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  • Global emphasis on the research and development of ultrafine powder materials
  • 2018/6/21 Reading frequency:[6105]
  • With the development of technology, we often need materials that can adapt to high temperature, high pressure, and high hardness conditions, as well as materials with special properties such as luminescence, conductivity, electromagnetic, and adsorption. Therefore, it is necessary for people to continuously develop the emerging material system of ultrafine powder. ?

    At present, the research and development of ultrafine powder materials has received attention from various countries. The development of ultrafine powder materials in Japan involves 70 companies and more than 50 research institutions; The science and technology development strategy and five-year development plan proposed by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology mention projects that will play a pioneering role in the next generation of technological innovation, and also list ultra-fine powder materials, including fine ceramics; The UK has established a New Advanced Materials Manufacturing Technology Center to research ultrafine powder materials, including ceramics; The National Key Technology Group of the United States predicted a number of key technologies crucial to the future development of the country, including the synthesis and processing of materials, electronics, optical materials, ceramic materials and composites. In the early 1990s, nanotechnology was listed as "key government technology" and an important research direction in the early 21st century. ?

    Due to the increasing development efforts of various countries, new varieties have also emerged one after another. In recent two years, Degussa has continuously launched a series of SiO2 varieties for different purposes, such as A200 and A300 used in polyester gel coatings, and R972 used as a special resin rheological agent and special SiO2 for rubber modification; PPG Company in the United States has launched a series of ultra-fine SiO2 new varieties such as matting agents. According to preliminary statistics, the development of new SiO2 varieties involves more than ten companies and dozens of varieties. In addition, mineral industry companies in the United States have established over 30 ultra-fine calcium carbonate production plants in North America, producing different grades of calcium carbonate; Japan has developed barium titanate for PTC thermistors, and multiple companies have jointly developed new silicon nitride materials. They have invested 500 million yen to establish the world's first synthetic mica factory to adapt to electronic components, synthetic resins, and insulation applications; Diamond Corporation of the United States has developed aluminum cobalt titanate heat-resistant impact ceramics; Norway has developed ZrO2 for various purposes, involving over a dozen companies. ?

    Ultrafine powder materials have extraordinary effects. If ultrafine inorganic powder materials or pigments are added to ink or paint, they will make the colors bright and shiny. Adding it to the coating can greatly enhance the adhesion. Nano level white carbon black can endow rubber with extremely high tensile strength, tear resistance, and wear resistance. Ultrafine r-Fe2O3 magnetic powder is used in audiotapes or videotapes, and its information storage capacity is 10 times higher than that of ordinary magnetic powder. In the Gulf War, the US stealth fighter attack aircraft F-117A was coated with an adsorption layer made of tungsten cobalt ferrite ultra-fine powder material on its surface, which made it undamaged during more than 1200 air strikes. In addition, with the decrease of particle size, the specific surface area of ultrafine powder materials increases, which leads to superior mechanical properties and thermal conductivity compared to ordinary materials due to surface effects. Ultrafine powder materials can alter optical and electrical properties, such as the addition of metal oxide nanoparticles such as TiO2, ZnO, and PbO to cosmetics or certain materials, which has the effect of preventing ultraviolet radiation. Copper is a good conductor, but nanoscale copper does not conduct electricity, while insulating silica begins to have conductivity at 20nm. ?

    Inorganic ultrafine powder materials have a wide range of applications. It can be used as filler and functional material in industries such as papermaking, paint, plastics, light industry, metallurgy, etc; Used as a flame retardant in coatings and pigments; In the cutting-edge fields of electronics and aviation industry, it can also be used as capacitor materials, sensing element materials, superhard material, superconducting materials and optical, electrical, magnetic and wave absorbing materials (anti infrared, anti radar concealed materials). Due to the wide range of uses and special properties of inorganic ultrafine powder materials, their value will be greatly improved. Generally speaking, the price of ultrafine powder materials is 3-5 times higher than that of ordinary powder materials, and some even reach several tens of times. Therefore, targeted development of ultrafine powder materials has become a trend. ?

    Overall, there are four major trends in the future development of inorganic ultrafine powder materials:

    ---Micronization

    More than a decade ago, the research object of ultrafine powder materials was powders above 1um, and in recent years, the research on ultrafine powder materials has progressed to the nanoscale. As the particle size decreases, its own performance is enhanced, and optical, electrical, and magnetic properties can be combined. For example, the strength of nanoscale piezoelectric ceramic materials developed by Japanese electronics companies is three times that of traditional piezoelectric ceramic materials. ?

    ---High purification

    High purity is to achieve the characteristics of the substance itself and prevent interference from foreign impurities, such as the optical, electrical, magnetic, and superconducting materials of fine ceramics that require high purity. ?

    High purity products can generate significant value-added, with a price of 99.998% of ZrO2 being more than 300 times that of ordinary refractory materials and 50 times that of electronic materials. ?

    ---Functionalization and compounding

    Functionalization and compounding are the results of people's pursuit of material properties and the demand for high-tech development. The magnetic material composed of r-Fe2O3 in the new capillary styrene diethylene basic ion exchange resin is not only a superparamagnetic material with extremely strong magnetism at room temperature, but also has good transparency. Due to its special function, it exhibits excellent results in color imaging and printing. Function is the core of materials, and the development of technology requires materials with various functions; The purpose of composite is to artificially endow materials with new functions and improve old functions. For example, adding a small amount of stabilizer to zirconia can greatly improve its strength and toughness, making ZrO2 ceramics, which used to only be refractory materials, a leader in structural ceramics and greatly improving its fracture strength. For example, submicron scale tin oxide containing antimony oxide is not only conductive but also transparent. ?

    ---Refinement

    The refinement of materials refers to the refinement of powder properties, such as its particle size, particle size distribution, particle shape, specific surface, pore volume, pore size, crystal phase, conductivity, magnetism, light absorption, photoconductivity, and a series of properties. Different powders have different requirements. For example, different types of paper require different crystal phases of calcium carbonate; Different shapes of encapsulated SiO2 can produce different effects. ?

    At present, the research and development of inorganic ultrafine powder materials in China has just started, and both the processing of natural non-metallic minerals and the research and development of artificially synthesized ultrafine powders have started relatively late. In recent years, more than ten sets of coating and forming production lines using ultrafine powders as raw materials have been introduced in industries such as magnetic recording media, electronic ceramics, high-end paints, inks, and coatings, many of which have international advanced levels. However, a powder industry has not yet been established to support it. Ultrafine powder materials are still mainly imported. In addition, there are many research and development units engaged in the research and development of ultrafine powder materials in China, and there are also many varieties of research and development. However, due to various reasons such as high technical difficulty, application fields, and product market development, only a few products have already been industrialized, and most products are in the research and development stage. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the development of ultrafine powder materials.