Water-soluble environmentally friendly plastic bags, flame-retardant plastic boxes, liquid metal, graphene... In recent years, a number of leading enterprises in the industry of new materials have emerged in Dongguan, driving traditional and high-tech enterprises to fly together.

Liquid metal, graphene, ENC nano... These tall new materials may seem far away from our lives. But plastic bags, milk bottles, clothes, etc., are an indispensable part of everyone's life.

During the just-concluded 10th Processing Trade Products Expo (hereinafter referred to as the China Expo), products such as non-toxic, harmless, water-soluble plastic bags and indestructible clothes once again opened the minds of visitors to the exhibition. : Traditional products can also be so unusual. The mysteries of all this are due to the material.

In industrial manufacturing, materials come first. In recent years, Dongguan has been promoting the development of the new material industry. Leading companies in the industry such as Yi'an Technology, Silver Jubilee Technology, and Hongna (Dongguan) New Materials have emerged, driving traditional and high-tech enterprises to fly together, and the "Dongguan Army" in the field of new materials. is accelerating its rise.

The emergence of "new things" in traditional industries

At this year's Canada Expo, in front of the booth of the Guangzhou-ASEAN Group, the reporter saw an environmentally friendly plastic bag called "polyvinyl alcohol", which is no different from ordinary plastic bags in terms of appearance, but the staff put it in After pouring water into the cup, a miracle happened: the plastic bag actually dissolved in the water and turned into a milky white liquid.

"This liquid is completely non-toxic and harmless, and can also be watered to compost plants." According to Peng Xianyu, a partner and senior engineer of Mengda Group, polyvinyl alcohol is an organic compound with properties between plastic and rubber. At the Expo, they brought three types of new material products: general-purpose water-soluble films, marine environment-friendly plastics, and plant-protected plastics. These products can be used in different environments and fields, and prevent white pollution.

"These three types of products have now been industrialized and are undergoing long-term environmental testing and evaluation." Li Shi, the head of Mengda University, revealed that after the products were developed, they have been recognized by relevant national departments and will be compulsorily promoted and used in the logistics industry. As for the cost, it is only less than 20% higher than the current ordinary plastic.

Not only plastic bags, but the plastic boxes on the booth of Dongguan Jishuo Industrial Co., Ltd. are also very powerful. "New plastic modified materials are added to it, which is the highest level among flame retardant materials." Wang Yong, the person in charge of the company, explained to reporters, while taking out a lighter and opening the valve to the maximum, and directly using an external flame for ignition To burn the battery box, generally speaking, plastic products will ignite and release toxic gas when they meet fire, but the battery box in Wang Yong's hand was still intact until about 15 seconds.

Because of this, the plastic box made of "jishuo" material was used on the lithium battery of high-speed rail, and won the international authoritative certification, filling the domestic gap. Because of the special flame retardant effect, the material is also widely used in aerospace, fire safety, military equipment and other fields.

Subdivisions are among the forefront of the world

When it comes to new materials, people will naturally think of graphene as the "king of new materials". As early as February 2014, the world's first thousand-ton graphene production line was put into operation in Dalang Town, Dongguan. This production line was developed and constructed by Hongna (Dongguan) New Material Technology Co., Ltd. The two graphene slurry production lines can produce nearly 3,000 tons of graphene powder per year. At present, Hongna Technology has obtained the certification of major domestic manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, and has supplied them in large quantities.

Walking into the Taiyi Yingtuo Technology Co., Ltd. in Hengli Town, the thin metal sheets and the metal frame of the mobile phone in the showcase can change their shape arbitrarily like pinching plasticine. The liquid metal in "The Terminator" became a reality in Taiyi Yingtuo.

Li Tianhua, the relevant person in charge of the company, told Yangchengpai reporter that this new material was mainly developed by experts from the United States and South Korea, and has now successfully achieved small-scale mass production. Compared with traditional materials, liquid metal has the advantages of strong toughness, good elasticity, and fast magnetization, and can be used in mobile phone casings and accessories, medical equipment, precision manufacturing, aerospace, etc.

Compared with new materials such as graphene and liquid metal, the ENC nano-waterproof technology developed by Eneng Nanotechnology is even more cool. In front of the media reporters, Xiao Chunquan, chairman of ENN Nano, threw a mobile phone with the back cover open into the fish tank, and was fished out an hour later. After closing the back cover, you can still make calls and surf the Internet.

It turns out that the key to ENC's nano-waterproof technology is that it can form a nano-scale covering on the surface of any object to prevent the object from being corroded by humid air, sweat and moisture, and it is not limited to the outer shell of the object, but covers the material to every zero. among the parts.

The industrial platform is gradually improving

In Dongguan, a number of innovative companies with large market scale and strong technical capabilities, such as Taiyi Yingtuo, Yi'an Technology, Silver Jubilee Technology, Zhaoshun Technology, and Shangxin New Materials, are emerging at a high speed, deeply involved in the application of new materials, and The new material industry has formed an effective linkage. According to the statistics of New Materials Online, the output value of electronic information industry in Dongguan ranks in the forefront of domestic cities. In the past two years, the total industrial output value of new materials industry has exceeded 50 billion yuan, and there are more than 300 new materials industry enterprises.

Not only that, a large number of industrial platforms have also been established: on the 25th of last month, the unveiling ceremony of the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory and the Pearl River Delta Branch of the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was held in Songshan Lake. The center and one of the sources of global new material output. Two years ago, Daorui Graphene Research Institute, the first professional scientific research institution integrating graphene preparation, application and performance testing in Dongguan, was also established in Daojiao Town, Dongguan.

In May 2017, Dongguan issued the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for the Development of Strategic Emerging Industries in Dongguan City", proposing that by 2020, the scale of Dongguan's strategic emerging industries will exceed 500 billion yuan, and new materials will be listed as seven key development directions one. Wang Enge, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the new material industry is undoubtedly a great benefit or even a major booster for a city like Dongguan with a developed manufacturing industry.