China's graphene dilemma: it is difficult to sell products with empty capacity

As the most disruptive new material in the 21st century, since its birth, graphene has become a hot spot pursued by the scientific and technological circles and the capital circles, and it carries as much praise as controversy
.

Graphene is a two-dimensional crystal composed of carbon atoms with only one atomic layer thickness.
As the only two-dimensional carbon material, the special structure of graphene also shows its performance advantages that other carbon materials do not have-strength High, toughness, high light transmittance, light weight, good electrical conductivity, and excellent thermal conductivity
.

Difficulties
in manufacturingIn the opinion of Ding Guqiao, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "Institute of Microelectronics"), the excellent performance brought about by the unique structure has also become a limiting factor in the popularization of graphene materials to some extent
.
"In terms of material structure, a two-dimensional material composed of a single carbon atom layer cannot be used alone, and graphene itself is saturated with chemical bonds, and it is difficult to composite with other materials
.
" Ding Guqiao introduced to China Business News.

.

Ding Guqiao’s research group has been conducting basic scientific research on graphene materials since 2009, and is constantly pursuing more environmentally friendly, higher-quality, and large-scale graphene material preparation technology.
It has gradually developed from the commonly used strong oxidation technology.
At least use or do not use strong acid and strong oxidant mechanical shear peeling technology
.

This exfoliation process is exactly the same as the method used by physicists Andre Heim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester to separate graphene from graphite materials, that is, using the relative weakness between each atomic layer.
The bonding force is to stick the two sides of the graphite sheet with scotch tape, and repeat the pasting and tearing until the graphene with only one layer of atomic thickness is obtained
.

Although the seemingly simple extraction method can obtain high-quality graphene, the size of the graphene can only be achieved by luck and it is difficult to achieve mass production, because 1 mm thick graphite flakes can peel off 3 million layers of graphene
.
In addition, there are redox method, chemical vapor deposition method, ultrasonic peeling method and so on
.

"Most of the graphene produced by chemical methods is not pure graphene.
It is essentially a multi-layered graphite stack, and the product quality cannot be guaranteed.
The chemical vapor deposition of graphene films has high cost and low yield, making it difficult to mass produce
.
"Frost & Sullivan Global Partner and President of Greater China, Dr.
Wang Xin told China Business News
.

　　At present, graphene mainly has two forms, one is graphene film, the other is graphene powder similar to carbon black, and the application directions of the two are not the same
.
Graphene in the form of thin films can already be produced on a large scale, including companies such as Chongqing Moxi Technology Co.
, Ltd.
, Changzhou 2D Carbon, and Wuxi Gefei
.

　　But graphene powder is the most controversial area
.
Some companies and institutions confuse single-layer and multi-layer, and refer to graphene microsheets or graphene nanosheets that are far more than 10 atomic layers as graphene
.
"At present, many domestic companies claim to be able to produce 100 tons, 500 tons or even thousands of tons.
The exaggerated components are relatively large, and most of them are not real graphene.
It is difficult for non-professionals to distinguish clearly
.
" Ding Guqiao said
.

　　Research and industry are not effectively connected
There
　　are currently more than 100 graphene production companies in China, especially in Changzhou, Qingdao, Chongqing, Wuxi, Shenzhen and other places that have formed industrial clusters
.
However, unlike overseas companies such as Samsung, IBM, Nokia, Intel, Dow Chemical and other large companies that promote industrial applications, China's graphene production is mostly concentrated in small and medium-sized companies, and large companies are less involved
.

　　But from the perspective of scientific research, China is a world leader in graphene research
.
According to data from the Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China and Wind database, the number of patent applications in China reached 7,925 in 2015, ranking first in the world
.
From the perspective of patent layout, the total proportion of enterprises and schools is more than 80%, and the proportion of companies is lower than that of schools, and the speed of industrialization is limited
.

　　According to Wang Xin’s observation, “Although China has a large number of scientific researchers and achievements, there are still few high-precision original scientific research results.
Most of them use tracking research methods, and there are relatively few major innovations.
Research results are mainly concentrated in In the field of basic research, high-end application technology is still relatively weak
.
" The
　　sluggish sales volume of available capacity is
　　more noteworthy.
The difficulty in applying technology breakthroughs has led to the lack of formation in the downstream of the industrial chain.
Many companies claiming to be able to produce hundreds of tons of graphene have no capacity.
, But it is difficult to sell products
.

　　At present, there are only a few graphene companies capable of large-scale mass production in China
.
The reporter inquired about public information on various official websites.
For example, in November 2013, Changzhou Sixth Element Material Technology Co.
, Ltd.
announced that an automated production line with an annual output of 100 tons of graphene oxide (ene) was put into operation, and it is expected to produce 1,000 tons of powder in 2016.
The sales revenue of solid graphene exceeds 600 million yuan
.

　　However, according to the 2016 mid-year performance report, the net profit in the first half of 2016 was -13,672,700 yuan, a decrease of 38.
83% from the same period last year
.
Graphene powder revenue increased by approximately 1.
2271 million yuan, and touch sensor revenue increased by 3.
2277 million yuan.
Although the product downstream market applications are gradually opening up, sales are far below expectations
.
While Changzhou 2D Carbon Materials has a net profit of -5.
214 million yuan, and Qingdao Huagao Inkene has a detailed profit of -283.
8 million yuan
.

　　With empty production capacity, investing a lot of money in equipment and personnel, but it is difficult to sell products, this has become an embarrassing situation in China's graphene production.
Due to the lack of downstream demand, most graphene companies are still unable to find a stable business model and profit model.

.

　　In the view of graphene industry experts, although downstream manufacturers have greatly increased their enthusiasm for graphene applications since 2015, most downstream entrepreneurs in the market are still conceptualized about graphene and do not know how to use it
.

　　"Many companies purchase graphene materials and other related products, but do not change the processing technology according to the product characteristics
.
In this case, even if the quality of graphene materials is high, it is difficult to exert its superiority, resulting in'good materials, The phenomenon of'bad use' has repeatedly appeared
.
" Wang Xin said
.

　　In addition, the transition period from new materials to new products is long, and downstream companies must ensure that the products added with graphene materials are stable
.
Take a battery manufacturer as an example.
It takes about 3 months for a batch of products to produce test results.
The same product needs to undergo 5 to 6 batches of stability tests to determine its stability and decide whether to introduce it
.

　　"The high cost of graphene and the incompatibility of process characteristics in lithium batteries make the technology of'graphene battery' close to non-existent
.
" Wang Xin said bluntly
.

　　In addition, some companies shoddy and produce things that no one wants, and they flicker everywhere, making the market's understanding of graphene vague.
When immature products are blindly put on the market, there will be great potential risks.
The same is based on battery production.
For example, the use of security still needs to be constantly tested
.

　　Industrialization path
　　In terms of graphene industrialization, the driving force of large foreign companies is particularly obvious
.
Take South Korea as an example.
As graphene has significant application prospects in Samsung’s main business areas, it attaches great importance to the research and application of graphene.
Not only has it established its own R&D center, but also cooperated with Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea to accumulate A large number of graphene-related technology patents have been awarded
.

　　With large companies such as IBM, Intel, and Boeing in the United States, the favorable entrepreneurial environment has given birth to many small graphene companies, forming a relatively complete industrial chain, covering all links from preparation and application research to graphene product production to downstream applications , Has accelerated the industrialization and application process of graphene, and the industrial layout is diversified
.

　　While the development model of China’s "enterprise R&D institution incubator accelerator" is still in its infancy, the technical route and industrialization route of graphene industrialization, as well as the stage goals, key tasks, and major projects of industrial development, still need to be further clarified
.

　　Feedback from downstream applications to scientific research, what performance products downstream application providers need, what are the acceptable prices, and which fields they want to apply to, can scientific research institutions conduct more targeted research and development
.

　　"Only with the support of downstream application requirements, the graphene industry can truly exude vitality and sustainability
.
" Wang Xin said
.