The development trend of the scandium fluoride (ScF3) industry is improving as the upstream and downstream sectors of the industrial chain continue to benefit.

Scandium fluoride, also known as scandium trifluoride and anhydrous scandium fluoride, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula ScF3. It appears as white powder or porous granules, is slightly soluble in water, and is soluble in alkali metal carbonates and Ammonium carbonate solution can be completely decomposed when eutectic with alkali.

There are three main production methods for scandium fluoride: dry fluorination, wet fluorination and gas fluorination. Gas fluorination refers to the method of using dry hydrogen fluoride gas as raw material to react with scandium oxide to generate scandium fluoride; dry fluorination refers to using fluorinating agent (ammonium fluoride, ammonium bifluoride, etc.) as raw material, and reacting with scandium oxide to form scandium fluoride. Scandium oxide generates anhydrous scandium fluoride under high temperature conditions; wet fluorination refers to a method that uses hydrated scandium fluoride as raw material and undergoes dehydration treatment to generate anhydrous scandium fluoride. Among them, dry fluorination has the advantages of short reaction process, safe operation, low pollution, and low introduction of impurities, and is the mainstream production method of scandium fluoride.

Scandium oxide is the key raw material of scandium fluoride. There are many domestic companies such as MCC New Energy, Guangxi Maoxin Technology, Longbai Group, and Dongfang Zirconium Industry. As local companies continue to upgrade their technology, scandium oxide production capacity continues to increase. At present, the annual domestic scandium oxide production capacity is about 60 tons, which has laid a good foundation for the development of the scandium fluoride industry.

Scandium fluoride is a key raw material for producing metal scandium (Sc) and an important additive for improving the properties of alloys (such as aluminum-scandium alloys). Metal scandium is a 3D transition metal that has the excellent properties of rare earth elements and transition elements. It is a key raw material for the preparation of electro-light source materials, laser materials, Al-Sc alloy materials, and superconducting materials. It is used in lasers and superconducting materials. , aviation, nuclear power, atomic energy, optoelectronics and other high-tech fields have broad application prospects. Scandium metal is mainly converted from anhydrous scandium fluoride. Under the background of rapid development of the metal scandium market, scandium fluoride is its key raw material, and the market demand continues to rise.

According to 《2023-2027 China Scandium Fluoride (ScF3) Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 》It shows that there are a large number of scandium fluoride manufacturers in China, mainly including Hunan Dongfang Scandium Industry, Hunan Jinkun New Materials, Zhuzhou Hengma High-tech Materials, Hunan Advanced Metal Materials, Shanghai Sinian Metal Materials, Hunan Jingde New Materials, Xi’an Fangke New Materials, Zhejiang Yamei Nanotechnology, etc. In the future, as local companies continue to upgrade their technologies, domestic scandium fluoride production capacity will continue to increase, and the industry’s development speed is expected to continue to accelerate.

Industry analysts said that in terms of raw materials, the number of companies in the alumina field, the key raw material of scandium fluoride, is increasing. The continuous increase has led to the continuous improvement of scandium oxide production capacity; in terms of demand, scandium fluoride is a key material for the preparation of metal scandium, and its demand continues to increase with the rapid development of the metal scandium market. Overall, the development of my country’s scandium fluoride industry continues to benefit from the upstream and downstream industries of the industry chain, and the overall development trend is positive.