Graphene is a new material, known as the "king of new materials" in the market. It is currently the thinnest and hardest nanomaterial in the world, only as thick as an atomic layer. At the same time, its strength is theoretically 200 times stronger than steel, and it is also the strongest material at present. Graphene's electrical and thermal conductivity are still very good.
Because graphene has excellent optical, electrical, and mechanical properties, it has important application prospects in materials science, micro-nano processing, energy, biomedicine, and drug delivery. China is a country with large graphite resources and one of the most active countries in graphene research and application development. At present, China's graphene materials are at the forefront of the world in terms of theoretical research and industrialization. The number of registered graphene-related companies in China has reached 23,000, and more than 5,000 were added in the first half of this year alone. The development is very rapid.
What is the current development stage of China's graphene industry?
Academician Liu, a graphene expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, “A new technology and new material is usually described by a technology maturity curve. Generally, there are technology budding period, expected peak period, foam trough period, climbing period, and stable application period. For graphene, it dates back to around the end of 2004. The peak period of hype was around 2015 and 2016, when graphene was omnipotent. But now everyone is gradually calming down, and for those who really do graphene People are particularly worried about people’s over-anticipation. Excessive anticipation may eventually turn into excessive disappointment. I really want to remind you that you must be especially patient with the new material industry. For the graphene industry, preparation determines the future, and materials are the cornerstone of the industry."
Academician Liu led the team to establish the BJ Graphene Research Institute in 2018. Academician Liu emphasized, "It is difficult to bring real breakthroughs in preparation without targeted basic research. Our goal is to build the cornerstone of the future graphene industry." After three years and 13 years of accumulation, Academician Liu and his The team has introduced major achievements such as graphene roll-to-roll films and graphene single crystal wafers, making its own contribution to the development of stable batch manufacturing processes.
Graphene itself grows darker in a high-temperature furnace. Academician Liu and his team have managed to grow ultra-clean. The single crystal wafers they succeeded in making can be described as "a sword of ten years." Academician Liu said, “For the research of new materials, many samples can be made in the laboratory and many articles can be published. However, moving to scale is a major leap, and it is also the key to promoting the industrialization of materials. Most people All research is done in the laboratory, and there is very little scale. The middle link is very important. This is what we do. For new graphene materials, the foundation determines the strength, and the process determines the quality."
Academician Liu believes that the development of the graphene industry is not a matter of overnight. It requires the combination of national and market will, long-term unremitting efforts and perseverance, and sustainable development is the key to the future.