Academician Liu Zhongfan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: Graphene can't do big steel-making "Great Leap Forward"

Since the Nobel Prize in the preparation of graphene in 2010, the “heat” of graphene in the industry has been out of control.

Graphene is called "king of new materials" and "super materials" because of its excellent properties of light, electricity and mechanics. In the past two years, China's graphene industrial park and graphene-based land have been blooming everywhere, and various so-called "graphene" products have been continuously introduced. At the same time, the capital market is also hot-selling graphene concept stocks. In the past, private equity tycoon Xu Xiang also profited from the graphene concept stocks such as the gorgeous family (600503).

In response to the current development status and problems of the graphene industry, 澎湃News () recently interviewed Liu Zhongfan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Peking University School of Chemistry. Liu Zhongfan said that at present, the development of China's graphene industry has witnessed a mass movement of “crowding up”, similar to the large-scale steelmaking operation during the “Great Leap Forward” period. Industrial concentration is also a problem. For example, many foreign companies do graphene are large enterprises, and China is basically some small start-ups.

Liu Zhongfan expressed concern about this. He said that the graphene industry is only the initial stage of industrialization. It has just revealed a little clue, and the mass-moving development mode cannot effectively promote the development of the graphene industry. If China does not change the current development of the graphene industry, the core industries in the graphene field may be occupied by foreign countries in the future. The development of the graphene industry must have a national will, and domestic large enterprises, especially central enterprises, must have a strategic layout.

Academician Liu Zhongfan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The following is the full text of the interview:

China's graphene industry has swarmed up, similar to the "Great Leap Forward" period of the large steel movement

澎湃News: You have repeatedly mentioned that the current development of China's graphene industry is a bit like the big steel movement in the Great Leap Forward. At present, the specific situation of the specific development of the graphene industry will give you this view.

Liu Zhongfan: At present, China has the largest research and development team of graphene in the world. Since 2011, the graphene papers published by Chinese scholars have ranked first in the world and have been far ahead. In terms of patent applications, as of September 30, 2016, China has accounted for more than 68% of the world. The graphene industrial park and research and development base are now under construction all over the country. I have a map of the graphene industrial park distribution, which has been constantly updated, and there are at least twenty. It was first launched in Changzhou, and then in Ningbo, Chongqing, Qingdao and other places, it was a star-studded trend, spreading from developed areas to underdeveloped areas. In the recent period, I have called for not being able to do things everywhere, because no new material can be done by mass movements. Everyone mistakenly believes that the threshold of graphene is very low, and it can make a lot of money when you go in. This is a serious misunderstanding.

I often say that history knows the answer. So far, what materials have been made by mass movements? If there is such a situation in the past, it is the 1958 steelmaking. Everyone knows this history, and the results can be imagined, a lot of resources are wasted, and a pile of scrap iron is created. The current "enekening movement" also has this feeling. One of the misunderstandings of people is that the graphene industry has reached a stage of great development, with “black gold” everywhere. In fact, graphene materials have just left the laboratory, at most in the early stage of industrialization, far from maturity, not even everywhere, but everywhere. According to Gartner's technical maturity curve analysis, new graphene materials should be at the peak of the foam, bearing the excessive expectations of people. Next will be the so-called Death Valley, because from basic research to mature technology, to the industry takes a long time, it is impossible to do it overnight. From the first article on graphene hotspots in 2004, it has only been more than 12 years since it was fully filled, and it cannot be expected to be too high. In fact, whether graphene will become a big industry in the future, no one can guarantee, because there are many uncertain factors.

There are many abnormalities in the graphene industry in China. The stock market is blindly speculating, using graphene to make money; local governments are blindly launching, building industrial parks in circles; and a group of irresponsible graphene players speculation concept, how many people really pay attention to the graphene industry itself is not known It is. The result of this is that those who really want to do things are suffering, because after everyone’s expectations are lost, they will move from one extreme to the other, from blind faith to total negation. Just like the hype of nanos in the past, it was almost twenty years old. Now when it comes to nano, many people shake their heads.

The development of any new material or new technology industry is not so simple, carbon fiber is a good example. As early as the early 1960s, the Japanese proposed a method of industrially preparing carbon fiber. By the early 1970s, Japan's Toray had really started small-scale industrial production, about a ton per month. At that time, the carbon fiber grade was very low and only fishing rods could be used. By 2003, Toray had invested more than 140 billion yen and has been doing business at a loss. It wasn't until Boeing used their carbon fiber on a new generation of big planes that the turnaround appeared. We must know that the carbon fiber at this time is no longer the same, and the grade has been greatly improved. From 1971 to 2003, Toray Corporation insisted on 32 years, which is the craftsman spirit. Without the insistence of Toray, it is hard to say how big the carbon fiber industry is, at least not so rapidly. Therefore, whether a material can promote an industry often requires the core figures or core enterprises to push, rather than mass sports gold, because there is no gold before the real mature industry. We are often good at copying mature technologies, rather than developing new ones, which are too impetuous and utilitarian. Carbon fiber materials have formed the journey of today's industry for nearly half a century. The graphene material is only 12 years old. It cannot be said that the graphene industry must take half a century, but twelve years is absolutely impossible.

"Today's graphene is not equal to the future of graphene"

澎湃News: Many companies in China now do graphene are small companies, some start-ups, how do they invest a lot of money and energy to insist on doing research and development all year round?

Liu Zhongfan: Indeed, most of the current graphene players are small and micro enterprises, which are basically self-employed. This determines the utilitarian nature of enterprise development, otherwise it will not survive. The graphene industry needs the will of the state and the participation of large enterprises, because in the early stage of industrialization, a large amount of investment is required, and small and micro enterprises cannot do it.

澎湃News: In terms of the development of graphene in these years, has there been a kind of enterprise like Dongli Company in China?

Liu Zhongfan: I haven't seen such signs yet. China's corporate culture has also determined that it is difficult to have a "one-strength" enterprise like Toray. Of course, we also have institutional advantages and top-level design, using the power of the state to make the large graphene industry.

澎湃News: In the past two years, there have been many products such as graphene clothes. What do you think?

Liu Zhongfan: At present, there are too many speculation products for graphene products, and it is difficult to generalize the fish. Although it is not easy to say low-end products and high-end products, at least the current speculation cannot be the future direction of the graphene industry. If it is so simple, there is no such thing as a strategic emerging material. For example, we will add some MSG flavoring when cooking, but we will not say that this dish is MSG, let alone eat MSG today. Just adding a little graphene to a material may change some properties, but it won't be a subversive thing.

澎湃News: Now, graphene really seems to have a feeling of “industrial MSG”.

Liu Zhongfan: This is mainly smashed by everyone, and its role is far more than that.

澎湃News: What is the future development of graphene?

Liu Zhongfan: I have designed three possible futures for graphene materials. The first kind of future is similar to carbon fiber, and it is not inseparable from everyday life, but it plays the role of killer in an industry. The actual graphene material is not equivalent to the future graphene material, and the grade is not enough. However, as the level of preparation of graphene materials is infinitely close to the ideal situation, it is not impossible to become a killer-level application in an industry.

The second future is similar to plastic. Plastics invented in the early twentieth century are now ubiquitous, greatly facilitating human life. This possibility is not a dream for graphene materials, and its potential use is extremely broad, although it takes a lot of hard work to become a reality.

The third future is similar to silicon. Silicon material is the cornerstone of integrated circuits, bringing humanity into the information age and greatly changing the spiritual life of human beings. If the excellent properties of graphene are all excavated and applied, the future is limitless. One day in the future, it is not an illusion to create a “graphene age”.

澎湃News: Which one is most likely to be the development direction of graphene?

Liu Zhongfan: There are several possibilities, but I think the most realistic one is the future, which is similar to the future of carbon fiber. If you can make the graphene material to the extreme, have the best thermal conductivity and conductivity, the strength is 200 times that of steel, who would not? The development path of graphene materials will be similar to that of carbon fibers. As the performance continues to increase, the number of labels continues to increase and the use is increasing. My team is dedicated to the development of future graphene materials. We believe that preparation determines the future. We hope that through our unremitting efforts, we will lay a good foundation for the future graphene industry. The future of the graphene industry depends on whether anyone can make the raw materials to the extreme, rather than just use them. My team is willing to take this responsibility.

澎湃News: For example, according to the development of the first carbon fiber, which properties of graphene may play the ultimate role?

Liu Zhongfan: This is not very good to say, or it is not very clear. Personally, graphene is very promising as a heat management material, and relatively simple. It is a very realistic direction as a heat dissipating material and a heating material. Secondly, it is the application of graphene mechanical properties, as an important part of composite materials. As a lightweight high-strength material; the third prospect is the application of its excellent electrical properties, anti-static, touch screen, and even future integrated circuit materials, especially in the field of flexible devices, smart wearable devices will have broad application prospects.

澎湃News: Although the application of the downstream market has not been opened yet, the industries and parks in various places are constantly being launched. You have visited many places and researched. What are the actual situation of these industrial parks?

Liu Zhongfan: This graphene industrial park is like a department store. There are many stalls in it. There are shoes, shoes, and hats. After each park is established, it is necessary to attract investment, and it is necessary to attract many teams engaged in graphene research and development. It is naturally difficult to achieve uniform layout and unification of will, so it is difficult to avoid simple repetition and result in unclear features. And each small stall owner is basically a small micro-self-employed, it is difficult to adhere to the core technology research and development work, the ideal is overwhelmed by reality is a normal thing.

If the current industrial development model is not changed, the graphene core field may be occupied by foreign countries.

澎湃News: What is the current foreign graphene industry?

Liu Zhongfan: Foreign countries are also doing it, and many powerful large companies are involved in it and play a leading role. For example, South Korea’s Samsung has been deployed since the beginning of this century and has nearly 500 graphene core patents. I have noticed that the graphite products that are particularly realistic in foreign countries are rarely publicized, and most of the propaganda reports are future-type technologies. This is very different from ours. We rarely do future layouts and are satisfied with the current graphene products. Obviously, the future-oriented thing is to explore the use of killer level, once it breaks through it will be subversive. In addition, there are problems with patent protection. Although China's graphene patents currently rank first in the world, the actual core patents account for a large number of questions, which deserves everyone's attention.

Hey News: Are these giant companies doing this research abroad now?

Liu Zhongfan: Many foreign powerful companies have forward-looking layouts. Of course, there are no small and micro enterprises and new enterprises to do graphene. Our graphene players are often newly established small companies, established in the graphene gold rush, lacking technical accumulation and comprehensive research and development strength, and its competitiveness can be imagined.

澎湃News: In which areas are these large foreign companies focusing on graphene research?

Liu Zhongfan: What we are seeing now is often something that is far away and not very reliable. However, these seemingly unreliable things, if done, are subversive and become the core competitiveness of the graphene industry in the future.

澎湃News: If China does not have such a large enterprise to do this, this market may be occupied by foreign countries again?

Liu Zhongfan: Let's just say, we have until now, which new technology really originated from its original creation? Most of the time, there are major breakthroughs in others, and we will copy them again. Because of this, I often ask, why do you expect graphene materials to be special? If it is not a change in practices and concepts, what graphene will succeed? Compared with our small workshop-style graphene players, once foreign big companies make breakthroughs in some aspects, they rush to China to invest and build factories. Once they invest 1 billion US dollars, you are basically competitive, and all efforts may be paid. East flow. We need to change our practices now. It is impossible to promote the way of refining steel and mass movements. It is necessary to give play to the advantages of the system and the overall layout, reflecting the will of the state and the will of the enterprise. You can't just focus on the things that make money right away, you have to lay out the core technology of the future.

澎湃News: However, there are also large companies like Huawei doing this research.

Liu Zhongfan: Yes, but Huawei is still limited to the use of graphene on mobile phones, which will not be the mainstream development direction of graphene. As far as the status quo is concerned, it is not realistic to let Chinese enterprises make large-scale investments. It requires national efforts, overall layout, and orderly development. This is China's strength.

In addition, now everyone has a great misunderstanding in understanding, and the graphene industry has developed the graphene industry. Objectively speaking, the preparation of graphene from graphite ore is only an option for powder graphene preparation technology and is not necessarily the best option. Because graphite ore has many associated impurities, it is difficult to purify, and the preparation process often produces serious environmental pollution, so it is not necessarily cost-effective to integrate various factors. Although our country's graphite mines account for more than 75% of the world's proven reserves, our purification technology is very poor, and the price of selling is a thousand yuan a ton, and then we sell it to us after dozens of purification. Ten thousand or even one million yuan a ton. We don't even solve this technology. It is conceivable to do higher-end graphene materials.

All in all, if the current development model is not changed, the future graphene core industry will be occupied by others. This is by no means an alarmist and must be highly valued.