In Japanese research and development, "materials, materials, devices, etc."materialWe have strengths in the field and have a track record of producing technologies that contribute to the world, such as lithium-ion batteries and blue light-emitting diodes.
However, in recent years, Japan's competitiveness has been declining as research and development on materials around the world is accelerating.Towards a Government Strategy for Strengthening Material Innovation (Strategic Preparatory Meeting Summary)Was compiled and announced.
"Toward a Government Strategy for Strengthening Material Innovation (Strategic Preparatory Meeting)" has been decided / Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2020/06/20200602002/20200602002.html
Starting with this announcement, "Science and Technology / Innovation Policy for the Realization of Society 5.0"Integrated Innovation Strategy 2021In ”, materials are listed alongside AI technology, biotechnology, and quantum technology as one of the basic technologies that should be strategically tackled, and a doctoral course from April 2021 as support for young researchers who will lead the future. "Supporting living expenses for students and securing career paths"University Fellowship Founding Project for Science and Technology Innovation CreationWas announced, and here too, the fields of information / AI, quantum, and materials have been designated as fields where human resources needs are increasing through industry and academia, and we have decided to support them.
Comprehensive Innovation Strategy 2021 – Science and Technology Policy – Cabinet Office
https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/tougosenryaku/2021.htmlUniversity Fellowship Establishment Project for Creating Science and Technology Innovation: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/jinzai/fellowship/index.htm
As you can see from these various policies, "materialIt can be said that "" is a field that the country will put more effort into in the future.In this article, I would like to introduce information on research on such materials and products that are useful for research.
table of contents
What kind of research field is material?
Materials is a research field that mainly deals with materials, materials, and devices.Since these relate to everything that makes up the world in which we exist, they are characterized by a wide variety of related research fields.
For example, materials will be involved in all of the basic technologies that should be tackled, such as AI technology, biotechnology, and quantum technology, which were mentioned in the above-mentioned Comprehensive Innovation Strategy 2021. Material technology is indispensable for the chips, memories, sensors, etc. that make up computers, which are the cornerstone of AI technology. High-performance biomaterials and bioplastics are also required for biotechnology, and qubits and quanta are also required for quantum technology. It can be said that the existence of materials themselves plays a role as a breakthrough in advanced research and development, such as the need for sensors and quantum materials.
Semiconductors, technologies that form the basis of the computer field
To give an example of the fields of activity in material research, the existence of "semiconductors" is indispensable for the chips, memories, and sensors that make up computers.For this semiconductor, it is important to use more efficient materials for electrical signal transmission and heat exhaust, such as silicon, germanium, selenium, and carbon.
Currently, silicon is often used as a semiconductor material because of its ease of processing and availability, but research using synthetic diamond is being conducted to develop higher-performance semiconductors. It has been done.Synthetic diamond is different from rare and expensive natural diamond excavated as ore, and is artificially produced by science and technology such as CVD method (chemical vapor deposition method) and HPHT method (high temperature and high pressure synthesis method). That is.
Diamond has characteristics such as higher voltage resistance and higher thermal conductivity than silicon, and as a familiar example, it is expected to play an active role in the fields of communication systems 6G and 7G in the future.
National Institute for Materials Science: Wide Gap Semiconductor Group
https://www.nims.go.jp/research/group/wide-band-gap/
In addition to the single element materials such as silicon and germanium mentioned above, compounds that combine multiple elements such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) are also used in semiconductors (compound semiconductors). In this case, since the characteristics of each compound differ, there is also the advantage that the optimum one can be used properly depending on the application in which the semiconductor is used.
In order to handle technological innovations such as handling larger amounts of data and processing them faster, it will be important to discover and develop materials with superior characteristics.
Material research, which is indispensable for achieving SDGs
In addition, I mentioned earlier that we should strategically work on the basic technology of materials in order to realize Society 5.0, but research in the material field also plays a major role in achieving SDGs linked to Society 5.0. Is responsible for.
[Reference] See also here for Socirty 5.0
The following is the figure given in the above-mentioned "Toward a Government Strategy for Strengthening Material Innovation (Summary of Strategy Preparatory Meeting)", but many of the 17 goals to be achieved include keywords related to materials. You can see it.
In addition, for example, at the Science Council of Japan, which is a representative institution for Japanese scientists inside and outside Japan, "proposals" related to each goal of the SDGs are introduced, and in the field of materials engineering,Goal 9: Create a foundation for industry and innovationIn response to this item, the Materials Engineering Future Development Subcommittee proposed "Issues and Prospects for Human Resources Development for Manufacturing from the Viewpoint of Materials Engineering".Goal 12: Responsibility to create Responsibility to useThe Biomaterials Subcommittee has made "Proposals for Biomaterials Research that Supports Medical Care" for these items.
Science Council of Japan from the perspective of SDGs-Building a relationship between society and academia- | Science Council of Japan
http://www.scj.go.jp/ja/scj/sdgs/index.html
As you can see, it is a very broad and deep research area where research on materials is necessary and possible.
Specific usage examples of materials
In the previous section, we introduced the perspectives of research on materials, but in this section, we would like to look at the specific utilization of materials from the material side.This timeGrapheneLet's take an example.
About graphene
Graphene Is a sheet-like substance with a thickness of one carbon atom, in which carbon atoms are linked to a hexagonal lattice structure.
In 2004, British researchers Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov discovered a way to obtain graphene by sticking graphite fragments on cellophane tape and peeling it off. Research has begun to progress.
As for its characteristics, it is physically very strong because it has stronger bonds between carbon atoms than diamond, which is also a crystal of carbon atoms, and is considered to be the strongest substance in the world against pulling force.In addition, it has the best thermal conductivity in the world and the best electrical conductivity in the world, so it is expected to be used in various fields by taking advantage of these characteristics.
Example of using graphene
The website of ACS Material, a US company, publishes many articles (blogs) on the utilization of nanomaterials such as graphene.Among them, we will introduce some examples of application fields related to graphene.
Blog | ACS Materials
https://www.acsmaterial.com/blog.html
Space exploration / How Graphene Is Aiding Space Exploration
The thermal conductivity, which is a characteristic of graphene, leads to the solution of temperature control problems in space.It is expected that various electronic devices used in outer space will be protected from the extreme temperature environment of outer space. For example, it is thought that heat treatment will be made more efficient by coating the mechanism for cooling the devices with graphene. Can be done.
In addition, by using the conductive ink "graphene ink" made of graphene and a printer (3D printer), devices and repair parts required in outer space, such as batteries and flexible electronic sensors, can be used.SupercapacitorThere is also the possibility that astronauts will be able to create and procure such items locally.
Clothing / Fashion / Graphene, E-textiles, and the Future of Fashion
Graphene is expected to play an active role in the technology (*) called E-textile, in which functions such as heaters and sensors are printed or incorporated in the fabric (fiber) itself.
E-textiles that use graphene have the ability to keep clothes at a comfortable temperature due to their thermal conductivity, capture the movements of the person wearing the clothes, and the wearer's biological signals (heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc.). Clothes with dream-like functions such as measuring, functioning as a gas sensor for clothes used in special environments such as firefighting clothes, absorbing surrounding environmental energy and charging smartphones in pockets, etc. May produce.
* E-textiles are not used by attaching a physical device equipped with a sensor such as a wearable device or smart wear and connecting to another device such as a smartphone, but the fabric itself has a function. Distinguished that the fabric itself reacts electronically without the need for additional devices
Antibacterial / The Role of Graphene in Fighting Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria
In recent years, the number of bacteria resistant to antibiotics has been increasing, and antibacterial agents that replace conventional antibiotics are being sought.And "nanomaterials", which are materials with outer or inner dimensions of about 1 to 100 nm, are considered as candidates for alternative antibacterial agents.
One of the widely studied antibacterial nanomaterials is graphene oxide (GO).In a measurement experiment of antibacterial activity against E. coli cells using a monolayer nanosheet of graphene oxide conducted in the physical biology laboratory of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, graphene oxide almost completely propagated E. coli. It was confirmed that the total survival rate was reduced by up to 98.5% and the completeness of E. coli cells was greatly impaired.It is believed that this is due to oxidative stress caused by graphene oxide and physical destruction of cell membranes.
We handle such products related to materials
Overseas product procurement service for R & D Unipos Handles various products related to cutting-edge materials field research.We hope that you can help accelerate research and development by entrusting us with product procurement from overseas.
Below are some examples of products that we have a track record of handling.
Procurement of various nanomaterials
We will procure nanomaterial materials manufactured and sold by overseas manufacturers, including ACS Material, which was introduced in the previous section, from one point.
Example of handling manufacturer:
- ACS Materials, LLC / Unipos product introduction page
- 2D Semiconductors / Unipos product introduction page
- HQ Graphene / Unipos product introduction page
An example of a material that has a proven track record
- Graphene
- WSe2 (Tungsten Diselenide)
- WTe2 (Tungsten Ditelluride)
- h-BN (Hexagonal Boron Nitride)
- MoS2 (Molybdenum Disulfide)
- Fe3GeTe2 (Iron Germanium Telluride)
- ZrTe5 (Zirconium pentatelluride)
Hardware equipment
2D Heterostructure Transfer System / Unipos product introduction page
A manual transfer system for 2D heterojunctions from HQ Graphen, which also sells nanomaterials.It is equipped with a CCD camera, microscope, tilt rotation stage, etc. necessary for creating high-quality 2D heterostructures.Not only can you set the exact position and placement, but you also have the freedom to align the crystal flakes.
Diamond View / Unipos product introduction page
Handling of diamonds A device manufactured by DE BEERS Group, the world's largest company, that can irradiate diamond and synthetic diamond crystals with short-wave ultraviolet rays and observe the fluorescence on the crystal surface.By connecting the device to a PC and analyzing the displayed image, it is possible to perform identification and appraisal of natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds, and crystal evaluation.
software
Phase Equilibria Diagram / Unipos product introduction page
A phase diagram database of ceramics provided by ACerS (American Ceramic Society) and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).You can search over 29,000 ceramic phase diagrams from a browser-based database for association and output as a PDF file.
Wien2k / Unipos product introduction page
A solid electronic structure calculation program package using the DFT method (density functional theory).It is based on "(L) APW + lo", which is an extension of the localized orbit to the full-potential (L) APW method, and is one of the most accurate methods for band structure calculation.
LayoutEditor / Unipos product introduction page
Layout editing software for MEMS and ICs.It is also used in circuit design for multi-chip modules (MCM), chipboard (COB), co-fired ceramics (LTCC), monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC), printed circuit boards (PCB), etc.
HSPiP / Unipos product introduction page
Software for "Hansen Solubility Parameter", an index showing the solubility of one substance in another substance as a multidimensional vector. You can visually display the three points of "energy derived from intermolecular dispersion force", "energy derived from intermolecular polar force", and "energy derived from intermolecular hydrogen bonding force" as a graph. ..
SHELX / Unipos product introduction page
A program for determining the crystal structure of small molecules (SM) and macromolecules (macromolecular -MM) by single crystal X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction. It can be called from GUI such as shelXle, Olex2, Oscail, WinGX, hkl2map, CCP4I2, CCP4 online, or from the command line of the terminal window.
Summary
This time, we introduced research and development in the material field.
As mentioned at the beginning, while being widely involved in cutting-edge research and development that the country should focus on, the technology will be diverted to familiar things that we usually touch, and it is always the latest. It can be said that this is the field where technology and products are born.
In addition, the products we introduced at the end are examples of products that have been handled by Unipos so far, so other unlisted products and the latest products that will continue to appear in the future, such as "Handling of this product" If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.Even if the product has not been handled so far, we will search for a procurement route from scratch and provide it.
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