By Lijun Yin – International Graphene Product Certification Center (IGCC):

On November 13, 2021, the ”GrapChina 2021 Standardization Forum” hosted by the International Graphene Product Certification Center (IGCC) was successfully held at Shanghai University. Chairperson of the forum was Prof. Chen Chengmeng from the Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The forum aims to accelerate the standardization of graphene, promote international standardization cooperation, advance the integration of cutting-edge technologies and standards in the field of graphene, and enhance the international influence of Chinese graphene standards. Dr. Norbert Fabricius, Secretary of IEC/TC 113 “Nanotechnology for electrotechnical products and systems”, and Prof. Ge Guanglu, Vice Chairman of SAC/TC 279 “National Nanotechnology Standardization Technical Committee”, attended the forum and gave presentations. The forum consisted of two sections of expert reporting and panel discussions and was held in a combination of online and live streaming.

Dr. Norbert Fabricius began his presentation by looking back at the foundation of the cooperation between China and Germany in the field of standardization and stated that China’s contribution to the international standardization in the area of graphene-based technologies is developing rapidly. He pointed out that China currently heads two international standard working groups in IEC/TC 113, WG10 “Luminescent nanomaterials” and AHG 13 “Wafer-Scale System Integration”, and also leads about one third of the international standardization projects related to graphene-based materials in IEC/TC 113. It is believed that the commercialization of graphene products in China will be accelerated by the standardization activities.

In his presentation, Prof. Ge firstly expressed his gratitude to Dr. Fabricius for his long-term support of China’s standards work in the area of nanotechnology. He gave an overview over graphene standards in China and the interaction between Chinese national standards and international standards. It was pointed out that China has proposed international standards for testing methods in IEC/TC 113 based on the national standards and research basis of graphene. Prof. Ge expressed his hopes that this will be an opportunity to establish the interaction between international standards, national standards, industry standards as well as consortium standards. Finally, he encouraged researchers, enterprises and testing organizations to join this work.

After that, seven Chinese experts made presentations, mainly on the current IEC/TC 113 international standard projects involving testing standards, product standards and quality management standards.

Meeting Agenda

During the panel discussion, participants discussed in depth the reports presented and the need for international standard cooperation as part of the National Standardization Strategy of the Chinese government published on October 10, 2021. They pointed out that standards are very important for any industry, especially for an emerging field like graphene. Graphene standardization needs global cooperation, and global standardization cooperation will promote the growth of the graphene industry.