China promoting graphene use to benefit tire industry

The Raw Material Department under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has lately convened a graphene industry development symposium, on which delegates discussed the development progress, mass production and industrialized application of graphene material as well as main problems lying ahead.

Experts told www.tireworld.com.cn that the great importance the government attaches to the graphene industry and its promotion will greatly benefit the tire industry.

The tire industry optimistic about graphene

Quite a few industries at home and abroad have welcomed graphene as "king of new materials" in the past two years.

Graphene, isolated from graphite, is the strongest material with the best conductivity and the lightest quality. It is also flexible and is nearly transparent.

It is expected graphene will be more and more used in production of smart terminals, new energy cars, composite materials, smart wearable devices and clean energy, etc.

The unique structure and properties of graphene have also aroused attention in the tire industry.

Tires made with graphene can be more abrasion resistent and puncture proof so that they have a longer service life.

Some institutions have started research and application of graphene with such properties. 

For instance, the State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering under Sichuan University has successfully made the first graphene rubber tire in the world with independent research and development, to which Premier Li Keqiang paid special visit during his inspection tour to Sichuan province.

Doublestar Tire has built the first graphene tire laboratory in China recently.

Also, Linglong Tire has signed agreement with Beijing University of Chemical Technology to conduct joint R&D on graphene tire.

Mass application to take time

The graphene industry faces difficulties such as intellectural property construction and protection, industry standard establishment, pilot application and promotion, industry chain completion, etc.

Such problems have attracted attention of related government departments. In January this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened a symposium aiming at promoting the industrialized application of the new material.

Chinese graphene market has been developing fast since 2013 under policy encouragement.

（Li Keqiang visited graphene tire company)

Some foreign data showed nearly one third of the 25,000 graphene patent applications came from China by early 2015.

However, China is still at an early stage of graphene industrialization, having not achieved a mass application of the new material. Currently, the biggest demand for graphene in China comes from academic institutions and a few manufacturers.

Industry experts expect graphene will be used in more downstream products and fields as the research and promotion of graphene keep intensifying in the next three to five years.