Biomass graphene fiber makes a significant breakthrough

By Zhang Rui
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, July 30, 2015
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Shengquan Group holds a press conference in Jinan, Shandong Province on July 28, to announce it has developed a new smart fiber with advanced biomass graphene. [China.org.cn]



A bio-engineering giant in Jinan, Shandong Province, announced it had developed a fiber with biomass graphene that could be a breakthrough in the industry and very healthy for the human body.

Yao Mu, an academician from China Academy of Engineering, and a team of experts examined and approved the "Healfiber" developed by Shengquan Group. At a press conference on Tuesday, he said the new smart composition fiber can survive low-temperatures, is virus- and bacteria-resistance, antistatic, unaffected by ultraviolet radiation and is able to hold heat. It was, he recognized, internationally advanced by many existing benchmarks.

Jinan Shengquan Group Co. Ltd. started to study and develop graphene as early as 2008, after the material was first discovered four years earlier. It collaborated with a team of 300 scientists for seven years to successfully develop the biomass graphene and corncob fiber, which were then combined scientifically and ready for mass production.

"When we achieve the final breakthrough to biomass graphene, we had the idea, to produce functional fiber with it to directly aid in people's healthy living. It greatly enhances the value of graphene, " said Tang Yilin, the chairman of the board of Shengquan Group.

Zhang Jinzhu, Vice President of the Shengquan Group's affiliated Shengquan Biomass Graphene Research Institute, said everyone was surprised to discover the transformation after the graphene was added to fiber. "The new developed fiber can be not only used on people's clothing, but also for vehicle's internal decoration, plastic surgery treatment materials, anti-friction and filter materials."

Graphene, the thinnest but strongest nanometer material, is pure carbon in the form of a nearly transparent sheet only one atom thick. It is remarkably strong for its very low weight – 100 times stronger than steel – and it conducts heat and electricity with great efficiency. Experts believed biomass graphene could create a trillion-dollar industry when it is commercialized.

It was first produced in a lab in 2004. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene."

Though China is one of the most active countries in researching and developing graphene, the cost is still too high and the technology is still in the developmental phase. Without a full industry chain, which means there is no commercialized market for it, the technology development mostly stays in the research domain.

Shengquan Group, established in 1979, is listed as one of the top five foundry auxiliary materials manufacturers in the world. Also, as a leading bio-engineering enterprise in the world, it has worked hard for years to develop the techniques to produce the first ever biomass graphene made from straw. It is low-cost, environment-friendly and it makes use of a limitless supply of raw materials.

The newly developed biomass graphene fiber marks the company as leader in the area, and will impact China's chemical fiber, textile, garment and other industries. Shengquan Group and provincial officials also expect it to be a new pole for economic growth in Shandong Province.

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