The road to breakthrough in the core technology of high-end new materials, academician Gan Yong analyzes goals, tasks and challenges

, Wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant and dust-removing materials total about 4 million tons.

Huge challenge


At present, the high-end and large-scale new materials in the above-mentioned demand mainly rely on imports, and the independent guarantee rate is less than 15%! The above major needs are related to the lifeblood of the country and cannot be counted on abroad!


Key new material research and development tasks


Focusing on major needs, in accordance with the national special "university and specialty" attribute requirements, and based on the characteristics of basic material support and integrated applications, the following 13 types of key new materials are sorted out.


Common basic categories (one material with multiple uses-one material supports multiple major needs, reflecting "big")

Advanced steel materials, high-quality superalloys

Advanced non-ferrous metals, high-performance ceramics and glass

New polymer materials, high-performance fibers and advanced composite materials

Rare earth functional materials Advanced microelectronics and optoelectronic materials

Strategic Frontier Materials


Integrated applications (one needs multiple materials-integrate multiple materials to support a major demand, reflecting "speciality")

New display materials, green energy materials

A new generation of biomedical materials, high-performance separation membrane materials


1. Special alloys for high-end equipment (advanced steel)


Heat-resistant alloy for 700℃ ultra-supercritical power station steam turbine
Steel for oil and gas resource exploitation and ultra-large-volume oil and gas pipelines
High-strength and high-plasticity automotive steel
Bainite steel for high-speed and heavy-duty railway wheel and rail
High-quality marine engineering steel for offshore oil and gas exploration and transportation
Steel for island and reef infrastructure under high humidity and heat ocean environment
Bearings, gears and die steel for basic parts of advanced equipment
High-quality wide and heavy plates and large castings and forgings


Special alloys for high-end equipment










2. Superalloys-core technology


There is still a significant gap between the domestic first- and second-generation single crystal blades and turbine disks in terms of yield, yield, quality stability, and consistency with the international advanced level. High-end materials still mainly follow foreign and local innovations.


Low-cost, consistent quality and stable "one material with multiple uses" technology;
Improve the consistency of the composition and the uniformity of the structure of superalloy products;
Master the single crystal growth control technology of hollow blades with complex shapes;
Powder superalloy deformation technology completely solves the problem of inclusions;
Form a reliable, accurate and fast high-temperature alloy testing technology.

Difficulties and breakthroughs of powder superalloys


The powder superalloy uses pre-alloyed powder, and each particle is similar to a "tiny steel ingot". The segregation only occurs in a small range, so the composition segregation is small, the initial melting temperature is high, and the tendency of harmful phases to precipitate is small. It has become more than three generations Required material for core components such as aero engine turbine disks. However, the control of the size and quantity of inclusions in the powder tray is still the core technical problem of its engineering application.



High-temperature alloy master alloy bars with a diameter of 50mm have been drawn, and the inclusion content is ideally controlled.


High temperature alloys in 2025


mission target

Improve the consistency of the composition and the uniformity of the structure of the superalloy product
Improve product dimensional stability and ensure engine reliability and efficiency
Reduce the cost of superalloys and realize the regeneration and utilization of rare and precious elements
High-temperature alloy cutting-edge varieties and cutting-edge technology show the technology promotion effect

Landmark achievement

The performance of the second-generation superalloy turbine disc and single crystal blades is stable, and the fourth-generation machine is reliable.
Machining/aging of domestic high-temperature alloy disc forgings and ring parts, the run-out of the rear face meets the standard

3. High-performance fiber and composite materials


High-performance fibers and composite materials for lightweight transportation equipment
High-performance fiber and composite materials for construction machinery, power equipment, marine engineering reinforcement
High-performance fibers and composite materials for advanced nuclear energy
Military-civilian dual-purpose heat-resistant high-performance carbon fiber reinforced composite material
High performance T300/T700/T800/MJ grade carbon fiber
High-strength/high-toughness/super-high-strength and high-model para-aramid fiber
Continuous tow SiC fiber
Ceramic precursor

Market demand for carbon fiber and its composite materials (demand in 2030)


Carbon fiber demand: 150,000 tons/year;
Demand varieties: high-strength, high-strength medium mold, high-strength, high-strength high-mold products
Output value of carbon fiber and its composite materials: 900 billion yuan


World consumption forecast of carbon fiber composite materials in various fields (tons)


4. New rare earth materials


The four firsts of my country's rare earth: resources first, output first, application first, export first


Rare earth new materials: the material basis of new energy vehicles, robots, CNC machine tools, and clean energy. Rare earth magnetic materials are the largest application field of rare earths.



Technological innovation in the application of rare earths in industry these years


At present, rare earth permanent magnetic materials have developed into one of the most strategic industries with Chinese characteristics, especially the implementation of the Made in China 2025 and the One Belt One Road development strategy, which are inseparable from rare earth magnetic functional materials, such as national big data projects and high-speed railways. In engineering, electric vehicle engineering for overtaking in curves, etc., rare earth permanent magnet materials have become typical representatives of rare earth magnetic functional materials in promoting the rapid development of high-tech industries.


However, there has been no major breakthrough in the performance of rare earth permanent magnet materials for a long time, which has severely restricted the improvement of the technical indicators of some major national engineering projects. In addition, due to the dual restrictions of production level and foreign patents, on the whole, my country's sintered NdFeB magnets are mostly mid-to-low-end products, and the overall price is low, and the core technology has not yet been fully controlled in their own hands.


From the aspect of production technology, in the field of sintered NdFeB magnet production, most of Chinese enterprises have mastered the advanced production technology of rapid-setting thin strip and hydrogen quenching powder, and have the ability to produce high-end sintered NdFeB and samarium cobalt. The capacity of magnet products, and the overall output of high and mid-range products are also increasing year by year. However, compared with developed countries such as Japan, there is still a big gap in the product quality and product consistency of my country's rare earth permanent magnet materials, and the international competitiveness is not strong.


In terms of rare earth magnetic materials, foreign German vacuum melting companies, Magnequench, NEOMAX, Tokyo Electric (TDK), Neorem, Datong Electronics, MATE, Japan Companies such as Aichi Steel and ETREMA of the United States occupy a leading position.


5. Advanced microelectronics and optoelectronic materials


Large-diameter silicon and silicon-based materials
Third-generation semiconductor materials
High-quality microelectronic materials for core devices
High-quality optoelectronic materials for high-power lasers, infrared detectors, and special optical fibers













Third-generation semiconductor materials


The third-generation semiconductor is the "core" of solid-state light sources and power electronic devices, and is about to usher in explosive growth. Foreign governments have stepped up their deployment in this field. In 2014, Obama announced the establishment of the National Manufacturing Innovation Center for the Next Generation of Power Electronics Technology in the United States to strengthen the R&D and industrialization of third-generation semiconductor technology at the national level, as an important starting point for revitalizing the US energy economy.


In the semiconductor lighting market, my country's industrial scale in 2014 was 350.7 billion yuan; by 2020, it will exceed 1.3 trillion yuan; by 2030, the total scale of lighting and beyond is 2.9 trillion yuan.
In the power device market, my country's power grid, high-speed rail transit, new energy vehicles, consumer electronics and other fields have huge demand. For example, the scale of my country's power grid and total installed power capacity have surpassed that of the United States, ranking first in the world. In recent years, great efforts have been made to develop UHV transmission technology, and there is an urgent need for third-generation semiconductor power devices and modules that can withstand high voltage, high current, and low loss. By 2030, my country's market size will be 178 billion yuan, which will drive the application system market to about 3.6 trillion yuan.
In the radio frequency device market, the operating bandwidth of GaN microwave devices is more than an order of magnitude higher than that of the Si lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (LD-MOSFET) devices currently used, which can meet the bandwidth requirements of 5G mobile systems. By 2030, the market size of GaN microwave devices and packaging will be approximately 12 billion yuan, driving the market size of mobile communication base stations and terminal equipment to 200 billion yuan.





6. New display and its key materials


It is estimated that by 2030, the demand for new display materials in my country will be about 350 million square meters per year, and the output will exceed 600 billion yuan; the output value of upstream and downstream industries will exceed 2 trillion yuan. Learning the painful lessons of "CRT to LCD transition", my country must expand its layout in the field of new generation display technology.


Next-generation new displays and their key materials


With the development of the LCD industry to the G10 production line, the size of substrates continues to expand, and the occupation of resources is increasing, and it is increasingly deviating from the concept of green manufacturing. Following the semiconductor/vacuum process route and continuing to expand the size of the substrate, it will be difficult to sustain.
OLED is the next-generation display technology, and its core competitiveness is low cost. (Simple device structure)
However, in the field of large-size OLEDs, the traditional vacuum evaporation process cannot overcome a series of problems such as efficiency and yield, and is difficult to reduce costs. Therefore, the new display industry urgently needs a new process route suitable for large-size OLEDs.


Semiconductor process/vacuum process → printing process/coating process


The use of printing or coating methods to make soluble display materials on the substrate to form a new display technology for devices is a revolution in industrial technology. It has the characteristics of light and thin, flexible, large area, low cost, and green manufacturing, and will lead the future of new types Show the direction of the industry.


7. Superconducting materials


Superconductivity has three characteristics that conventional materials do not possess: zero resistance phenomenon of metallic mercury, complete diamagnetism, and quantum tunneling effect.


Superconducting technology has always been the forefront of international high-tech competition and an internationally recognized field with great potential for technological revolution.




8. Green energy materials


High-efficiency and low-cost crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell materials
New fuel sensitization and organic solar cell materials
High specific energy battery materials
Low-cost room temperature water-based sodium ion battery material
High-power and high-energy supercapacitor materials
Solid oxide and proton exchange membrane fuel cell materials


Priority actions for new energy materials


9. Advanced light alloy materials


In view of the low-end structure of my country's light alloy products, the weak foundation for independent innovation, and the serious lack of independent support capabilities in some high-end application fields, we focus on the application needs of advanced civil aircraft, offshore oil engineering, passenger vehicles and other high-end equipment to overcome high-performance light alloys Key technologies such as material design, metallurgical quality and organization control, residual stress characterization and control, and product consistency, stability and reliability control.


Focus on the following research content


Advanced light alloy materials and low-cost manufacturing technology for large passenger aircraft;
New varieties and advanced preparation technology of high-strength, high-toughness light alloys for aerospace use;
New varieties and manufacturing technology of high-strength corrosion-resistant titanium alloy/aluminum alloy for marine engineering;
High-performance aluminum/magnesium alloys for automotive lightweighting and their processing and manufacturing technology;
Characterization of residual stress of large-size light alloy materials and low residual stress manufacturing technology.

Mission goals for 2025


Realize the industrialized batch production capacity of titanium alloy/aluminum alloy pipes and medium-thick plates for marine engineering and ships.
The new generation of aluminum alloy body panels has achieved large-scale industrialization, and the overall technology has reached the international advanced level; the formation of high thermal conductivity and fatigue resistance magnesium alloy production technology and new energy automobile battery pack trays, wheel hubs and other typical structural parts manufacturing technology, establish production and application demonstration lines.

Iconic achievements in 2025


Domestically-made aluminum alloy materials that have reached the installed state account for more than 50% of the structural weight of the large passenger aircraft (C919); domestically-made titanium alloys and fifth-generation aviation aluminum materials have achieved mass production, fully supporting the design and selection of C929 wide-body passenger aircraft and the new generation of military aircraft; domestic aviation The amount of light alloy materials is more than 100,000 tons.
Establish a demonstration production line of titanium alloy/aluminum alloy products for offshore oil drilling and ships to realize typical demonstration applications.
The annual consumption of the new generation of aluminum alloy body panels is about 500,000 tons, and the self-sufficiency rate of aluminum materials for the lightweight manufacturing of domestic cars has reached 80%; the installed capacity of high thermal conductivity and fatigue resistance magnesium alloys has reached about 10% of the output of new energy vehicles.

Construction of Manufacturing Technology Innovation System


"Made in China 2025" proposes that five major projects should be implemented to build a strong manufacturing country. One of the important projects is "building a complete manufacturing technology innovation system", including promoting enterprises to become the main body of technological innovation, strengthening research and development of common technologies, and strengthening talent training. Measures.


The cover image of this article comes from Tuworm Creative

Leader of China's new materials industry research and consulting services
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