(1) "Liquid Metal Valley" and the development of new industries
Liquid metal is an emerging technology frontier material with great industrial application value, breaking many limits of traditional technology and promoting the formation and development of a new industrial system. Around 2008, China's domestic superior research institutions put forward the idea of creating China's "liquid metal valley" in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing, but the timing and conditions for advancement are not yet ripe. A few years later, this idea was substantively promoted in YN Province.
In 2013, the liquid metal thermal interface materials and electronic stylus projects implemented by the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences landed in Xuanwei City, Yunnan Province, and started the industrialization process.
In 2014, liquid metal products had an important influence in the industry. Combining the advantages of non-ferrous metal resources in YN Province, the concept of building China's "liquid metal valley" is further clear and concrete. The project company implementing the industrialization took the lead to build a liquid metal raw material and product production line, with an annual output of 200 tons; to meet market demand, it launched liquid metal thermal pads, liquid metal thermal paste, liquid metal electronic stylus pens, liquid metal three-dimensional stylus pens and other products . In order to promote the sustainable development of the new liquid metal industry, with the support of local governments and related enterprises, the YN Liquid Metal Valley R&D Center was established in combination with various resources.
In 2015, the first liquid metal industry technology development summit forum was held in YN Xuanwei. The meeting clearly proposed that YNXW be the location of China's "liquid metal valley"; the liquid metal science and technology museum was also officially opened to the public. Liquid metal-related companies in Guangdong Province, Beijing and other places have gradually begun to settle in or negotiate cooperation.
In 2016, the number of project companies implementing liquid metal industrialization further increased. In order to better guarantee the development of the liquid metal industry, the provincial "five centers and one committee" was approved to be established: YN Provincial Key Laboratory of Liquid Metal Enterprises, YN Provincial Academy of Science and Technology Liquid Metal R&D Center, YN Provincial Liquid Metal Preparation Engineering Research Center, YN Provincial Liquid Metal Enterprise Technology Center, YN Provincial Liquid Metal Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center.
In 2017, the construction achievements of the "Liquid Metal Valley" were selected as one of the top ten scientific and technological advances in YN Province, and it was hailed as unveiling the mystery of the cutting-edge technology of liquid metal. At this point, China's "liquid metal valley" concept and initiative have changed from ideal to reality.
(2) Liquid metal industry and R&D actions
In 2016, the liquid metal industry was included in the "13th Five-Year" Science and Technology Development Plan of YN Province and the "13th Five-Year" New Material Development Plan of YN Province. Relying on this, in January 2017, liquid metal was listed in the national "New Material Industry Development Guide" as the key industry support direction; in June 2017, liquid metal was listed in the "Key New Material First Batch Application Demonstration Directory". In May 2018, the liquid metal industry technology consortium jointly initiated by a number of industry entities entered the list of the China Association for Science and Technology "Industry-University-Research Integration Technology Innovation Service System Construction Project", marking China's consensus on promoting the emerging liquid metal industry .
In 2018, YN Province launched the “Genetic Engineering of Rare and Precious Metal Materials” science and technology project, and carried out the industrial chain layout around the “innovation platform-talent team-project coordination, basic research-key technology research and development-engineering application” to promote rare and precious metals Leapfrog development has promoted major applications and demonstrations of new materials. As one of the three major sectors of science and technology projects, liquid metal has been significantly strengthened in database construction and new material development; with the help of phase diagram calculations, first principles, molecular dynamics and other high-throughput calculations and big data tools, combined with high-speed Flux experiment means to realize the creation of new materials. Promote research on scientific and technological projects to effectively alleviate the practical problem of shortage of liquid metal materials.
6. Suggestions for the development of the liquid metal industry
At present, the research and development and application of liquid metal are gradually entering the fast lane. In the process of the industrialization of liquid metal, the integration of "production, education and research" is relatively close, reflecting the capital's scientific and technological R&D advantages, the regional resources/geographical advantages of YN and other places, and the good connection between the two aspects. The industrial application of liquid metal can be applied nationwide. It has even been recognized worldwide. Even so, compared with the enthusiasm of liquid metal research and development in the world, domestic R&D teams and companies entering this emerging field have not yet formed a sufficient volume, and many institutions are still on the sidelines. This may be because limited to traditional technology tracking and imitating inertia has led to reluctance to develop new industrial applications, even for liquid metal, which is a strategic world leader in groundbreaking basic discovery, application research, industrial advancement, and industrialization verification. In the high-tech field, domestic institutions and research teams still hold a conservative view. To this end, the following development suggestions are proposed for China's liquid metal industry.
(1) Technical support is indispensable for the sustainable and healthy development of the industry. It is advisable to accurately grasp historical opportunities and provide further support in terms of "human, financial, material" and industrial policies to build a world-class liquid metal science and application center; focus on improving the corresponding industrial application technology system, and drive the development of the industrial chain with demonstration applications .
(2) In terms of cultivating large-scale industrial markets, around the "liquid metal valley" and corresponding industries, timely establish national and local industrial funds and support policies; accelerate the deployment of liquid metal industrial clusters, and promote the transformation, upgrading and leapfrogging of related manufacturing industries Development; guide the promotion and application of new liquid metal products, maintain cutting-edge technology research and development, new product trial and error, and integration of emerging markets, and even form a benign interaction.
(3) Liquid metal has created major opportunities for the transformational development of many cutting-edge technologies and has a strong driving force. It is advisable to carry out a series of soft topics and strategic research at the macro research level, scientifically predict the key role of this emerging material in the fields of energy, electronic information, advanced manufacturing, national defense equipment, flexible intelligent robots, biomedical health, etc., and promote national cutting-edge science and technology Progress and promote the development of a new industrial system.