Nanotechnology is a new force in strategic emerging industries - Interview with Prof. Zhao Dongyuan, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University

Nanotechnology industrialization will be the first to focus on new energy, resources, environment and other fields. China is one of the few countries in the world that has begun to pay attention to nanotechnology research since the 1990s. After nearly 20 years of development, China has been at the advanced level in the world in some research fields of nanomaterials, and some have reached the international leading level, and some of the results have been industrialized. However, products with the word "nano" in the market still cannot be widely recognized by the society. The change and impact of nanotechnology on the industry is still unclear: In which industries will nanotechnology be the first to focus, and where is its potential value and application prospects reflected?

"I personally believe that the industry focus of nanomaterials will take the lead in new energy, resources, environment and other fields." Academician Zhao's answer to this question is unambiguous from the beginning.

“At the nanoscale, the physicochemical properties of materials undergo unconventional changes. Some nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, carbon aerogels, mesoporous molecular sieves, etc., have high specific surface area, short ion diffusion paths, and fast electrons. Conductivity and other characteristics, if used as an electrode material for new energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors, can greatly improve the rate performance and specific capacity of energy storage devices. We are trying this work and have carried out industrial tests. The effect is very good.” Academician Zhao first gave an example of the application of nanomaterials in the field of new energy.

At present, in the field of optoelectronics such as OLED displays, thin film solar cells and LED energy-saving lamps, a competition for pursuing cheaper and more efficient is underway. Flexible substrates have greatly expanded the field of application and become a trend; traditional expensive lithography boards will be replaced by low-cost, large-area electronic printed circuit boards, which require the structure of multilayer films at the nanometer scale. Precise control. Academician Zhao said: "Nano-film-based material design and low-cost manufacturing processes have become the hope of scientists and engineers in this field. By controlling the thickness and structure of thin films at the nanoscale, the generation, capture and transfer of free electrons can be realized. And storage, can effectively improve the light conversion efficiency of the device, while the area is larger, the cost is lower, which is the development direction of the new optoelectronic industry."

At the same time, the role of nanotechnology in resource utilization and environmental protection is even more obvious. The high catalytic activity, strong adsorption performance and huge specific surface area of ​​nanomaterials play an increasingly important role in air pollution control, water treatment, environmental detection, and biodegradation. "In short, the rapid development of the economy has made the energy crisis and environmental pollution the focus of global attention in the 21st century. Countries around the world urgently need new technologies and materials to alleviate the contradiction between economic development and energy and the environment. Nanotechnology and nanomaterials Undoubtedly, it will be a new force in these emerging industries.” Academician Zhao summarized the industrial potential of nanotechnology in the current situation of economic and social development.

Strengthen process and technology development
"China's laboratory preparation of nanomaterials is not backward, and some even reach the international leading level. However, after entering the pilot and industrialization stage, the performance of materials is significantly different from that of foreign countries." Academician Zhao analyzes nanomaterials at home and abroad. This is the case when the industrialization situation is said.

In fact, from the 1990s, Chinese scientists have always had international leading results in the field of nanomaterial preparation. In 1999, "Nature" magazine published Chinese scientists in the laboratory to synthesize the world's longest "super fiber" carbon nanotubes; in 2000, the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences pioneered a new method of nanocrystals - amorphous complete crystallization The law has become one of the three major preparation methods for nanomaterials recognized internationally. The Advanced Materials Laboratory of Fudan University, where Dr. Zhao himself is located, is unique in the synthesis of macroporous mesoporous molecular sieve materials. He prepared a series of new FDU mesoporous molecular sieves named after Fudan University, which are controlled by mesoporous molecular sieve structure and appearance. And the multi-phase assembly mechanism and other aspects to form a unique insight, in the "Nature", "Nature Materials" and other important international academic journals to write a number of articles.

However, when the same preparation process moves from the beaker to the 'boiler', many engineering and technical problems are encountered, which are often not solved by scientists and involve engineering and technical personnel. “However, in the process of engineering conversion of new materials, the current industrial technology foundation is the key to restricting success.” This is the greatest experience of Academician Zhao in the pilot scale amplification process of mesoporous molecular sieve materials. "The level of hardware and software for industrial manufacturing in foreign countries is much higher than that of China. We need to catch up, so now the state proposes to develop advanced manufacturing is very timely and far-sighted."

Nanomaterial-based device development needs to be strengthened
Nanomaterials are the foundation of nanotechnology development. The device development and system composition based on nanomaterials will be the power that nanotechnology will eventually lead to the industrial revolution. For the latter, there is still a certain gap between China's research level and foreign countries. In this regard, Academician Zhao put forward his personal opinion: "From the perspective of nanoscience, our current gap is mainly reflected in the prototype development of nanomaterial-based devices and the corresponding physical research. The foreign research in this field is very advanced. ""

In 2001, in the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs" published by the US Science Weekly, the molecular level circuit connecting nano-transistors, nanowires and nanoswitches topped the list. In 2002, IBM scientists in the United States used carbon nanotubes to make the first carbon nanotube transistors, inventing the "wires" that use electronic waves instead of conventional wires to transmit information. In the same year, Lucent Bell Labs used a single The organic molecules make the world's smallest "nanotransistors". In 2006, Professor Wang Zhonglin of the Georgia Institute of Technology published an article in "Science", cleverly utilizing the unique properties of vertical structure zinc oxide nanowires, and with the help of atomic force microscopy, developed the world's smallest power generation that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Device-nano generators provide a specific technical route for the leap from nanodevices to nanosystems.

"These research reports that have been reported abroad have shown that people already have the level of manipulation and control at the nanoscale, which is the essence of nanotechnology," said Academician Zhao.

Nanotechnology has a great combination with biology and information.
When talking about the development trend and direction of nanotechnology research, Academician Zhao said: "Nanotechnology is a comprehensive discipline involving many fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, materials, electronics, etc. It has a high degree of interdisciplinary nature. At the same time, biology Research on technology and information technology shows that its further development will depend on the breakthrough of nanotechnology, which will be concentrated on the nanometer scale. Therefore, the integration of nanotechnology and biology and information technology will be a frontier research direction.

Academician Zhao mentioned here is the "NBIC convergence technology", that is, the organic combination and integration of the four major scientific and technological fields of Nano-, Bio-, Info-, and Cogno. .

In 2001, the United States Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and the National Science and Technology Committee jointly launched a roundtable meeting of scientists, government officials, and other top figures in Washington, DC, and proposed the concept of "NBIC convergence technology" for the first time. "NBIC convergence technology" is the product of scientific development in the new century, and nanotechnology is the "foundation". Taking life science as an example, the macromolecules in life, whether RNA, DNA, or sugar, exist as the basic carrier of life at the nanometer level. At the same time, at the nanoscale, the device will be realized by controlling the behavior of a single electron, and the integration will be greatly improved, while the power consumption will be extremely reduced.

"The ultimate impact and change of nanotechnology on human beings will depend on the new research ideas and new economic models created by this integration. Its development will significantly improve the quality of human life and will also provide a stronger national security. Guarantee. In the end, Academician Zhao gave us an outlook on the impact of nanotechnology on humans and the direction of change.

In fact, nanotechnology represents a level of human-made materials and devices that move from a macroscopic scale to a smaller mesoscale (molecular or several atoms), reflecting a qualitative leap in human ability to recognize and transform nature. The impact on human economic and social activities must be revolutionary. Nowadays, while human beings continue to improve their own quality of life, they pay more attention to the use of scientific and technological progress to protect the earth's ecological environment and rational use of resources. The huge application potential of nanotechnology in this area has begun to emerge, and it will be related to biology, information and other technologies. Together, push mankind to a higher civilization.

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