Author | Qiao Yujie
Editor | Yuan Silai
Hard Kr has realized that Suzhou Mofeng New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter known as “Mofeng Technology”) just lately accomplished a brand new spherical of tens of hundreds of thousands of yuan in financing, invested by Xianfeng Fund and Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment Group. The funds can be primarily used for manufacturing line enlargement and capability enlargement.
Mofeng Technology was established in 2023. Its know-how is derived from practically 20 years of analysis outcomes on polymer supplies at Sichuan University, focusing on the industrialization of high-performance POD (polyaryloxadiazole) movies.
As a high-temperature-resistant polymer, POD attracted consideration as early because the Sixties and Seventies. However, as a result of course of issues and gear corrosion issues in the course of the processing and forming course of, the industrialization was extraordinarily tough, and associated analysis stagnated for a very long time.
The systematic analysis on POD in China began comparatively late however progressed quickly. Around 2006, the workforce of Professor Xu Jianjun at Sichuan University started to constantly promote the analysis on POD supplies. In 2008, Jiangsu Baode New Material established a POD fiber pilot line utilizing related applied sciences from Sichuan University and achieved mass manufacturing in 2011, turning into the one enterprise in China to understand the industrialization of POD fibers.
The core workforce of Mofeng Technology all comes from the analysis group of Professor Xu Jianjun at Sichuan University. Li Wentao, the founding father of the corporate, as soon as participated in and presided over the entire course of from small-scale testing, pilot testing to mass manufacturing and market growth of POD fibers at Jiangsu Baode New Material, with wealthy industrialization expertise. Jiang Mengjin, the co-founder, is a professor on the College of Polymer Science and Engineering of Sichuan University, and has lengthy been deeply concerned within the analysis on high-performance POD.
In the normal POD movie course of, the first-generation merchandise can solely be lower into items for firing and can’t be fired constantly in a roll-to-roll method, leading to low loading capability, excessive value, and poor effectivity. At the identical time, the floor of the graphitized movie powders critically, which additionally impacts the end-use expertise.
In response to the above issues, Mofeng Technology has optimized the forming course of to enhance the modulus and crystallinity of the fabric, considerably enhancing the rigidity of the movie, which might help roll firing with out deformation and enormously cut back the firing value. At the identical time, the compactness of the fabric is improved, successfully lowering inside defects and holes, considerably bettering the powdering downside, and assembly the necessities of high-end purposes.
At current, the efficiency of the POD movie merchandise mass-produced by Mofeng Technology is on the main degree within the trade. The authentic movie has good mechanical properties, with an preliminary modulus of as much as 4.0 GPa, a tensile power of greater than 200 MPa, a film-forming thickness of greater than 400 μm, and a most thickness of as much as 200 μm after graphitization and calendering. Ultra-thick merchandise could be ready. Verified by downstream clients, the thermal diffusion coefficient of the POD graphite movie is bigger than 1000 mm²/s, and the thermal conductivity of the product after graphitization can attain 2000 W/(m·Okay).
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On the appliance facet, Mofeng Technology at the moment adopts a “dual-track layout” technique, taking the buyer electronics market as the fundamental market and concurrently increasing into the fields of AI chips and TIM supplies for optical modules, masking high-growth and high-value-added downstream situations.
In the sector of client electronics, the corporate offers graphite movie precursor options for the warmth dissipation improve wants underneath the pattern of thinning of 5G cell phones, foldable display units, and high-performance laptops. For the warmth dissipation movie merchandise of cell phones and tablets, thickness and thermal efficiency are the core indicators that clients are most involved about. Mofeng Technology can put together extra-thick and ultra-thick merchandise with excessive thermal conductivity, that are superior to home and international rivals when it comes to thermal diffusion skill and total warmth dissipation efficiency.
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In the sector of upstream authentic movie supplies for AI chips and optical module TIMs, the corporate prepares chip thermal interface supplies by the processing of high-foaming merchandise to unravel the warmth dissipation issues of high-power and large-area chips.
According to the corporate, many main cell phone producers have proven a robust willingness to introduce the merchandise, and the market demand is being quickly launched.
At current, the corporate’s annual manufacturing capability is about 100 tons, and the size of a single order has reached dozens of tons. Therefore, the corporate is planning so as to add a brand new POD movie manufacturing line with an annual capability of 300 – 500 tons.
The following is an excerpt from an interview between Hard Kr and Li Wentao, the founding father of Mofeng Technology (barely edited):
Hard Kr: What core obstacles has Mofeng Technology established within the preparation of POD movie merchandise?
Li Wentao: The core obstacles of POD movie merchandise are primarily concentrated in two features: the film-making resolution and the movie preparation. These are additionally the important thing instructions that the workforce has targeted on breaking by after years of analysis and growth.
Among them, the film-making resolution is essentially the most core and complicated a part of your complete POD movie manufacturing course of. In essence, it’s a system that extremely relies upon on course of expertise and course of management. It requires exact management of the ratio of various reactants, the feeding sequence, and the temperature and strain at every response node. At the identical time, particular film-forming auxiliary brokers should be added. This entails a considerable amount of long-term gathered know-how, which can be essentially the most core components and course of skill of Mofeng.
In the movie preparation course of, for the POD acid-containing movie, Mofeng has developed a novel “wet one-way diffusion” course of by steady analysis, which might enhance the solidification effectivity and successfully cut back the defects generated in the course of the section separation course of.
Mofeng has additionally independently designed and constructed a whole manufacturing line. Through a number of cyclic remedy processes, it will probably enhance the water washing effectivity and considerably cut back the quantity of wastewater generated. In the following processing, the corporate’s distinctive double-stretching course of and heat-setting course of can additional enhance the power, modulus and different properties of the product, and cut back the issues akin to powdering and bubbles within the graphitization course of.
Hard Kr: Why is the POD materials notably emphasised within the discipline of AI chips along with the 3C discipline?
Li Wentao: At current, the facility consumption and warmth technology of computing chips are very massive. The thermal conductivity of conventional TIM supplies akin to thermal grease and thermal gel is normally lower than 10 W/(m·Okay), which is tough to fulfill the speedy warmth dissipation wants of AI chips.
We have developed a brand new thermal foam resolution based mostly on POD supplies. After downstream post-processing, the general efficiency is superb, and it will probably initially attain the extent of the graphene resolution.
Although graphene can be a preferred warmth dissipation resolution, its value is comparatively excessive, and it’s tough to additional enhance the thermal diffusion efficiency. At current, it’s normally tough to achieve about 900 W/(m·Okay). Our POD resolution can attain greater than 1000.
In addition, PI supplies can’t be fired into thermal foams with each excessive thermal conductivity and good elasticity. The fired merchandise can be comparatively laborious and tough to be utilized within the TIM materials situation. POD has higher processability and complete efficiency benefits.
Hard Kr: In which different fields might the POD materials be utilized sooner or later?
Li Wentao: At current, POD is especially used as a thermal conductive materials within the 3C and chip fields, and its core worth comes from the efficiency after subsequent graphitization processing. The merchandise made by our second-generation know-how have increased orientation and crystallinity. Therefore, along with thermal conductivity, their mechanical properties are additionally very excellent.
For instance, within the aerospace discipline, we worth its excessive power and light-weight traits. At current, a honeycomb materials referred to as aramid paper is extensively used within the aerospace and high-speed rail fields for weight discount and structural reinforcement. We try to make use of POD movies to interchange such supplies. Compared with paper-based supplies, POD movies are lighter in weight, increased in power, and higher in warmth resistance. We have cooperated with downstream processing enterprises to course of POD movies into honeycomb constructions, and the general efficiency is superb after testing.
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However, the event cycle of such new purposes can be comparatively lengthy and requires steady funding. At current, we are going to nonetheless focus on the 3C discipline first and seize the market alternatives that may be shortly carried out.