"The King of New Materials" Graphene's Development Prospects in China

In 2004, two British scientists used "tape" to "tear" a single layer of material from the surface of graphite, winning them the Nobel Prize
.
Since then, the production and application of graphene materials has gradually become a hot spot in the market
.
Nowadays, graphene has been promoted to be the "king of new materials" and a well-deserved "black gold" in the field of new materials
.

According to the China Graphene Industry Alliance, the current global annual production capacity of graphene will reach the 100-ton level, and it will reach the 1,000-ton level in the next five to ten years
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By 2020, the global graphene market will exceed 100 billion yuan, of which China accounts for 50% to 80%.
China will play a leading and core role in the global graphene industry
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However, many people don’t know what graphene is.
Does graphene really have such a bright future?
What is graphene?

Graphene is a two-dimensional crystal.
The common graphite is composed of layers of honeycombs.
It is formed by stacking plane carbon atoms arranged in order.
The interlayer force of graphite is weak and it is easy to peel off each other to form thin graphite flakes
.
When the graphite sheet is peeled into a single layer, the single layer with the thickness of only one carbon atom is graphene
.


Graphene is not only the thinnest material, but also the strongest material, with a fracture strength 200 times higher than the best steel
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At the same time, it has good elasticity, and the stretching range can reach 20% of its own size
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It is currently the thinnest and strongest material in nature
.
Scientists even predict that graphene will "completely change the 21st century
.
" It is very likely to set off a disruptive new technology and new industrial revolution sweeping the world
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Graphene's "hot" application

integrated circuit: Graphene has ideal properties as an excellent integrated circuit electronic device
.
The problem is that it is difficult to manufacture single-layer graphene, and it is even more difficult to make an appropriate substrate
.


Transparent conductive electrode: Graphene's good electrical conductivity and light transmission properties make it a very good application prospect in transparent conductive electrodes
.
Touch screens, liquid crystal displays, organic photovoltaic cells, organic light-emitting diodes, etc.
all require good transparent conductive electrode materials
.


Thermally conductive materials or thermal interface materials: In 2011, scholars from Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States first reported the application of vertically arranged functionalized multilayer graphene three-dimensional structure in thermal interface materials and its ultra-high equivalent thermal conductivity and ultra-low interface thermal resistance
.


Supercapacitors: Since graphene has an extremely high surface area to mass ratio, graphene can be used for conductive electrodes in supercapacitors
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Scientists believe that the stored energy density of this supercapacitor will be greater than that of existing capacitors
.

Desalination: Studies have shown that graphene filters may significantly outperform other desalination technologies
.


Solar cells: The laboratory of the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California reported on the large-scale production of highly transparent graphene films by chemical vapor deposition in 2008
.


Biological device graphene: Graphene chemical functionality may be modified, a large contact area, a thickness of atomic size, the molecular characteristics of the gate structure, etc.
, applied to bacterial detection and diagnosis device, graphene is a very good choice
.


Antibacterial substances: Scientists at the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that graphene oxide is super effective in inhibiting the growth of E.
coli without harming human cells
.
If graphene oxide also has antibacterial properties against other bacteria, it may find a series of new applications, such as shoes that automatically remove odors, or packaging to keep food fresh
.


Graphene photosensitive element: A group of scientists from Singapore who specialize in graphene material research have now developed the latest technology to apply graphene to camera photosensitive elements, which is expected to completely subvert the future development of digital photosensitive element technology
.

Graphene is

developing rapidly in China , and basic and applied research are in parallel.


China is currently one of the most active countries in graphene research and application development
.
Statistics show that among all countries, China has applied for the largest number of graphene patents, with more than 2,200, accounting for 1/3 of the world's total.
Frontier new materials in the "Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan for the New Material Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2013 It contains graphene
.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China has funded a large number of basic research projects related to graphene, and a number of major projects have also been deployed in the National Science and Technology Major Project and the National 973 Program
.
Governments at all levels have shown great interest in graphene and have initially formed a government-industry-university-research cooperation mechanism for collaborative innovation among governments, scientific research institutions, R&D and application companies
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In October 2011, Changzhou, Jiangsu established the Jiangnan Graphene Research Institute, which is the first domestic industrialization base based on graphene materials and applications
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Today, China has been at the forefront of graphene industrialization.
There are more than 100 domestic graphene companies, and industrial clusters have formed in Changzhou, Wuxi, Qingdao, Shenzhen and other places
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The industry focuses on the preparation of graphene and several application areas such as energy storage, touch screens and coatings
.
Scientists have also developed a series of graphene-based energy storage materials, such as graphene-based high-density porous carbon materials, paving the way for the practical application of graphene
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China's graphene application patents are concentrated in the fields of lithium battery, energy storage, composite materials, etc.
The layout is relatively narrow, and the main body is mostly colleges and universities, and the research and development and application are disconnected to a certain extent
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In the future, how to change the status quo of domestic graphene industrialization, form a complete and mature industrial chain upstream and downstream, and develop products with higher cost performance are all problems that need to be solved urgently
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Graphene is indeed very hot at present, and it also brings us many innovative applications.

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No one can deny the power of graphene, but everything has two sides, and the warning that graphene may pose a threat to freshwater resources cannot be ignored
.