatility adds demand in various industries which is consequently boosting the market growth cyclically.

Acrylic acid is also crucial in the production of adhesives and sealants that improve the strength of bonds, flexibility, and protection against various environmental factors. In the textile sector, it also strikes a balance with water-repellent finishes, which maximize durability and wearability of fabrics. Acrylic acid derivatives are used in the water treatment industry to remove impurities and enhance the purity of water. Acrylic acid also plays a significant role in personal care products, being a crucial ingredient in the production of superabsorbent polymers used in diapers, sanitary napkins, and other hygiene products, providing enhanced absorbency and comfort. These applications reflect the wide use and growing market demand of acrylic acid.

Regional Insights

North America Acrylic Acid Market Trends

The North America acrylic acid market is boosted by the increased demand for superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) that are gaining popularity in the personal care industry. Acrylic acid derivatives such as adhesives, coatings, and sealants in construction and automotive end-use industries are also indirect drivers for this market. In addition, the region is also focusing strongly on the technological advancements in the production processes, which are helping the efficiency in the production of grades of acrylic acid.

Europe Acrylic Acid Market Trends

The market for acrylic acid in Europe is significant, boosted by the region's well-established industrial base and robust demand for acrylic acid-based products in paints and coatings, and adhesives. Since the focus of the European Union is on environmental regulations, the industry has changed toward “greener” and bio-based acrylic acid processes. The automotive and construction industries are the key drivers as acrylic acid derivatives are used in total applications such as sealants and protective coatings.

Asia Pacific Acrylic Acid Market Trends

Asia Pacific is the largest and fastest growing region as per the acrylic acid market analysis. The market growth can be attributed to rapid industrialization and the burgeoning population in emerging economies such as China and India. For example, in , India imported 23,048 tones of acrylic acid from Saudi Arabia. One of the prominent drivers for the growth of this market across the region is the SAP in diapers and personal care products. Acrylic acid is consumed in coatings, adhesives, and sealants; hence the growth of the construction and automotive industries directly impacts the regional market. Furthermore, the movement toward sustainable production practices and further investments in innovations are likely to contribute to the growth the market in Asia Pacific.

Latin America Acrylic Acid Market Trends

The Latin America acrylic acid market is expected to grow moderately over the next few years, driven primarily by urbanization and industrialization. So, the growing living standards and consumer base is causing the growth of personal care products such as superabsorbent diapers market. Acrylic acid is used in the construction industry for adhesives, coatings, and sealants in infrastructure projects, which makes that another primary driver.

Middle East and Africa Acrylic Acid Market Trends

The growth of the construction and automotive industries has a significant impact on the MEA acrylic acid market. Extensive application of acrylic acid derivatives in adhesives, coatings, and sealants have been the primary components of infrastructure development and automobile industry in the region. Furthermore, the growing population is anticipated to fuel the demand for personal care products, which in turn is likely to drive the market growth. Besides, the country's infrastructure development and water treatment market not only contribute to water treatment but also promote sustainable production in the region.

Key Acrylic Acid Company Insights

Key Acrylic Acid Companies

• BASF SE
• Nippon Shokubai Co. Ltd. 
• The Dow Chemical Company
• Arkema Group
• LG Chem. Ltd. 
• Shanghai Huayi Acrylic Acid Co., Ltd
• Evonik Industries AG
• Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
• SIBUR International GmbH
• Satellite Chemical Co.,Ltd.
• Wanhua Petrochemical (Yantai) Co., Ltd.
• Toagosei Co., Ltd
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation
• Vigon International, LLC.
• SMC
• Sinopec
• Formosa Plastics Corporation
• Sasol
• Others

Recent Developments

• In March , the Carat project was launched at Arkema's Carling factory in France. The project's goal is to make the facility, which produces superabsorbent polymers and acrylic acid monomers, more sustainable and capable. With a €130 million investment, this massive industrial project entails building a new facility with a cutting-edge acrylic acid purification method that will increase operational carbon intensity by 20% and energy efficiency by 25%.
• In February , with environmentally friendly raw materials made from vegetable oils, LG Chem introduced a novel acrylic acid. The business declared that in the second quarter of this year, it will start producing bio-acrylic acid. The prototype production capacity will increase to 100 metric tons (MT) per year.
• In April , in order to meet the increasing demand in China's adhesive materials industry, BASF and Youyi Group signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to deepen their strategic partnership. The LoI focused on the supply of butyl acrylate (BA) and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA) from BASF's Zhanjiang Verbund site.
• In October , the rights to license and market ester grade acrylic acid technology, as well as light and heavy acrylates process technology, were acquired by Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, in a deal with Air Liquide Engineering & Construction. Customers now have more alternatives between upstream and downstream operations thanks to Lummus' expanded array of propylene production and derivative products.

Global Acrylic Acid Market Report Segmentation

This article discusses acrylic acids and acrylates, the processes currently used for their production, the drawbacks of such processes, and the feasibility of the sustainable production of these compounds.

Image Credit: Irina Anosova/Shutterstock.com

What are Acrylic Acid and Acrylates?

Acrylic acid is an unsaturated carboxylic acid composed of a vinyl group that is directly connected to a carboxylic acid terminus. The organic compound is a colorless liquid with a characteristic tart or acrid odor at room temperature and is miscible with chloroform, ethers, alcohol, and water. The flash, boiling, and freezing points of acrylic acid are 130 oF, 286 oF, and 53 oF, respectively.

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Esters, conjugate bases, and salts of acrylic acid are known as acrylates. Materials based on acrylic acid or acrylates possess good transparency, adhesion, stability, and flexibility. Acrylic acid is used extensively in the production of textiles, polishes, paint formulations, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, plastics, wastewater treatment chemicals, and detergents. Acrylates are utilized in cosmetics, diapers, orthopedics, bone cement, and contact lenses.

Currently Used Acrylic Acid and Acrylate Production Processes

Acrylic acid is primarily produced through the vapor phase oxidation of propylene, a gaseous by-product obtained during petroleum refining. The process involves two reactors in series using two catalysts. In this process, the first reactor converts propylene to acrolein while the second reactor converts acrolein to acrylic acid, the final product.

Acrylates are prepared industrially by treating an acrylic acid with the corresponding alcohol using a catalyst. The reaction with lower alcohols such as ethanol and methanol occurs at 100–120 °C using acidic heterogeneous catalysts. In comparison, the reaction with higher alcohols, such as n-butanol, is catalyzed in a homogenous phase using sulfuric acid.

Drawbacks of the Existing Processes

The existing acrylic acid production process leads to a significant amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions and requires the constant availability of fossil raw materials, which necessitates the identification of alternative sustainable and large-scale acrylic acid production processes based on the use of renewable biomass feedstock.

Sustainable Production of Acrylic Acid and Acrylates

In the last few decades, the corn industry has been involved in the sustainable production of several useful chemicals, such as lactic acid. Lactic acid is used as a key ingredient for the production of compostable and renewable plastics. It is manufactured biotechnologically through the fermentation of carbohydrates such as starch and sugar, which minimizes oil consumption and lowers the production cost, representing a feasible eco-friendly alternative feedstock for sustainable acrylic acid production.

Lactic acid can be converted to acrylates and acrylic acid through catalytic dehydration. However, high yields of acrylic acid cannot be realized by the catalysts conventionally used for this reaction, making sustainable acrylic acid production expensive and commercially unviable. Thus, new catalysts must be developed to achieve higher acrylic acid yields through catalytic dehydration of lactic acid.

In a study recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers investigated the dehydration of methyl lactate to methyl acrylate and acrylic acid using a sodium-faujasite (Na-FAU) zeolite catalyst impregnated with multifunctional diamines, including 4,4′-trimethylenedipyridine (44TMDP) and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (12BPE).

These multifunctional amines were incorporated in the zeolite catalyst pores to improve the selectivity of the catalyst to methyl acrylate and acrylic acid. The amines were loaded at nominal loadings of 40, 25, 10, and 5 wt% of the Na-FAU framework for independent trials.

Researchers achieved the highest dehydration selectivity of 96 ± 3% for min time on stream at 300 °C using Na-FAU impregnated with both 12BPE and 44TMDP. Steady-state dehydration selectivity increased from 85% to 96% corresponding with the increase in the nominal loadings of 12BPE or 44TMDP in the NA-FAU 5% to 40%.

Moreover, researchers achieved a high yield of 92% at 96% dehydration selectivity using 44TMDP-impregnated Na-FAU by tuning the weighted hourly space velocity (WHSV) from 0.9 to 0.2 h−1.

The new catalyst formulation significantly decreased the cost of producing sustainable/renewable acrylates and acrylic acid from corn by reducing waste and improving yield. Thus, the new catalyst can considerably lower the price of sustainable acrylic acid compared to the acrylic acid produced from fossil-derived chemicals, generating new economic opportunities.

For instance, Låkril Technologies, a startup company, has planned to manufacture low-cost renewable acrylates and acrylic acid by licensing this highly efficient catalyst technology. The startup aims to develop this technology for the industrial-scale production of acrylic acid. A low-risk and low-cost acrylate and acrylic acid production can be potentially realized due to the sufficient availability of the zeolite formulation.

To summarize, new catalyst formulations such as 44TMDP-loaded Na-FAU can effectively facilitate the sustainable production of acrylic acid and acrylates in a cost-efficient manner, which is essential to addressing the disadvantages of the existing fossil raw material-based production.

More from AZoM: Catalyzing the Sustainable Production of Acrylic Acid and Acrylate from Corn

References and Further Reading

Dauenhauer, P. J., Nicholas, C. P., Vlaisavljevich, B., Lee, C., Pang, Y. (). Multifunctional Amine Modifiers for Selective Dehydration of Methyl Lactate to Acrylates. Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://doi.org/10./jacsau.2c

Chemical researchers discover catalyst to make renewable paints, coatings, and diapers [Online] Available at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases//01/.htm (Accessed on 15 January )

Acrylic acid [Online] Available at https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Acrylic-acid (Accessed on 15 January )

Brown, D. (). Acrylic Acid. Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Third Edition), 74-75. https://doi.org/10./B978-0-12--3.-7

Ajekwene, K. K. (). Properties and Applications of Acrylates. Acrylate Polymers for Advanced Applications. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10./intechopen.

Sustainable production of acrylic acid [Online] Available at https://www.crt.tf.fau.eu/forschung/arbeitsgruppen/komplexe-katalysatorsysteme-und-kontinuierliche-verfahren/biomasse-und-nachhaltige-erzeugung-von-plattformchemikalien/nachhaltige-erzeugung-von-acrylsaure/#:~:text=Lactic%20acid%20produced%20by%20fermentation,production%20of%20bio%20acrylic%20acid. (Accessed on 15 January

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