A strategic study for materials interdisciplinary frontiers and disruptive innovation

Abstract

Disruptive innovation is an important indicator of the overall level of technological development of a country, which determines the level of national competitiveness. The disruptive innovation of cross integration of cutting-edge science and technology will play a leading role in technological progress and industrial development. Improving the disruptive innovation ability of cross integration of cutting-edge science and technology is the key to realizing the world-leading potential of China’s science, technology, and industry. Materials are the basis of human material civilization, national security, economic development, and social development. The promotion of interdisciplinary materials science and the integration of materials science with information science, environmental and energy science, life science, and other disciplines has become an important trend and driving force in the development of materials. This integration of materials science with other scientific areas is the key development direction in international research and the focus of future international competition. Cross-cutting-edge and disruptive innovation in the field of new materials are important metrics of the new technology revolution. Based on the strategic study of materials interdisciplinary frontiers and disruptive innovation, here we point out the development priorities according to major national needs. These priorities focus on seven interdisciplinary areas, in which materials science is integrated with physics and mathematics, life-medicine science, energy science, information science, bionics science, manufacturing science, and deep-space-sea-earth science. Through the in-depth collaborative works involving materials science with physics and mathematics, the transformation of the materials research paradigm will be promoted, developing new-concept functional materials and devices with revolutionary performance, new artificial intelligence materials, and future intelligent systems. The interdisciplinary research work involving materials science and life-medicine science will promote research on the basic biochemistry theory toward the creation of novel nanodrugs for major diseases, as well as the basis of tissue regeneration theory and functional reconstruction of important organs. Through the combination of materials science with energy science, new energy materials, devices, and application technologies will be developed to provide key materials and technical support for China’s carbon peak and carbon neutralization. Through collaborations involving materials science and information science, the next generation of new information technology materials and devices will be developed for optical fiber communication and optical fiber sensing technology, 6G communication, quantitative memristors, flexible electronic devices, storage materials and devices, light-emitting materials and devices, and single-photon detection. Through the combination of materials science and bionic science, interdisciplinary frontier basic scientific theories, such as the principle of multiscale composites for bionic hierarchical structures and life body and the mechanism behind the superwetting interface enhancement in life systems will be studied, and bionic health materials, bionic energy materials, bionic environmental materials, and bionic information materials will be developed. Through the interdisciplinary work involving materials science and manufacturing science, the theory and revolutionary technology of the extreme manufacturing of advanced materials, bionic manufacturing, femtosecond-light manufacturing, and composite-field manufacturing will be developed. Through the combination of materials science and deep-space, deep-sea, and deep-earth science, key materials will be developed to meet the national strategic needs in the fields of deep-space, deep-sea, and deep-earth science. Finally, this paper puts forward policy suggestions to strengthen the research of cross-cutting-edge and disruptive innovation from two aspects, namely the science and technology management system and disruptive innovation project management mechanism, aiming to provide guidance for decision-making for China to establish itself as a powerful country in materials science.