Dr. Song Lijun from Chinese Academy of Sciences: Rare earths empower polymers, enabling innovative materials to be put into production.

Dr. Song, Researcher, the function of rare earth polymer research group leader of Xiamen Rare earth materials research center, Chinese Academy of Science.

Research directions: Rare earth functional polymers (flame retardant, anti-aging, antibacterial, high thermal conductivity, etc.), rare earth nanomaterials, rare earth analysis technology, etc.

Four major directions have been well developed to empower rare earths, and many research achievements have been applied.

Our research direction is generally inclined towards polymer applications. Based on the combination of the functional characteristics of rare earths and polymers, we endow polymers with various functions. Entering the Xiamen Institute of Rare Earths, Song Lijun has been engaged in research on rare earth functional polymers that match his major. Starting from four major modules: “The interaction between rare earth polymers and light”, “The interaction between polymers and Oxygen to achieve flame retardant Effects”, “The interaction between rare earth polymers and Heat”, and “antibacterial polymers”, he has comprehensively and deeply conducted research on innovative polymer materials empowered by rare earths. Let more high-quality materials be applied in social life. “Rare earth flame retardants used in non-woven fabric and ribbon enterprise”, li-jun song, after the team’s efforts, and many research results has been put into application, such as flame retardant masterbatch, flame retardant nylon fibre, noctilucent fibers, resistance to ultraviolet aging masterbatch, thin film and antibacterial powder, etc. Recently, the rare earth luminous materials developed by Song Lijun’s team have been successively adopted by enterprises in Lego bricks and shower heads. Current, fire protection consciousness gradually be regarded, in the hotel, the village residential area, such as fire prevention has become the important factors. In response to this, Song Lijun’s team has specially developed a type of floor tile made of rare earth modified polymer materials, which has an extraordinary flame-retardant effect and is very popular. It is worth mentioning that many of the achievements developed by Song Lijun’s team have also been applied to the aerospace field.

Practical teams assist enterprises in production, overcome difficulties and promote the development of the industry: 

“The background of our team members is quite different from that of other research groups. All of them come from enterprises,” Song Lijun introduced. To better promote the implementation of industry-university-research projects, when introducing team members, more consideration is given to their practicality, that is, they have more practical experience in front-line enterprises. This can better integrate scientific research achievements with the needs of enterprises. Turn-back between enterprise and institute, li-jun song is it work normal. And this is precisely a typical microcosm of the research situation on rare earth functional polymers in our country. At present, the research on rare earth functional polymers in our country is still in its infancy, with a shortage of scientific research talents. There is still a long way to go to achieve all-round development. Song Lijun frankly admitted that to achieve the large-scale application and production of rare earth functional polymer research results, it also requires the accumulation of technology and the corresponding market demand. “Last mile across, really not easy. However, we are very confident. Song Lijun told Zhuangsu Vision that in the future, the team will continue to deepen scientific research, tackle the development challenges of the industry, and further promote the implementation of industry-university-research cooperation.