Prospect and analysis of China's special glass material industry

Special glass is a kind of glass that shows special functions through the action of light, electricity, magnetism, heat and chemistry. It is a key and basic material for important production and life. Due to the incomparable high-tech characteristics of ordinary glass, special glass occupies an irreplaceable position in the field of modern science and technology, and its outstanding characteristics are closely related to emerging industries and national defense needs. At present, countries all over the world pay more and more attention to the development and application of high-performance special glass materials. The R & D and production level of special glass has become one of the important symbols of a country's material development level.



Next, we will briefly introduce five typical special glass materials.



1. Infrared transparent glass



Infrared materials are the basis of infrared technology industry. The development of infrared technology is guided and marked by the development of infrared materials. At present, the infrared materials used are mainly divided into single crystal, polycrystalline and infrared glass according to material morphology, properties and preparation methods. Among them, infrared glass not only has good infrared transmission performance, excellent optical uniformity and high mechanical strength, but also has low manufacturing cost, simple optical processing technology and can be processed into complex special-shaped products.



At present, infrared glass is widely used in infrared detection technology and infrared imaging technology as window, lens and fairing. Since the 1990s, Russia, the United States, Britain and other western developed countries have invested heavily in the research of infrared glass, and assembled infrared glass materials into the photoelectric detection system of key models of fighters, which has greatly improved the combat capability.



For example, the large-size barium germanate infrared glass pod developed by the U.S. naval laboratory and the caliber innovation ability developed by the Moscow Institute of technical glass in Russia are insufficient, mainly tracking and few independent products. Due to the weak basic research of special glass, the understanding of the relationship between "composition structure performance" is not deep, the product development is still dominated by tracking, and the independent innovation is poor. The core technologies of special glass, such as small float preparation technology, high optical uniformity control technology, surface modification technology, controllable crystallization technology and so on, are mainly mastered by American coring company and German Schott company.



Low process maturity and poor product quality controllability. The research on special glass in China started late, the technical accumulation is weak, and the understanding of relevant common and key technologies is insufficient. The maturity of process equipment, infrastructure and production process is low, which is difficult to meet the technical upgrading needs of special glass varieties, technologies and processes; The standard system and testing system of special glass are not perfect, and the controllability of product quality is poor, which seriously affects the popularization and application of special glass.



The international competitiveness of enterprises needs to be improved. Special glass is a typical multi variety and small batch product. At present, the production of special glass in China is mainly concentrated in scientific research institutes and colleges and universities. The production scale is small and it is difficult to carry out mass production. At the same time, due to the incomparable high-tech performance of ordinary glass, special glass is mainly used in key fields related to the national lifeline and national defense construction, with small demand and weak profitability, resulting in the weak international competitiveness of special glass related enterprises.



Looking forward to the future, the development trend of special glass is high performance, large size, function integration and variety serialization. In order to overcome the common problems in the preparation of special glass, solve the supporting needs of special glass in key fields and narrow the gap with foreign high-performance special glass, the development focus of special glass in China in the future is:



）Strengthen basic research and improve the ability of independent research and development. Increase the investment of scientific research funds, encourage universities, scientific research institutes and enterprises to pay attention to the basic research of special glass, and deeply prompt the relationship law of "component preparation performance" of special glass, so as to provide theoretical basis and experimental guidance for industrialization; Through the combination of production, study and research, the independent research and development ability of special glass has been enhanced, and a fundamental breakthrough has been made in key technologies such as continuous melting, large-size forming and high optical uniformity.



Upgrade traditional products and accelerate the development of new special glass. Through component optimization, preparation technology and equipment improvement, improve the performance of traditional special glass, reduce the preparation cost and realize variety serialization; According to the application demand, develop new special glass with great market prospect, especially chalcogenide glass, low-temperature sealing glass, alkali free glass substrate and zero expansion glass ceramics.



Improve product added value and realize function integration. High added value has become one of the important characteristics of the development of contemporary special glass industry. China should increase the application research of special glass materials and related devices, improve the added value of products, such as the industrialization of chalcogenide glass optical fiber, infrared glass coating and surface modification of nonlinear glass, so as to realize the integration of product functions.



Strengthen scientific and technological innovation and take the road of green manufacturing. Through scientific and technological innovation, optimize the glass composition and realize "lead-free and arsenic free" in special glass; Improve the level of preparation technology and equipment, save energy and reduce emissions, and ensure the green and environmental protection of the whole preparation process of special glass.