On the afternoon of April 28th,2024, IMU in collaboration with Fudan University, hosted the launching ceremony and project initiation meeting for three National Key R&D Program projects at Academic Conference Center. These projects led respectively by IMU Honorary President Academician Zhao Dongyuan, President Wu Limin, and Executive Dean of the Institute of Energy Material Chemistry/Prof. Zhang Fan from Fudan University, are titled "Development of High-Performance Aqueous Batteries and Key Preparation Techniques for Porous Materials," "Design, Fabrication, and Application of Nano-functional Thin Films for Space Environments," and "Research on Nano-Cerium Oxide Polishing Materials for Advanced Processes in Next-Generation Integrated Circuits."

The meeting was attended by over 90 participants, including Academician Zhao Jintai, Academician Zhang Hongjie, Academician Sun Shigang, Academician Chen Jun, Academician Shi Jianlin, Academician Chen Lidong, and Academician Chen Xiaodong from the Singapore National Academy of Sciences, along with Deputy Director Bian Shuguang from the National Natural Science Foundation of High Technology Research and Development Center, Sun Junqing, Vice Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Liu Shuang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Li Wei, Deputy Director of the Department of Education of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, IMU Party Secretary Liu Zhiyu, President Wu Limin, Vice President Zhou Jiantao, and more than 20 renowned experts and leaders from participating organizations. The meeting was chaired by Vice President Zhou Jiantao.

Liu Zhiyu, IMU Party Secretary, delivered a speech reviewing the development history and achievements of the Institute of Energy Materials Chemistry at IMU, expressing hope that all participating units and experts would embark on a new phase of deepened cooperation through this collaboration, work together with concerted efforts during the implementation of the projects, ensure high-quality and high-standard completion of research tasks, produce significant results, promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, advance the "Breakthrough" project in science and technology in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, help cultivate and create new productive forces in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and continuously enhance the support and contribution of IMU to the completion of the "Five Major Tasks" and the comprehensive construction of a model autonomous region.

Deputy Director Bian Shuguang congratulated the successful establishment of the three national key research and development programs. He emphasized the importance of understanding the national key research and development programs from a political perspective within the national innovation-driven development strategy. He called on all undertaking units and participants to implement the projects well, produce influential results, and contribute to building new productive forces and promoting high-quality economic and social development in China.

Vice Chairman Sun Junqing highlighted that Inner Mongolia is currently striving towards the goals of "Two Major Events" and "Breaking New Ground and Entering the Middle Stream" according to the strategic positioning of "Two Barriers," "Two Bases," and "One Bridgehead" given by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Innovation is the key driving force and important support for high-quality development. Implementing the "Breakthrough" project in science and technology and cultivating new productive forces cannot be achieved without the support of experts, scholars, high-level research institutions, and major research projects. The initiation of these three national key research and development programs aligns closely with the direction of the "Breakthrough" project in science and technology. He hopes that Inner Mongolia University will take this as a breakthrough, focus on the major strategic needs of the country and the autonomous region, continue to deepen scientific and technological cooperation, explore new models and mechanisms for cooperation in research project establishment, platform construction, result transformation, and talent cultivation, drive the production of more major innovative results to help the high-quality development of the economy and society in the autonomous region.

Project chiefs presented overviews of their projects' objectives, research contents, task arrangements, technical approaches, and implementation plans.

The "Construction of High-Performance Aqueous Batteries and Key Preparation Technologies for Porous Materials" project is led by Academician Zhao Dongyuan, with Inner Mongolia University as the lead institution, with Inner Mongolia University taking the lead and institutions such as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Fudan University, Anhui University, and Nankai University undertaking the project, with a national appropriation funding of 13.8 million yuan. This project is based on novel porous materials, developing the design, preparation of electrodes, cells and modules, as well as the integration technology of the system. It targets to break through the barriers hindering the large-scale application of aqueous batteries, accomplishing the prototype validation of a battery energy storage system based on aqueous technology with a capacity of hundreds of kilowatt-hours. By exploring new horizons for aqueous battery systems, it is anticipated to tackle the safety issues inherent in current lithium-ion batteries relying on organic electrolytes and the scarcity of lithium resources. The project bears crucial importance for the iterative innovation and evolution of materials in the domain of new energy batteries.

The project "Design, Preparation, and Application of Nano-Functional Thin Film Coatings for Space Environment" is led by the IMU President Wu Limin, with Fudan University taking the lead. It is undertaken by Inner Mongolia University, Sichuan University, Shanghai Satellite Equipment Research Institute, and other institutions, with a national appropriation funding of 24.5 million yuan. The project focuses on four main areas: molecular design and interfacial regulation of functional thin film coatings; new mechanisms and methods for designing and constructing lightweight, high-reflectivity thermal control coatings and flexible sensing films; design and performance optimization of lightweight, flexible, high-thermal-conductivity films; and the application of functional thin film coatings in space domains. It aims to address key scientific and technological issues such as the relationship and regulation between multilevel porous structures in thin film coatings and light emission; ordered self-assembly of thermal conductive elements within flexible films and phonon heat conduction mechanisms at the molecular level; construction of large-area warped sensing network films; and new mechanisms for high-precision, lightweight deformation perception. This will provide a replicable and promotable successful paradigm for the integrated design from basic research to applied research in the full chain for the design, manufacturing, and application of China's space nano-functional thin film materials.

The project "Research on Nano-Cerium Oxide Polishing Materials for Next-Generation Integrated Circuit Advanced Processes" is led by Prof. Zhang Fan, with Fudan University taking the lead. It is undertaken by Inner Mongolia University, Peking University, Hebei University of Technology, Dongguan University of Technology, Baotou Tianjiao Qingmei Rare Earth Polishing Powder Co., Ltd., and other institutions, with a national appropriation funding 9.4371 million yuan. The project focuses on addressing critical challenges in cerium oxide abrasive polishing processes, such as slow polishing rates of small-sized abrasives, low selectivity ratios in polishing rates between silicon oxide/silicon nitride, and difficulties in controlling scratch defects. By leveraging the high reactivity of cerium oxide and the large specific surface area of mesoporous materials, the project aims to propose new methods for the directed synthesis and precise control of highly active mesoporous nano-cerium oxide polishing materials. It seeks to develop techniques for surface modification, amplification preparation, and stabilization of the polishing process. This research holds significant importance for resolving the “cutthroat issue” that China faces in the field of integrated circuit polishing.

During the conference, the unveiling ceremony of the Joint Laboratory for Rare Earth Materials Research, co-established by Northern Rare Earth (Group), Fudan University and Inner Mongolia University was held, along with Excellent Academic Forum. Academician Shi Jianlin from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chen Xiaodong from the National Academy of Singapore, Academician Fan Hongjin from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and Su Xin, Executive Editor of Angewandte Chemie from the Wiley publishing group, delivered keynote reports at the conference.