How Does The Leather High-Tech Reform The Traditional Industry

Researchers enjoy indulging in the leather world. Fan Haojun believes that promoting industrial innovation is a very real thing, which requires a group of people who are willing to sit on the bench and stay away from the noise. Moreover, only by adhering to this spirit can we truly achieve success.

What will be the effect of adding raw materials such as graphene, which are different from other materials, to leather?

In a few days, Fan Haojun, deputy director of the National Engineering Laboratory of Clean Tanning Technology of Sichuan University, will go to Jiangsu. It sounds that the destination, an enterprise engaged in graphene research and development, has no intersection with his national engineering laboratory. Graphene is generally used as a new energy battery. "It matters a lot. Adding graphene to leather can improve the fire rating, wear resistance, scratch resistance and anti-static, and the physical properties of leather can be significantly improved." Fan Haojun said that high and new technology will make the traditional industry take off again.

The National Engineering Laboratory of Clean Technology in Tannery of Sichuan University is the only national engineering laboratory in the field of leather chemistry and engineering in China, which has become the "cradle" of the transformation and upgrading of the leather industry. Fan Haojun and his colleagues are tasked with making a difference in this industry that is generally considered backward.

"Guess what that instrument can do?" In the laboratory, Fan Haojun pointed to an instrument like a photocopier and asked the reporter. He still solved the puzzle: "That's an atomic force microscope. It can measure the nanoscale structure of materials, which is much more powerful than ordinary microscopes."

From the first floor to the fourth floor, it is the "site" of the laboratory. Colorimetry and color difference analyzer, thermogravimetry analyzer, plasma emission spectrometer and other high-end equipment dazzle people.

The value of these equipment exceeds 100 million yuan. The reporter saw that one or two teachers or students were busy in each small laboratory, and they could go in and out 24 hours a day.

The "national key" of the laboratory is free for students to use, and the cost of materials and maintenance alone will exceed 600000 yuan every year. "The probe used to observe the fiber structure costs 150 yuan each, and it will cost four or five hundred per year."

In the change of these equipment from simple to high-end, a number of cutting-edge talents in China's leather field have emerged. Shi Bi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is one of them. Recently, he also won the highest honor award in the international leather science and technology industry.

What difficulties do enterprises have to find laboratory cooperation? "There are mainly two types. One is to improve the physical properties of leather, such as smoothness, anti-bacterial Antifungal The other is environmental protection, such as cadmium removal from wastewater. "

China has become a recognized leather producing country in the world, but Leather industry However, it gives people the impression of backwardness. Not only is the quality of leather not high enough, but the "three wastes" emissions of manufacturing enterprises are also criticized.

The whole floor of the laboratory is dedicated as an engineering laboratory Enterprise production line "Enrichment" in order to simulate, analyze and solve specific problems existing in enterprises.

Next to a machine, there are wool raw materials just shipped. Fan Haojun said that the traditional way to make leather from skin is to first use chemical materials to dissolve and depilate, but this increases the pollutants in wastewater. "Now, we are using biological enzyme technology to protect and drag hair, which not only increases the value of leather, but also reduces pollution."

The reporter pinched and spread the dark pig skin semi-finished products on the dyeing machine. Fan Haojun added that today's dyeing process has made a major breakthrough, and supercritical carbon dioxide supercritical water free printing and dyeing technology can avoid the production of wastewater in dyeing.

In another cutting corner of the engineering laboratory, there are some leftovers. "This is a treasure." Fan Haojun said with a smile that these former "waste leather dregs" can be made into collagen fibers. After some "modification", they can be used to adsorb cadmium in wastewater and become "sharp tools" for environmental protection.

Many cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements of the leather laboratory have been applied in a small range in some enterprises. "Now the application cost is still relatively high. For enterprises, these technologies are more like beacons, allowing them to see the future direction."

The research team of the tanning laboratory has more than 40 people, mainly young people aged 30-40, 80% of whom are doctors, and more than 40% have overseas experience. They are proud that the number of SCI papers published annually is higher than that of another well-known research institution, the Central Leather Research Institute of India, which has more than 100 researchers.

As an elder in the team, Fan Haojun often communicates with young people about the innovative direction of the subject. "We are an applied discipline, so we should not be too narrow minded, and we should not think that innovation is only what others have not done." "It is innovation to use 15 processes to complete 20 processes of others, and the utilization rate of others is 70%. I get 90%, which is also innovation."

Focusing on the frontiers of various disciplines, even "stealing teachers", is another "specialty" of this team.

Fan Haojun said laughingly that the inspiration of adding graphene to leather was generated when listening to the release of an achievement unrelated to the discipline. Researchers in the tanning laboratory often go to "rub" some research meetings that seem to have no cross feelings.

Sometimes, they also relish the "selling points" of achievement promotion. "You don't need to go to the big forest. Leather products can also emit negative oxygen ions. Isn't that cool?"