Global implant enterprise Dentium announced on the 14th that it has advanced the internalization technology of its own zirconia powder and established a mass production system capable of responding to multiple fields such as medical and energy. This is evaluated as an achievement of belonging to a corporate group that directly produces zirconia powder along with Tosoh of Japan and Sinocera of China.
In the meantime, the supply of high-performance zirconia raw materials has been led by a small number of Japanese and Chinese companies. Dentium’s strategy is to resolve chronic supply chain risks and raise product competitiveness in the global market by one step by establishing a ‘Full Value-Chain’ leading from powder design to finished products through this raw material internalization.
Zirconia for dental prosthetics and energy has very demanding technical requirements such as high purity, uniform particle size distribution (PSD), and fine impurity management, so dependence on supply from a small number of companies such as Tosoh of Japan and Sinocera of China was high. Due to this, domestic companies held structural vulnerability of being constantly exposed to delivery fluctuations, exchange rates, and geopolitical risks.
Dentium embarked on raw material localization from 15 years ago to fundamentally solve these problems. Aiming for the latest powder of Tosoh, which is counted as the industry standard, it repeated numerous challenges and failures while controlling variables having millions of cases.
The development team accumulated a unique mass production recipe by overcoming technical barriers across all stages, such as adoption of hydrothermal synthesis method capable of securing high uniformity, optimization of precursors and stabilizers (Yttria), resolution of particle agglomeration problems occurring in washing and drying processes, securing of high-difficulty calcination and pulverization process conditions. As a result, it has currently secured a production capacity of 15 tons per year, and plans to push for phased expansion to 30 tons and 50 tons according to market demand in the future.
Dentium’s localization of zirconia raw materials holds meaning beyond simple import substitution. First is the establishment of supply security. It has become possible to break away from the structure depending on a small number of overseas companies, mitigate delivery and exchange rate risks, and actively prepare for unpredictable global risks. Second is cost competitiveness and yield optimization. Through process recipes linked from material to processing, yield can be increased and discard rates lowered to improve total cost (TCO). Third is provision of customer-customized specs. Customized raw materials optimized for the demands of different customers and equipment, such as translucency, strength, and color reproducibility, can be supplied rapidly.
Dentium expects that this raw material internalization will become an important bridgehead for expanding business into the next-generation energy field beyond the dental industry. Zirconia is counted as a core material for the future energy industry as about 80% of usage can be utilized in renewable energy fields such as fuel cell electrolytes and separators for hydrogen production beyond simple dental materials. The remaining about 20% is used in the dental field such as dental blocks and implant prosthetics. In other words, Dentium possesses an efficient utilization structure for zirconia.
Zirconia is used as a core electrolyte for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) based on excellent oxygen ion conductivity and durability. Also, utility is high as catalyst supports and ceramic parts in hydrogen production and purification processes. Based on accumulated powder design and sintering process data, Dentium plans to secure new growth engines by additionally developing specs for energy industry use such as ionic conductivity, densification, and pore control.
A Dentium official said, “Zirconia is a core resource of the energy transition era such as hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen production beyond dental prosthetic materials,” and “We will further strengthen global competitiveness through this achievement.”