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Determined to strive for superiority in Copper foil-- Zhu Ruolin, a researcher in the Technical Research Institute of Jiang Copper Group

iconSep 27, 2020 08:29

SMM Network News: Jiang Copper Group Technology Research Institute and Jiang Copper Group Yazi Copper foil Company, the two office buildings are only 750m apart.

For a year, Dr. Zhu Ruolin has been running between the two buildings. At work in the copper foil company, he is the assistant to the general manager of the training; after work in the graduate school, he is a researcher leading three master's researchers.

With two identities and one goal, Zhu Ruolin uses "learning ability" to transform the theoretical knowledge accumulated for many years into "productive forces" and makes continuous efforts for the localization of high-end copper foil.

Come for copper foil and fight for copper foil.

Zhu Ruolin, who was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province in 1990, studied abroad for nearly 10 years. After graduating from the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he learned that the processing Institute of Jiang Copper Research Institute urgently needed to recruit doctors to engage in the research and development of electrolytic copper foil. He came without hesitation.

At present, most of the high-end products of electrolytic copper foil in China are still monopolized by the United States, Japan and other developed countries, but there is a shortage of technical personnel in the field of electrolytic copper foil in China, especially those who are proficient in both copper foil production process and high-end product development. Based on this, Zhu Ruolin more firmly to the high-end copper foil localization direction of the goal.

During his master's degree, Zhu Ruolin's research direction was electrochemistry. New to Jiang Copper, although he has solid expertise in electrochemistry and metal materials, he is a complete stranger to the electrolytic copper foil industry, and the research institute did not have the experimental research conditions for electrolytic copper foil at that time.

From scratch, Zhu Ruolin met the difficulties and was willing to be a "layman." While racing against the clock and burning the midnight oil, he carefully studied the relevant literature on electrolytic copper foil, while applying for the purchase of instruments and equipment and exploring test methods. At the same time, he also went to the copper foil company for in-depth first-line internship, familiar with the production process, and took the initiative to seek advice from upstream and downstream copper foil manufacturers, experts and customers.

The project of "Development of High tensile Lithium Copper foil" undertaken by Zhu Ruolin is one of the key projects of Jiang Copper's "three-year innovation multiplication". The copper foil is only 8 microns thick, while a piece of A4 paper is about 100 microns thick. With such a thin thickness, the tensile strength per square millimeter is up to 40 kilograms, which is also the key to determine the service life of lithium batteries in mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other products.

Due to the lack of technical exchanges among peers in the copper foil industry, there are few related materials, and the relevant process parameters involved in periodical papers are too different from those in the field, so it is of little significance to use for reference. Zhu Ruolin and the R & D team can only start from scratch. Under the condition of technical foundation, lack of reference materials and no experimental platform, Zhu Ruolin and the R & D team can only start the project from scratch.

Every day, they combine dozens of additives to explore the core formula of copper foil research and development, and develop a small-scale test device for circulating electrolysis of copper foil to solve the problem that there is no experimental equipment.

"I really can't remember how many times I've failed." Looking back on this period of research and development in the past, Zhu Ruolin's deepest experience is that there are no shortcuts on the road to scientific research, and every failure is an experience. With the continuous thickening of the test data, Zhu Ruolin gradually entered the door of electrolytic copper foil research. Laboratory research, field pilot test. He constantly combines laboratory research results with on-site production, and strives to break through the "last kilometer" between laboratory scientific research achievements and industrialization.

From "individual combat" to "overall vision"

"although it has profound theoretical knowledge and strong learning ability, there is a relative lack of on-site process technology and production experience. For me, on-the-job exercise is a good opportunity to make up for my shortcomings. " From the laboratory to the production site, Zhu Ruolin is open-minded and firmly believes that learning is the "magic weapon" for him to maintain progress in the past, the present and the future.

"everyone is an expert in their own field." With this understanding, Zhu Ruolin regards the technicians on the production line as his own teachers. in the face of various technological details that he does not understand, he takes the initiative to seek advice with an open mind, and strives to learn more, learn more, and gain more. In less than three months, he formed a deep understanding of the technological process and key points of management and control of electrolytic copper foil.

To carry out on-the-job exercise with tasks, we should not only promote the projects that have been established, but also find some projects that can be established with the eyes of finding problems and the courage to solve them.

How to apply the laboratory results to the copper foil company, and how to combine the professional knowledge with the experience and phenomenon in the production site? This is what Zhu Ruolin, with a task, has been thinking and exploring during his on-duty exercise.

Product stability is a problem that has plagued copper foil companies for many years and has not been solved repeatedly. Zhu Ruolin, who is in charge of assisting the production management of copper foil products, takes the initiative to carry the burden, take root in the front line, go deep into the scene, and tackle various practical problems on the spot.

As the first process of electrolytic copper foil, high quality solution is the premise of making good copper foil products.

Zhu Ruolin consulted more than 100,000 data from the procurement, inspection, and production links of the copper foil company in the past four years, and through comparative analysis, he took great pains to exchange and discuss them, forming a research report of more than 20 pages. In this study, it was found for the first time that the addition of activated carbon and diatomite was the main factor for the enrichment of calcium and magnesium in the solution, and made clear the effects of different copper raw materials on different impurity elements and the effects of copper raw materials on product quality.

Zhu Ruolin, an assistant to the general manager of the copper foil company, is faced with the unfamiliar field of enterprise management. As always, he gives full play to his "learning ability" and regards the central group study meeting as well as the daily morning meeting, the weekly general manager's office meeting and the department quality weekly meeting as a classroom for himself to improve his quality and understand operation and management.

"are the problems reflected by the production staff at the meeting serious? Is it a new problem or an old one? Who should solve the problem? " With these questions, Zhu Ruolin, like a "pupil", "listens" carefully, and he takes the time to understand carefully all the issues that are highlighted at the meeting. As long as the problems related to the production site mentioned at the meeting are slightly related to his professional knowledge, he will take the initiative to help solve them.

They have more and more comprehensive understanding, think more and more deeply, and have less and less confusion. From time to time, they also take the initiative to put forward personal suggestions and discuss problems with management. Zhu Ruolin's progress is seen by everyone.

It's not just a 750-meter span.

Since taking up his post for exercise, Zhu Ruolin feels that he has a heavier responsibility and more "cherishes" his body. "now I am very afraid of getting hurt. Once I break my muscles and bones, I will delay my work."

After joining Jiang Copper, Zhu Ruolin successively applied and presided over three scientific research projects: "Development of High tensile Lithium Copper foil", "Research on Electrolytic Copper foil Additives" and "Ultra-low profile Electrolytic Copper foil".

On May 18, in order to help fight the epidemic, Zhu Ruolin immediately signed up to donate blood. It was intended to go back to rest early in accordance with the doctor's advice, but the manager of the research and development department of the copper foil company temporarily informed him to lead the copper foil team of the research institute to participate in the on-site debugging of the additive formula of high-tensile lithium copper foil, hoping to debug a qualified lithium-ion product with high tensile strength.

This is a rare debugging opportunity, Zhu Ruolin did not want to miss a minute, did not hesitate to bring the team to the scene. During debugging, while keeping a close eye on the changes of the copper foil surface with the adjustment of additives, the on-site sampling is compared, and the next adjustment direction is discussed. The tense rhythm lasted until 2 o'clock the next morning.

With faith, no matter how busy you are, you won't feel tired. This debugging, copper foil tensile strength, roughness, elongation of the three performance parameters meet the requirements of the contract, although there are still problems need to be further solved, but Zhu Ruolin is confident.

In a short period of three years, Zhu Ruolin felt that he had experienced two great leaps: the first leap was to take part in work, from a graduate student who only needed to do a good job in scientific research projects to a researcher who set up an independent R & D team and set up a scientific research platform; the second leap was a year of on-duty training, changing from a researcher who only knew how to do a project to a compound talent with systematic thinking and overall thinking.

"No matter where you work, the most important thing is not to forget your original intention." At the end of the training period, thinking about the road of future development, Zhu Ruolin, who is 30 years old, said frankly that he wants to continue to devote himself to the related work of high-end electrolytic copper foil in the future, for the localization of high-end copper foil, and for Jiang Copper's "innovation doubling in three years." to achieve high-quality development by leaps and bounds.

Copper foil
Jiang Copper

For queries, please contact Michael Jiang at michaeljiang@smm.cn

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