Continuous breakthroughs in new materials benefit multiple key industries

Solar cell photoelectric conversion efficiency surpasses 15%, lithium batteries can efficiently discharge at -50°C, and the memory storage function of the semiconductor “star material” gallium oxide has been verified… Recently, China has achieved frequent breakthroughs in new materials, with multiple key materials reaching technological milestones. These new materials are widely used in important industries such as new energy, healthcare, aerospace, and high-end manufacturing. They play a significant role in promoting industrial upgrading and ensuring supply chain security, also demonstrating China’s independent innovation strength in the field of new materials.

Industry experts believe that recent technological breakthroughs in new materials precisely address long-standing challenges that have constrained industry development.

In the field of new energy photovoltaics, a research team from the Qingdao Institute of Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, overcame the “metal ion migration uncontrollable” bottleneck in copper zinc tin sulfide selenide solar cells. By guiding ion orderly arrangement through a new interface phase, they achieved a photoelectric conversion efficiency exceeding 15%.

In the semiconductor sector, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, in collaboration with multiple units, experimentally verified the intrinsic ferroelectricity of mainstream wide-bandgap semiconductor gallium oxide at room temperature. This solved the scientific challenge of enabling gallium oxide to have memory storage functions (ferroelectricity), opening new pathways for future semiconductor technology.

In the field of new energy storage, Nankai University, in cooperation with the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Supply, broke the kinetic constraints of oxygen coordination in traditional lithium battery electrolytes. They designed and synthesized a new fluorinated hydrocarbon solvent electrolyte system, successfully developing a lithium metal battery with an energy density of up to 700 Wh/kg at room temperature. Even in extreme cold environments at -50°C, it can still release nearly 400 Wh/kg of high energy.

Additionally, China continues to make breakthroughs in flexible organic optoelectronic materials. Professor Ye Long from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tianjin University explained that flexible organic optoelectronic materials are lightweight, thin, soft, and can be manufactured at low cost using a “printing-like” process. “In recent years, Chinese research teams have made breakthroughs in balancing optical/electrical performance and tensile performance: maintaining high energy output while making the materials less prone to tearing, and ensuring stable operation after repeated large-scale stretching.”

From an application perspective, these new materials and related technologies are extensively used in strategic industries such as new energy, aerospace, and high-end manufacturing: copper zinc tin sulfide selenide materials, with abundant element reserves, low cost, high stability, and non-toxicity, have become the focus of the next-generation materials in photovoltaics; low-temperature resistant, high specific energy lithium batteries expand the application boundaries of new energy storage, providing energy support for extreme cold regions, aerospace, and other special scenarios; breakthroughs in gallium oxide semiconductors offer a new material foundation and design ideas for constructing high-power and extreme environment information devices; flexible organic optoelectronic materials are key for wearable devices, electronic skin, flexible sensors, and portable energy sources.

“Continuous breakthroughs in flexible organic optoelectronic materials will drive flexible electronics from laboratory research toward large-scale applications, supporting upgrades in health monitoring, smart terminals, and emerging industries like new energy,” said Ye Long. He believes that these breakthroughs will help address critical material shortages, enhance the resilience and independence of the industrial and supply chains, and provide vital support for the development of strategic emerging industries.

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Executive Vice President of Nankai University, Chen Jun, also stated that high-energy-density batteries based on new electrolytes have broad application prospects in new energy vehicles, embodied intelligent robots, low-altitude economy, and in extreme cold regions and aerospace.

Industry experts point out that new materials are the foundation of strategic emerging industries and the core support for industrial upgrading. The recent series of breakthroughs in China’s new materials sector demonstrate the innovative vitality and resilience of the industry. In the future, with continued increases in research investment and ongoing improvement of the innovation system, more breakthroughs are expected to emerge in the field of new materials. These innovations will lead industrial upgrading through collaborative efforts and provide a more solid material foundation for China’s high-quality economic and social development.