The domestic graphene copper industry has successfully piloted and has broad prospects for future development.

Graphene copper, also known as “super copper”, is a composite material of graphene and copper. It is made of copper as the matrix and graphene as the reinforcing phase. It has high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, ultra-high strength and flexibility. And copper-based materials with excellent electromagnetic shielding properties. The conductivity of graphene copper can reach 116% IACS, which is more than 7.5% higher than the conductivity of silver. It is the metal conductive material with the highest conductivity detected at room temperature at this stage.

Graphene copper can be used in high-speed rail, tram and train overhead wires or catenary wires, electronic packaging, motors for new energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaic power generation, motors for high-speed railways, power cables, industrial control chips, automobiles, ships and other industries, with a wide range of applications. And it can greatly reduce the loss in the power transmission process, save social electricity consumption, and have good social benefits.

According to the “China Graphene Copper Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2023-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center, In terms of graphene copper research, currently, patents related to graphene copper in China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries have increased significantly. Among them, China’s patents in the field of graphene copper are in a leading position. In terms of industrialization, the “Super Copper (Graphene Copper)” project of CRRC Research Institute has successfully built a 150-ton graphene copper pilot test line and achieved small-batch production of graphene copper. In the future, large-scale graphene copper Production has become possible.

In terms of industrial policy support, the country has successively introduced a number of policies to support the development of graphene and copper-based material-related industries since 2012, such as the “Made in China 2025 Technology Roadmap for Key Areas” and the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development”. “Year Plan Outline”, “”14th Five-Year Plan” Raw Materials Industry Development Plan”, etc. Among them, the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Raw Material Industry” requires that some cutting-edge new material varieties achieve mass production and typical applications by 2025, and break through a number of key basic materials in key strategic fields.

From the perspective of the development of supporting industries, my country is the largest copper producer in the world and has a number of strong copper processing companies, such as Jiangxi Copper Co., Ltd., Ningbo Jintian Copper (Group) Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Copper Co., Ltd. Hailiang Co., Ltd., Anhui Chujiang Technology New Materials Co., Ltd., Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd., etc., domestic copper production in 2022 will be 22.865 million tons. At the same time, my country’s graphene industrialization has made significant progress and is at the forefront of the world. It has initially established an industrial chain focusing on the research and development, preparation and application of graphene raw materials, which is beneficial to the development of the graphene copper industry.

Industry analysts said that the domestic graphene copper industry is still in the introduction stage and is still some way away from large-scale commercial application. However, In the future, driven by national policies and domestic related enterprises and research institutes, the industrialization of the domestic graphene copper industry is expected to accelerate, and by then the market development potential of the graphene copper industry will be gradually released.