China's sepiolite industry has transitioned from extensive resource utilization to refined modification and functional specialization, driven by the evolving demands for adsorption, catalysis, and suspension properties in downstream industries. In the 1980s and 1990s, relying on high-quality sepiolite resources in Liuyang (Hunan), Leping (Jiangxi), Yuxian (Hebei), and other regions, the industry focused on mining and simple crushing. Products were mostly ordinary sepiolite powder (purity ≤ 60%, specific surface area ≤ 50 m²/g), mainly used in basic fields such as animal feed additives, common desiccants, and foundry binders, characterized by high impurity content, weak adsorption performance, and poor functional stability.

Since the turn of the century, demands from environmental treatment (heavy metal wastewater treatment), the petrochemical industry (oil and gas desulfurization), and high-end building materials (functional coatings), along with policy regulations, have driven the industry's transformation toward purification, activation/modification, and composite enhancement. High purity (≥ 85%) is achieved through processes like flotation and acid leaching. Techniques such as calcination activation and organic modification enhance adsorption activity (specific surface area ≥ 200 m²/g) and colloidal stability. This has led to the development of high-adsorption, catalyst carrier, and colloidal thickening products, enabling breakthroughs in advanced industrial wastewater treatment, oil/gas desulfurization, and high-end waterborne coatings.

In recent years, high-end demands from new energy (anode binders for lithium batteries, carrier for energy storage materials), environmental remediation (soil oil contamination treatment), and high-end daily chemicals (adsorbent in facial masks) have emerged. Coupled with the evolution of relevant standards, the industry is accelerating its upgrade toward efficient resource utilization and high-end product customization. Today, China is a leading global producer and consumer of sepiolite, with products covering the full range: raw ore, refined sepiolite powder, activated/modified sepiolite, and sepiolite composite functional materials. These are widely used in dozens of fields, including environmental protection, petrochemicals, building materials, new energy, and daily chemicals.

We have set up a dedicated sepiolite mineral testing team. Based on product type and application scenario (environmental adsorption, catalyst carrier, lithium battery binder, daily chemical raw material), we provide customized testing services—including adsorption capacity determination, specific surface area measurement, colloid index analysis, impurity screening (heavy metals, arsenic), and bonding strength testing—helping products build advantages in performance optimization and regulatory compliance.