Graphene receives substantial interest, driven by the unique physics it presents and a plethora of properties that make it attractive for applications. In particular, high in-plane conductivity, carrier mobility, transparency, flexibility and strength means that graphene has potential for implementation in a range of functional electronic devices, and for energy harvesting and storage, sensors, optoelectronics, composites and so on. Consequently, substantial efforts have been focused towards its research and development (R&D), with particular activity in the United States, Europe, South Korea and Japan. Likewise, the Chinese scientific community has invested considerably in this area. Until 2014, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) awarded more than US$60 million to cultivate R&D projects on graphene and its related technologies (based on data collected by the China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry). By the end of August 2015, China had published 34% of all papers on the topic, more than the United States (19%; ref. 1). But China also has big ambitions for the technological transfer of graphene from basic research to commercial products; local patents from China for graphene technology account for 38% of all graphene patents worldwide2. To stimulate technological transfer from laboratory to manufacture, the China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry (CGIA) was established in 2013 by the China Industry–University–Research Institute Collaboration Association, which is owned by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Policy support is also supplied by them and a number of other government departments, with financial support from the major research funders in China. CGIA has constructed a platform to work with most of the major universities and companies that are engaged in graphene R&D, manufacture and investment, including Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (the world’s largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment). The broad aim of CGIA is to support the commercialization of graphene in China. This includes guiding policymakers who plan to work on graphene (for example, advising on which areas of graphene research local government should focus on, and the set-up of relevant infrastructure and companies), co-establishing geographical centres of excellence in graphene research and innovation, organizing international conferences, publishing patent reports and working on standardization protocols (such as the definition of graphene-related materials).
Of course, securing investment funding for new companies is critical and the China Graphene Investment Alliance (part of CGIA) helps aid this. Also, CGIA cooperates with other countries, including Spain, Italy and Sweden. A notable example of how CGIA has contributed to the graphene community in China can be seen in the support provided for local governments to create graphene industry parks. These are geographical centres that bring together the relevant people and infrastructure needed to determine policy, to develop the graphene industry in China and to attract investment. Importantly, supply chains for the manufacture of graphene from raw materials have been established at these parks as well as at downstream companies focusing on graphene applications, and at analytical service labs. Financial support from both local government and venture capitalists enables spin-off companies from universities and institutes to be based in the graphene industry parks, and facilitates their subsequent growth. The largest of these is the Changzhou graphene industrial park established in 2013, instrumentation14,15, including in situ systems for high-temperature multiscale mechanical testing15 and ferroelectric, elastic and magnetic property correlation14. Finally, outstanding challenges remain that must be addressed to ensure that microscopy can play an increasing role in material development in China. For example, although allowance for microscopy is incorporated into funding for materials science, physics, chemistry, energy, information and environmental sciences, and others, more links between the microscopy community and scientists working in the aforementioned disciplines must be constructed. Likewise, a major concern is that the critical role of microscopy in materials development may not have been fully realized in industry and commercial research institutions, stunting new developments. Further efforts to fill these gaps are necessary, including attracting more microscopists to work on developing advanced materials. That being said, the facilities and expertise that have become available in China over the last few decades mean that microscopists will be increasingly able to contribute to the development of improved materials, which are relevant to the country’s continued economic growth.
