Opportunities for the new era of graphene materials

In today's China and the world, discussion about the material revolution that graphene may trigger and even the new technology revolution is very enthusiastic. Recently, I went to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Shaanxi, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and other local and research institutions to investigate graphene. Graphene has great potential for development and application prospects. We must make overall planning and careful layout. We must firmly grasp the major development opportunities brought about by the R&D and industrialization of graphene, and strive to grasp the commanding heights of future technological competition.

A new era of graphene materials is emerging

Although the discovery of graphene only lasted for about 10 years, it triggered waves of research and development that swept the world. Graphene is a two-dimensional crystal that is densely packed with carbon atoms. It has magic electron transport, conduction, heat conduction, and mechanical characteristics. In 2004, physicists Andregeheim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom succeeded in stripping graphene from graphite in the laboratory, proving that graphene can exist alone, and thus won the 2010 award. The Nobel Prize in Physics has created a global research boom in the preparation, modification and application of graphene. The use of graphene in the applications of supercapacitors, transparent electrodes, lithium-ion batteries, sensors, functional coatings, and polymer nanocomposites opens up a new era in graphene materials.

As some scholars have said, the 19th century was the era of ironware, the 20th century was the era of silicon, and the 21st century was the era of carbon. Carbon is one of the most common elements in the natural world and constitutes the most important element of all living things on Earth. The properties of carbon materials cover almost all the properties of the earth. Advanced carbon materials have a new structure and excellent physical and chemical properties, and are new and important materials for future development.

As one of the key strategic emerging industries, the new materials industry is also the cornerstone and precursor of the future development of high-tech industries, and is an important foundation for China to become a manufacturing powerhouse in the world. As the advanced carbon material, graphene is the best material in the world today. It has the following characteristics: the thinnest, 0.35nm, is called the thinnest material in the world today; the largest specific surface area is 2620m2/g; the hardest, the stiffness is better than diamond, and it is the highest known material of human, harder than steel 100 Times; the most tensile, can be stretched 20%; the highest thermal conductivity, 5300W/mk; the highest mobility 200,000cm2 / [email protected]; high light transmittance, light transmittance of 97.7% / single layer; high load Flow capacity: The current density is 6 orders of magnitude higher than that of copper. The most peculiar is that graphene is a two-dimensional quantum material. The line performance has a dispersion relation, and the effective mass of carriers is zero. The quantum Hall effect can be observed under the greenhouse. It also has room temperature ballistic transport properties.

Graphene is ultra-thin, ultra-light, ultra-high strength, super-conductivity, excellent room temperature thermal conductivity and light transmission, almost completely transparent, stable structure, a very wide range of applications, great development prospects, is the key to promoting strategic high technology development material.

Graphene has unlimited application prospects. Although it is still a potential stage, universal application and industrialization have not yet opened up, but from the perspective of scientific prediction, it has become a key area that cannot be ignored. For example, it can replace and solve the drawbacks of traditional lithium batteries such as slow charging speed, poor power storage capacity, short life span, and pollution, which can solve the key problems in the development of electric vehicles and enable new energy electric vehicles to flourish. For another example, it can replace silicon to create a new generation of supercomputers in the future; replace ITO transparent conductive film, applied to touch screen, flexible display, solar cells and other electronic industries; can also be applied to seawater desalination, biodegradable plastics, thermal insulation film, anticorrosion coating , biomaterials, composites, tablet PCs, watch calendars, mobile phones, photodetectors, graphene paper, graphene fabrics and aerospace warfare, ultra-light body armor, ultra-thin and ultra-light aircraft, ultra-thin folding cell phones, even imaginable Power sky lift and so on. The demand created by graphene will most likely set off a disruptive new technology and new industrial revolution that sweeps across the globe. From the perspective of global development trends, no one wants to lose the major opportunities brought about by the development of graphene.

Graphene is the strategic commanding height of future high-tech industry competition

In recent years, especially after 2007, both graphene research, paper publication, and R&D and industrialization have entered a period of rapid growth in China and the world. The annual increase of papers and patents exceeds 70%. In particular, from 2009 to 2012, the number of international patent applications has increased by more than 100%. To date, more than 34,000 papers have been published worldwide and only 10,000 in 2013. More than 4,000 patent applications worldwide. It is worth mentioning that the papers and patent applications published in the field of graphene in China in recent years all rank first in the world. By the end of 2012, China had published 6,308 international papers, the United States ranked second, and published 5,709 articles. The number of citations in China's papers totaled 90,403, and the number of citations in the United States was 132,991. China applied for 1,471 patents, and the United States applied for 1,130 patents. It shows that our country has certain strength in the accumulation of scientific and technological basis in the graphene field, research and development, and high-tech development.

Graphene is the strategic commanding point of high-tech development in the world, which has attracted the attention of all countries in the world, especially the fierce competition in R&D. From 2008 to 2010, the European Union released the graphene nanoelectronic device project and announced in 2013 that it will be included in the “Future Emerging Flagship Technology Project” and will develop R&D funding of 1 billion euros in the next 10 years to develop graphene. Raise to a strategic height. The British government also attaches importance to graphene research, established the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, and promoted the commercialization of graphene materials. In 2011, the British government took graphene as one of the four key development directions of the country in its "Promotion of Growth and Development Strategy." Invested 50 million pounds to support the research and development of graphene and commercial application research. In the same year, the British Natural Science Research Institute Commission and the British Technology Strategy Committee invested about 10 million pounds to establish an innovation center centered on emerging technology exploration and market development, dedicated to the exploration, development and application of graphene technology. At the end of 2012, the British government added another 21.5 million pounds to support the commercial exploration of graphene. The Korean government has invested R&D expenses of US$1.4 billion to set graphene materials and products as one of the future innovation industries. From 2007 to 2009, the Korea Educational Science Department has funded 90 related projects, with a total funding of US$18.7 million. From 2012 to 2018, the former Ministry of Knowledge Economy of South Korea is expected to provide US$250 million in grants to graphene, US$124 million for R&D, and the rest for commercial research. In 2013, Korea's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Industry announced that it will invest US$42.3 million over the next six years to help companies realize the commercialization of graphene application products and related technologies. From 2006 to 2011, there were 200 projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSF) on graphene, including applications of graphene supercapacitors, graphene continuous and large-scale nano-manufacturing projects. In 2008, the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) invested US$22 million in the development of ultra-high-speed and low-energy graphene transistors. At the same time, at least 10 companies have made new developments in R&D and industrialization. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JST) started funding technology for graphene silicon materials and devices since 2007. In 2009, the German Science Foundation (DFG) launched a new frontier research project for graphene.

Governments at the same time pay attention to and pay attention to graphene. At the same time, companies also keenly seize the opportunity to show great interest in graphene and invest in the competition for the development and industrialization of graphene. The United States has great research and development in nanoelectronic devices and high-frequency electronic devices. It has developed flexible photovoltaic panels with nano-coating of graphene on the surface, which greatly reduces the cost of manufacturing transparent and deformable solar cells and can be widely used in graphene nights. Sights, cameras, and other small digital devices. A graphite modulator was developed at the University of California, Berkeley, enabling ultra-fast data communication. Wobbler Materials of the United States introduced conductive inks with good performance and low prices, and was approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The United States Fai Rui technology company developed and manufactured a large area of ​​flexible touch screen. IBM and Samsung focus on R&D on high-speed transistors. Samsung and Nokia have focused on the application of graphene in flexible displays. Cabot Corporation of the United States and Pohang, South Korea, have made important progress in graphene capacitors and batteries. South Korea’s Samsung recently announced that it has successfully applied graphene to touch panel displays and has manufactured transparent and flexible displays composed of layers of graphene and other materials that can be widely used in mobile devices. Sony successfully synthesized a large-area graphene film 120 meters long and 230 meters wide. IBM, BASF, and Sony all invested huge amounts of money. The chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer and the British aircraft giant Rolls Royce also strengthened their research and development of graphene in an effort to quickly occupy the commanding heights of the graphene industry.

China's graphene research and development and industrialization status and policy recommendations

The development of graphene in China started late, but it has developed rapidly, with potential advantages and advantages in the future. On July 13, 2013, the China Graphene Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance was established. At the same time, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning, Chongqing, Heilongjiang and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions collaborated on innovation in various forms and established industrial technology alliances one after another, which promoted the optimization of innovation resources and the industrialization of innovation. In 2013, the Chongqing Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a 15-inch monolayer graphene. In February 2013, Wuxi Gefei Electronic Thin Film Technology Co., Ltd. developed a graphene capacitive capacitive screen mobile phone. Changzhou Sixth Element Co., Ltd. produces 100 tons of powder per year, and Ningbo Mercy Technology Co., Ltd. produces 300 tons of graphene powder per year. In May 2013, Changzhou 2D Carbon Technology Co., Ltd., Wuxi Gefei Electronic Thin Film Technology Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen HeLi Optoelectronic Sensor Co., Ltd. cooperated with Jiangnan Graphene Research Institute to produce 30,000 square meters of graphene film production line in Changzhou. Changzhou 2D Carbon Technology Co., Ltd. developed a mobile phone capacitive touch screen. Yancheng Naxintiandi Technology Co., Ltd. built a graphene industrial cluster in Yancheng in 2013 and took the lead in the research of successful single-layer graphene modified materials, and cooperated with the CSR Group for high-speed rail. Shenzhen Beitui New Energy Materials Co., Ltd., Wuxi and Qingdao Industrial Base, Nano Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Microsystems Institute, Tsinghua University, East China University of Science and Technology, and Beijing University of Chemical Technology have all done a lot of research and development and industrialization of graphene. We will make breakthroughs and make breakthroughs.

In 2010, the Jiangsu Changzhou municipal government decided to invest 50 million to establish the Jiangnan Graphene Technology Industrial Park and introduce eight R&D teams, of which five are returnees R&D teams, 11 professional research labs, and analysis and test centers have been established. The company has a market value of 2 billion yuan. In 2011, the high-level forum for graphene development was held for three consecutive years. It strived to build a graphene research center integrated with production, research, and gold, and a new and innovative industrial cluster, striving to become an international leader in the development of graphene industry.

Looking at China and the world, graphene industrialization and material revolution are on the eve of a breakthrough. Although the application of graphene has not yet been put into the market on a large scale, there are risks and uncertainties, but the future development potential and power are huge. China must not lose this development opportunity. At the same time, it must also prevent detours and waste resources, manpower, and material resources. We must assess the situation and formulate scientific, correct and rational development policies and measures.

The first is to seize the opportunity and make a difference. At present, we are in the same starting stage as the developed countries. We must seize the opportunity and make progress as soon as possible in promoting industrialization. In the competition of the world's graphene material revolution, it took the lead in innovating, leading the development, and achieving the leap from the “tracer” to the “leader”.

The second is to make plans and give priority to support. It is recommended that relevant parties carefully investigate and develop graphene R&D and industrialization development plans. At the national level, we will set up special projects for innovation and provide focused support. With enterprises as the main body, we will create collaborative innovations in production, education, and research to promote leap-forward development.

The third is to prevent the use of graphene speculation. Graphene can replace petroleum. Once it is broken, it will bring huge benefits to China, and it will reduce the position of oil in the international strategy. It is of great significance to enhancing the strategic security of China's energy. However, in the current market, there have been behaviors that use investor expectations to speculate in the stock market, causing losses to investors and affecting the healthy development of the graphene industry. This requires attention and formulation of corresponding countermeasures.

The fourth is to formulate the correct technical route and technical standards. Graphene has developed rapidly and various aspects have been added to R&D and industrialization. However, some companies lack the scientific method and the correct technical route in the process of developing graphene. Blind developers may take detours and cause unnecessary losses and confusion. It is recommended that relevant departments organize the formulation of a national policy on the development of graphene health. At the same time, it is necessary to formulate technical standards, transform the advantages of technological research and development into industry standard advantages, and master the right to speak of graphene development.

The fifth is to protect the national graphene strategic resources. China is a large country of graphite resources. In recent years, a large amount of raw materials have been exported to foreign countries at a price of 3,000 yuan per ton, and even imported into the sea by some countries. Some companies have immersed graphite resources in rough processing and sold them for around 10,000 yuan/ton, causing serious waste of resources. It is recommended that government departments take effective countermeasures and measures. Such an important strategic resource must not repeat the mistakes of rare earths.

Source: China Science and Technology Network (Zhang Jingan)