"The 'most beautiful science and technology worker' does not dare to be, but magnesium is my lifelong pursuit." Knowing that he was selected as the "Most Beautiful Science and Technology Worker" in Shanghai in 2021, Ding Wenjiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, quipped.
From flame retardant magnesium alloys to main bearing structure magnesium rare earth alloys, from lightweight structural materials to various functional materials, magnesium alloys have more and more applications in transportation, electronic information, aerospace, medicine and health and even agriculture. Guided by his and his team's long-term research, magnesium metal has shed its tangible shell and transcended into a magical substance full of personality and magic.
"Yu is proficient in materials, materials must be made of materials, materials must be made into instruments, and instruments should be easy to use." This is the 16-character scientific research idea of materials science summarized by Ding Wenjiang. He believes that materials science research must pursue "useful", basic research must serve engineering research, and then use the benefits obtained from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements to feed back basic research.
Let "China Magnesium" lead the world
High-performance magnesium alloys are at the heart of Ding Wenjiang's decades of research. He said that he entered this field in the 1980s because of the influence of santana cars, "there are two parts on the car that are made of magnesium, so light, so rich in characteristics, really novel." Lightweighting is the pursuit goal of almost all industrial sectors, and the economic value of the rocket reduction of 1 gram is comparable to 1 gram of gold. Magnesium has the smallest specific gravity in practical metal structural materials, only 2/3 of aluminum and 1/4 of steel. What is even more rare is that China is also a big country of magnesium metal, accounting for more than 90% of the world's reserves and production.
The development of "China Magnesium" is imperative. After repeated experiments, Ding Wenjiang found that by adding two heavy rare earths, the flash point of magnesium alloys can be greatly increased from 520 °C to 935 °C, and the tensile strength exceeds 500 MPa. The "open-hanging" magnesium alloy has achieved a subversive leap from non-bearing structural parts to the application of main bearing structural parts, which can be used to manufacture helicopter receivers and automobile engines. Recalling the original research and development experience, he said with emotion: "Because technology is the first in the world, from the furnace body, materials to the process, each step has to be slowly passed by itself." ”
Nowadays, the figure of China's magnesium alloy materials has spread throughout aerospace, defense industry, energy, medical, agriculture and many other fields.
Constantly pushing the boundaries of "magnesium"
In addition to being light, magnesium can also act as a solid-state memory for hydrogen. Pointing to the silver-gray "small pills" stored in the small glass bottles on the shelves, Ding Wenjiang told reporters that it was filled with "circulating hydrogen storage magnesium alloys", and each piece was full of "energy". Originally, a magnesium atom can carry two hydrogen atoms, and the magnesium-based hydrogen storage material developed by Ding Wenjiang's team can store hydrogen in solid form and then let it out under certain conditions. This convergence and release is the hydrogen fuel cell. Taking drones as an example, the flight time of drones in the past was only half an hour at a time, but now it can be extended to 4 to 6 hours, and it can fly 300 kilometers in one breath.
Magnesium-hydrogen binders are a new area of application that Ding Wenjiang's team is exploring. "You girls are very concerned about beauty, combining magnesium and hydrogen, and you can make skin care products." He said that as long as the magnesium hydrogen "small pills" are melted into the spray water, you can get a bottle of transparent beauty water, because hydrogen can selectively neutralize harmful free radicals. Hydrogen magnesium material can also be made into a solid drink, involved in the body magnesium supplementation, because magnesium is an essential element of our human body, many diseases caused by hormone secretion difficulties are related to magnesium deficiency.
It is reported that the Hydrogen Science Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been put into operation in June 2018, focusing on key scientific issues in the fields of hydrogen energy, hydrogen medicine and hydrogen agriculture. In July this year, the Shanghai Hydrogen Science and Technology Research Association was established, which will build a platform for the development of hydrogen science and technology.
Usefulness is the soul of material research
Ding Wenjiang often taught students that when making materials, they must be persistent, "deeper, the essence", rather than looking at "money". He also said, "Materials are useful substances, useful is the soul of material research", and he is engaged in basic research in colleges and universities, and he attaches great importance to whether the results can be transformed.
In an exchange with a doctor, Ding Wenjiang noticed that many fracture patients or heart disease patients, after the body recovered, but the body buried a metal stent, many people had to endure secondary pain and then surgically removed the stent. He had a flash of inspiration: magnesium is both degradable and a beneficial element needed by the human body, can magnesium alloy replace the traditional medical metal scaffold? Therefore, he immediately led the team to develop a new generation of controllable degradation of medical magnesium alloys, after a year finally developed with the international advanced level of intraosseous plant instruments and cardiovascular prototypes, animal experiments have been successful. Magnesium alloy bone nail products have carried out 16 human clinical trials, all of which have been successful.
"We want to do effective scientific research, not bubble scientific research, and our research needs to be closely linked to actual needs and problems." This is Ding Wenjiang's original intention in doing scientific research. In the scientific research position facing the world's scientific and technological frontier, facing the major needs of the country, facing the main economic battlefield, and facing the people's life and health, he is still moving forward in the pursuit of magnesium.
Author: Shen Xiangsha
Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Jiao Tong University