Pentamethylene diamine (PDA), also known as 1,5-diaminopentane, is an important five-carbon monomer. It is a colorless, smoky liquid with an ammonia-like odor, which is easily soluble in water and ethanol. Cathay uses renewable plant resources as the raw material to produce high purity bio-based PDA through a specific bioconversion process. Its carbon content from renewable resources is 100%.

PDA can be used in polyamides, pentamethylene diisocyanates (PDI), epoxy resin curing agents, organic synthesis intermediates, etc. Application fields include textiles, engineering materials, pharmaceuticalsns, pesticides, organic synthesis and other fields.

In 2014, Cathay realized a breakthrough in the PDA industrialization technology and completed the pilot plant test. After verification by international downstream customers, PDA was successfully applied to automobile surface paint, and this application has won the ECS Innovation Award.

The large-scale production of PDA is expected to solve the import dependence problem of adiponitrile, which is the core bottleneck of the development of the domestic double monomer polyamide industry. PDA provides our customers with new "biological manufacturing" materials made from renewable biomass raw materials.

Made from renewable plant-based raw materials, Cathay's bio-based PDA has been analyzed and verified by a third-party laboratory using the ASTM 6866 method to have a 100% renewable carbon content. This effectively reduces the use of petrochemical-based counterparts such as petroleum, thereby reducing carbon emissions.