China Energy Storage Network News: From a micro perspective, new material technology is related to everyone's survival (medical, environmental); From a perspective, new material technology is related to national economic development (industrial upgrading); From a macro perspective, new material technology is related to human survival and sustainable development. The development of the new materials industry has provided more opportunities for governments, enterprises, research institutions, and the capital sector, and should also receive more attention from people.

1、 A Brief History of Technology: New Materials in Various Industrial Revolutions

The entire history of human civilization can be seen as the history of the utilization of new materials and new energy. The stone civilization, bronze civilization, and iron civilization have all witnessed the long process of human discovery, mastery, and use of materials. With the development of science and technology, the three industrial revolutions have successively begun, and human civilization has gone through the steam age, the electrical age, and now the information age.

The steam age, electrical age, and information age may not seem directly related to new materials on the surface. But imagine, without the innovation of steel technology, how could there be the roar of steam engines? Without the rise of the petrochemical industry, how could there be the galloping of airplanes, cars, and cruise ships? Without the emergence of the semiconductor industry, how could there be an interconnected virtual world? New materials and their processing technologies are not only the material foundation and precursor of various industrial revolutions, but also the cornerstone of human civilization's progress.

Figure 1 Proportion of GDP in major regions of the world from 1 AD to 2003

Source: Our World in Data

（1） The First Industrial Revolution: Britain and the Steel Industry

The first Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1860s, with a key milestone being the improvement of the Newcomen steam engine by instrument repairman James Watt, which greatly increased thermal efficiency and enabled the steam engine to be widely used in industries such as mining, smelting, and textiles. In the following decades, the steam engine brought about a great improvement in human productivity, directly promoting the great development of European industries such as machinery manufacturing, railways, textiles, and ships, leading to explosive growth in the total GDP of Western Europe. In 1770 (the 35th year of the Qianlong reign), China's GDP accounted for about 30% of the world's total. By 1870, China's GDP accounted for only about 17% of the world's total, while Western Europe's GDP accounted for over 30% (Figure 1).

In the first industrial revolution led by Britain, the steel industry was undoubtedly the material foundation for the leap in productivity. Although ironware was widely used in Europe during the Roman era and specialized divisions of labor such as blacksmiths, nail makers, and knife makers were developed, Europe has always used wood as the only fuel for iron smelting, resulting in high and unsustainable costs. Until around the time of the First Industrial Revolution, the widespread use of coal and continuous improvement in iron smelting processes in Britain led to the outbreak of the steel industry.

In 1708, Abraham Darby first experimented with coke smelting, and since then, cheap and widely available coal has gradually become the main energy source for iron smelting;

In 1742, Huntsman first applied the crucible steelmaking method and produced liquid steel for the first time in European history;

In 1762, Smiton introduced hydraulic bellows, greatly increasing the temperature of the smelting blast furnace;

In 1776, the Watt steam engine replaced hydraulic blowing in blast furnace ironmaking, freeing the ironmaking industry from its dependence on wood and water.

The combination of abundant and inexpensive coal and iron ore enabled Britain to be the first to transition from the wooden age to the steel age. With the widespread application of revolutionary technologies such as crucible steelmaking and Watt steam engines, steel production in the UK continues to rise while steel prices continue to decline. Iron has become abundant and cheap enough to be used for general construction. In 1720, the iron production in Britain was only 20000 tons, but by 1850 it had rapidly increased to 2.5 million tons (Figure 2). Iron quickly occupied the traditional fields dominated by wood, from ships, vehicles, bridges to architecture.

Figure 2: Steel Production in the 18th and 19th Centuries in the UK

Source: "Details of History: Steel History Spanning Thousands of Years"

In 1804, Trevithick invented the world's first steam locomotive running on rails, thus opening up a new era of railways. In 1825, when the railway era arrived, Britain had already built 300 miles of original railway tracks. By 1870, Britain had 15500 miles of railway. After the beginning of the new era, railways became the most important factor driving the takeoff of the British economy, laying the foundation for the global dominance of the "empire that never sets".

（2） The Second Industrial Revolution: Germany and the Chemical Industry

The Second Industrial Revolution began in the late 1860s, marked by the breakthrough and application of electric energy and the emergence of internal combustion engines. Germany was the leader of this industrial revolution, while the United States was the culmination. In the second industrial revolution, technologies such as steel, coal, and mechanical processing that emerged during the first industrial revolution were further developed. At the same time, emerging industries such as petroleum, chemical, automotive, aviation, and electrical have emerged, giving the entire industry a completely new look. In the process of the Second Industrial Revolution, the continuous progress of science and technology has driven the high-speed growth of Western social economy. By 1950, the GDP of Western Europe and the United States accounted for over 50% of the world's total, while China's was only 3% (see Figure 1).

In the second industrial revolution, the rise and vigorous development of the chemical industry greatly enriched the material needs of human society. The emergence of chemical dyes, synthetic rubber, plastic products, chemical pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and other products has provided material support for various aspects of human life such as clothing, food, housing and transportation. The German chemical industry and chemical materials emerged as a sudden force in the Second Industrial Revolution, becoming the foundation for Germany's economic overtaking and rapid military rise.

In 1826, Liebig founded the world-renowned modern chemistry laboratory in Giessen, Germany, which trained chemical industry pioneers such as Hofmann, Kekull, Bayer, Fischer, Staudinger, Lippmann, Erich, Oswald, etc. A total of 40 people have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry;

From 1863 to 1867, companies such as Bayer, Hirschst, BASF, and Akfa were successively established in Germany, and the German synthetic dye industry rose to prominence;

In 1897, Hoffman and Eichengreen, who worked at Bayer, invented aspirin, and the chemical pharmaceutical industry began to rise;

In 1902, German chemist Haber began researching the direct synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, and applied for a patent for the "cycle method" in 1908. Since then, the ammonia synthesis industry has served military, agricultural, and industrial purposes;

In 1913, German chemist Burgius successfully achieved the hydrogenation of coal into liquid fuel in the laboratory. Faben Company built a coal hydrogenation plant in 1927, which later provided fuel for the German army during World War II;

In 1922, German chemist Staudinger pioneered the discipline of polymer chemistry, ushering humanity into the era of "polymers";

In 1925, IG Farben was officially established through the merger of six companies including Bayer, Hirschst, BASF, and Akfa. During World War II, the company produced a large amount of synthetic fuel and synthetic rubber for the German military, breaking through the resource bottleneck in Germany.

In the past 100 years, Germany has gone through ups and downs, but has been able to achieve revival, which is inseparable from the technological accumulation and precipitation completed by Germany in the Second Industrial Revolution. The German chemical industry has always maintained a high level of innovation capability. Chemical giants such as Bayer and BASF started with synthetic dyes, but have not fallen into the vortex of homogeneous competition. After more than 100 years of development, companies such as Bayer and BASF are still able to rank among the Fortune Global 500 and are truly "undead birds".

Figure 3: Corporate logos of Bayer, BASF, and Evonik

Source: Internet

（3） The Third Industrial Revolution: The United States and the Semiconductor Industry

The Third Industrial Revolution began in the 1950s, marked by the invention of computers, the transformation of the information and communication industries. The United States was the initiator and undisputed leader of this revolution. In the Third Industrial Revolution, technological competition became the main battlefield of national competition, and the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union also became a powerful driving force for technological development. With a strong material foundation, natural resources, and outstanding talents from around the world, the United States is almost fully ahead of the world in fields such as nuclear technology, biotechnology, jet aviation technology, manned spaceflight technology, microelectronics technology, and information technology. Technologies related to nuclear engineering materials, biopolymer materials, high-temperature alloys, aerospace materials, semiconductor materials, and information materials have become the material basis for the United States to gain global hegemony.

With the rapid development of the Internet, mobile Internet and Internet of Things, information technology has had a profound impact on economic activities and human lifestyles. The semiconductor industry has become the most precise, high-value, and globalized industry on the Blue Planet, and semiconductor materials have become an important material foundation for carrying the information society.

In 1945, the University of Pennsylvania in the United States developed the world's first computer, ENIAC, which weighed nearly 30 tons and covered an area equivalent to a large classroom;

In 1947, three scientists from Bell Labs invented transistors that were smaller in size, lower in cost, and consumed less energy than vacuum tubes;

In 1951, IBM delivered the first commercial computer for the US census;

In 1958, Texas Instruments designed integrated circuits based on germanium, and in 1959, Xiantong Semiconductor designed integrated circuits based on silicon;

In 1964, Moore, who worked at Fairchild Semiconductor, predicted that the number of transistors and resistors integrated on semiconductor chips would double every year. In 1975, Moore submitted a paper to IEEE and officially published Moore's Law (changed to doubling the number of transistors every two years).

Figure 4 Schematic diagram of Moore's Law (1971-2016)

Data source: Our World in Data

In the 1950s, the preparation technology of semiconductor materials rapidly developed in order to improve transistor characteristics and enhance stability. However, due to the constraints of indirect bandgap, the research progress of silicon materials in silicon-based light-emitting devices has been slow. With the introduction of the concept of semiconductor superlattice structure and the advancement of advanced epitaxial growth technologies such as molecular beam epitaxy and chemical beam epitaxy, semiconductor physics has evolved from "impurity engineering" to "band engineering", laying the foundation for the application of new generation devices based on quantum effects. Up to now, semiconductor materials have developed into the third generation.

Figure 5 Comparison of semiconductor material properties

Data source: Compiled by IITE

For nearly half a century, American companies, governments, and research institutions have worked together to lead the development of global network information technology. In the global Internet economy, the United States is undoubtedly in the leading position in terms of technology development, business innovation and revenue share. However, it should be noted that the foundation of the United States leading the wave of information industry lies not only in the advancement of information and communication technology, but also in the development of science and technology such as semiconductor materials and quantum physics. Semiconductor materials, as one of the most important fundamental technologies in the information industry, are the material source for the United States to maintain its dominant position in the information industry.

2、 From the perspective of a great power: How can new materials support the rise of a country?

In the three waves of industrial revolution, Britain, Germany, and the United States have successively risen to become world-class powers, all of which are inseparable from the progress and breakthroughs of new material technology. Taking the chemical industry as an example, Western Europe and the United States occupy an absolute leading position in this industry (Figure 6), thus determining their advantages in industries such as plastics, rubber, fibers, adhesives, coatings, as well as military, transportation, agriculture, electrical and electronic industries. After World War II, Japan and South Korea successfully achieved economic takeoff and national rise through means such as capital introduction, technology introduction, and the development of an outward oriented economy. They also established their advantageous positions in the fields of nanomaterials, electronic information materials, display materials, and storage materials.

Figure 6 Regional distribution of the top 50 global chemical companies in 2016

Source: Chemical&Engineering News

（1） The United States - A Fully Blooming New Materials Industry

At present, the United States is still the comprehensive leader in the field of new materials internationally. In the second and third waves of the Industrial Revolution, the United States relied on its strong economic and technological strength to flourish in various fields such as chemical materials, ceramic materials, information materials, and biomaterials, continuously leading the development direction of materials technology and industry.

During the Cold War period (1947-1991), in order to suppress the Soviet Union, the United States shifted its research focus mainly towards defense and military fields. The aerospace, computer and information technology, biotechnology, and other fields closely related to national defense have become the focus of the United States' leadership in global technological development, directly driving the rapid development of electronic information materials, space materials, and new chemical materials in the United States. During this period, the United States emerged and led the wave of the Third Industrial Revolution, with emerging industries such as semiconductors and biopharmaceuticals exploding one after another. The development of new material technology not only enriched the material world of humanity, but also promoted changes in social organization and information exchange methods.

After the end of the Cold War (1991 present), facing strong challenges from Japan and the European Union in the field of technology, the United States shifted its technology policy towards military civilian integration and successively introduced a series of policies related to the development of new materials (Figure 7). In 1991, the US government released its first National Key Technology Report, which identified six areas that are crucial for the country's economic prosperity and national security, with new materials ranking first among the six areas.

Figure 7: US New Materials Policy

Data source: CCID Think Tank Institute of Raw Materials Industry

During the Clinton administration, the US government released the policy report "Technology Promotes US Economic Growth: New Directions for Building Economic Strength" aimed at revitalizing the US manufacturing industry. Under this framework, the United States has successively released a series of major scientific and technological innovation plans, such as the Future Industrial Materials Program and the National Nanotechnology Program. During the Clinton era, the United States continuously made new breakthroughs in new material technology, leading the world in fields such as space materials, superconducting materials, biomaterials, and energy materials.

During the George W. Bush era, the United States once again shifted its focus on technological research and development towards national defense due to the 9/11 attacks. During this period, the United States only released the National Semiconductor Lighting Research Program, the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, and the National Hydrogen Fuel Research Program in the field of new materials, which will focus on semiconductor technology, nanotechnology, and hydrogen energy as research and development areas.

During the Obama era, influenced by the 2008 financial crisis, the United States increased its investment in technology research and development to reshape its competitive advantage in manufacturing and accelerate the development of new industries. The US government is strengthening fundamental and cutting-edge technology research, vigorously developing renewable energy, actively promoting biotechnology research, maintaining the country's advantageous position in the space field, revitalizing the steel industry, promoting new energy vehicles, and cultivating the nanotechnology industry.

Figure 8 Top 100 Global New Materials Enterprises in 2016 (Part)

Data source: New Materials Online

After the baptism of the second and third industrial revolutions, a large number of giants in the new materials industry were born in the United States, such as Sunway, PPG, Dow, ExxonMobil in the chemical industry, Applied Materials in the nano and semiconductor industry, Texas Instruments, Intel, and General Electric, Boeing in the aerospace industry. At present, the United States still has the world's largest economy, the largest group of technology talents, and the most innovative and dynamic enterprise and industrial clusters. In the foreseeable future, the United States will continue to be the leader in the new materials industry.

（2） Japan - The Rise of the Semiconductor Industry

During the Korean War, the huge demand for military products from the United States quickly freed Japan from economic stagnation and embarked on a path of rapid development. Against the backdrop of capital and technology transfer in the United States, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is promoting its "heavy chemical" development strategy and investing heavily in basic industries. Japan has comprehensively developed industries such as electricity, steel, chemicals, and machinery, rapidly forming a complete industrial system. The continuous advancement of technologies such as high-performance steel and chemical materials has become the material foundation for Japan's future economic takeoff. In the 1970s, Japanese made products such as cars, ships, household appliances, and watches had already swept the global market.

Due to the booming development of the information and communication industry, semiconductors, a high-value cutting-edge industry, have become a battleground for technological powers, and the fundamental and supportive role of semiconductor materials has become increasingly prominent. As early as the 1970s, the vast majority of the global semiconductor industry chain was located in the United States. For example, Intel's first generation microprocessor was born in Silicon Valley, USA in 1971, and Apple's first civilian computer was launched in the United States in 1976. According to statistical data analysis in 1975, all of the top ten semiconductor manufacturers in the world were American companies. In the 1980s, Japanese semiconductor manufacturers adopted the IDM business model based on DRAM and gained a leading position in the global semiconductor market. With policy support, Japanese semiconductor material companies achieved a latecomer approach, and the semiconductor industry gradually shifted to Asia.

In order to overcome the weak situation of semiconductor technology being dependent on Europe and America, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (now known as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) played a strong policy guiding role.

In 1957, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry formulated and implemented the "Temporary Measures for the Revitalization of the Electronic Industry Act", effectively laying the foundation for Japanese enterprises to learn advanced technologies from the United States;

In 1971, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry formulated the "Temporary Measures for the Revitalization of Specific Electronics Industry and Specific Machinery Industry Law", further adhering to the purpose of the "Electric Vibration Law", strengthening the development of the electronics industry represented by semiconductors, and successfully helping Japanese companies effectively resist the impact of European and American semiconductor manufacturers by strengthening their own research and development and production capabilities;

In 1978, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry formulated the "Temporary Measures for the Revitalization of the Specific Machinery Information Industry Law", further consolidating the position of Japan's semiconductor industry.

In the 1980s, Japan, with its strong economic foundation, vigorously developed the semiconductor industry and shaped numerous well-known consumer electronics brands. Benefiting from the rapid growth of global PC demand and the rapid expansion of the memory market, Japan has officially become a global semiconductor market and technology center. As of 1988, Japanese companies accounted for 11 of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers in the world.

Figure 9: Revenue Ranking of Global Semiconductor Companies in 1988

Data source: IHS

After the 1990s, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Japan made major mistakes in judging the industrial development trend. In addition to the Plaza Agreement and the bursting of the financial foam, Japan ushered in a "lost 20 years" in the field of consumer electronics. Japan's semiconductor industry lost its previous glory and was gradually eroded by enterprises in South Korea and Taiwan. Despite this, Japan's leading new materials company continues to lay out its technological high ground in the semiconductor materials field. After nearly 40 years of dedicated research and development and precise global market layout, as of 2014, Japan accounted for over 60% of the global semiconductor materials market share and still holds the lifeline and high profits of the semiconductor industry.

（3） South Korea - The New Materials Industry Behind Economic Takeoff

After World War II, South Korea was the only big country that successfully transformed from an agricultural country to a developed industrial country (with a population of more than 50 million). The speed of South Korea's economic takeoff is known as the "Jianghan Miracle" and has become a model for latecomers to overtake on the bend. From the perspective of South Korea's rise path, factors such as "strongman politics+labor-intensive industries+US Japan capital+Vietnam War" have become key driving forces for South Korea's economic development, and South Korea's technological development also relies on national will.

The semiconductor industry is one of the typical representatives of successful industrial upgrading in South Korea. The semiconductor industry in South Korea originated from labor-intensive processes with low added value in the industry chain. After more than a decade of development, South Korea has gradually entered the high-end of the industry chain and has achieved a leading position in the research and production of DRAM and flash memory in the global semiconductor industry. Especially in the downstream storage field, South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix almost monopolize two-thirds of the global market share.

Figure 10 Global DRAM Market Share

Data source: Guohai Securities Research Institute

In 1983, Samsung Electronics decided to invest heavily in the production of memory chips and successfully developed 64K DRAM;

In 1985, Samsung Electronics successfully developed 1M DRAM and obtained a license agreement for Intel's "microprocessor technology";

In 1988, the Korea Electronics and Communications Research Institute, in collaboration with Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and six universities in Korea, successfully developed 4M DRAM;

In 1993, Samsung Electronics made a great leap in its ranking and entered the top ten semiconductor manufacturers in the world for the first time, challenging the position of Japanese semiconductor companies in DRAM;

In 2001, Hyundai, which had already acquired LG Semiconductors, officially separated from Hyundai Group and changed its name to Hynix, becoming a strong contender in the DRAM field.

Figure 11: Korean semiconductor material companies

Source: Guohai Securities Research Institute

Relying on the strong downstream memory industry, the South Korean semiconductor industry cluster effect is evident, giving birth to a large number of semiconductor material companies (Figure 11). The semiconductor industry in South Korea has considerable strength in design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, as well as equipment and materials. Similar to the semiconductor industry, liquid crystal technology was invented by the Americans, Japan achieved technological breakthroughs and widely promoted liquid crystal technology, and South Korea achieved anti super through technology transfer, "counter cyclical investment" and other modes. At present, Korean LCD and OLED material suppliers are mainly Samsung and LG (Figure 12), with OLED materials occupying a leading position in the world.

Figure 12 LG Chem Business

Source: Guohai Securities Research Institute

3、 Future prospects: Does new material technology affect the fate of humanity?

Currently, the world is facing a wide variety of global issues. One is the population issue, where rapid population growth poses a serious burden on the environment, while severe aging poses serious challenges to healthcare and social services; The second is environmental issues, such as global climate change, sharp decline in biodiversity, land desertification, and ocean pollution, which put pressure on sustainable human cycles; The third issue is the problem of resources, with severe degradation of water and land resources, which will become one of the most severe challenges facing humanity in the future.

At the same time, new materials, new energy, biomedicine and other sciences are also accelerating progress, which may help humanity overcome the aforementioned global problems in the future. With the continuous development of new materials such as biomedical materials, information materials, and new energy materials, as well as the accelerated application of artificial intelligence and quantum computing in the research and development of new materials, the phenomenon of interdisciplinary integration of materials with physics, chemistry, biology, information, mathematics, and other disciplines has been further upgraded, and the role of interdisciplinary integration in new material innovation has been further highlighted. The supportive and leading role of new material technology in global economic development and industrial upgrading and transformation continues to strengthen. New material technology has become a key focus of competition among world technological powers and a key to solving global problems.

As the underlying technology (or root technology) of the information industry, new energy, environmental protection, and biomedicine, the supportive and leading role of new material technology is becoming increasingly prominent. From a micro perspective, new material technology is related to everyone's survival (medical, environmental); From a perspective, new material technology is related to national economic development (industrial upgrading); From a macro perspective, new material technology is related to human survival and sustainable development. The development of the new materials industry has provided more opportunities for governments, enterprises, research institutions, and the capital sector, and should also receive more attention from people.

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