The pilot project of rare earth modified high-purity sapphire raw material independently developed by the R & D team of School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University was officially put into operation. The production line produced 5N (purity greater than 99.999%) high-purity alumina products for the first time. High-purity alumina is a high-end product in the aluminum industry and the main raw material for artificial sapphire. The new project makes up for the gap in the international rare earth high-purity aluminum preparation technology, and will also enable the high-purity aluminum industry chain and artificial sapphire industry chain to be fully connected.

The R & D team has the first domestic ultra-high purity aluminum purification process and equipment with completely independent intellectual property rights. The team leader Professor Zhang Jiao said that the new technology perfectly combines the purification process of high-purity alumina and the preparation technology of new rare earth materials. After adding rare earth, the product has not only greatly improved its toughness, but also achieved color brightness and hardness. Greatly improved, it is now possible to prepare 6N ultra-high purity aluminum ingots and large-scale production of 5N ultra-high purity aluminum ingots, which has laid a solid foundation for the mass production of ultra-high purity alumina raw materials in China.

It is understood that high-purity alumina with a purity of more than 5N prepared by hydrolysis of high-purity aluminum is the main raw material for the production of sapphire single wafers for LED substrates. More than 90% of LED companies worldwide use sapphire as the substrate material. In addition, high-purity alumina is also widely used in lithium battery separator materials, high-end phosphors, catalysts, semiconductor ceramics, etc.

Pan Tianlong, general manager of Saifuer New Materials Co., Ltd., said: 'This new product was previously unavailable in the market. Our ultra-high purity aluminum ingots filled the gap in this production technology. Our upstream is the industry of the aluminum industry. The downstream of the chain is the industrial chain of artificial sapphire crystals. This new product is the first to realize the seamless docking of the two industrial chains in China. Next, we will gradually push our products to mobile phone screens, camera lenses, and high-end ceramic targets. And other production applications. '