Development status of diamond micro powder industry: The industry is developing towards intelligent production

1、 Overview of Diamond Micropowder
Diamond micro powder refers to diamond particles with a particle size smaller than 54 microns and a chemical composition of carbon, which is the hardest substance in nature. Diamond micro powder is a micron or submicron level ultrafine diamond powder formed by processing diamond single crystals through crushing, ball milling, and other processes. Diamond has high strength and good wear resistance, with a Mohs hardness of 10 and a microhardness of 10000kg/mm2. Its microhardness is 1000 times higher than that of quartz and 150 times higher than that of corundum. Therefore, diamond micro powder, as a superhard abrasive, has unparalleled grinding ability compared to other products and is increasingly receiving high attention from developed industrial countries.
With the increasing maturity of diamond tool manufacturing industry and the rapid growth of China's economy, the demand for diamond micro powder market in China is also growing rapidly. In the past thirty years, with the continuous expansion of research and development investment and production scale in China's diamond micro powder industry, the core manufacturing technology level of diamond micro powder crushing, shaping, particle size sorting and other processes has been significantly improved. China has entered the ranks of major producers of diamond micro powder.
The development of China's diamond micro powder industry can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage is to introduce diamond micro powder processing technology and create a family workshop style diamond micro powder production model; The second stage is to break the traditional family workshop production mode, transform into automated production enterprises, break through the traditional drum type ball milling, crushing, shaping, and manual grading production methods, and use modern production equipment such as diamond airflow crusher, large diamond micro powder automatic sorting machine, high-speed centrifuge, etc. to reduce labor costs, reduce production energy consumption, improve production efficiency, and promote the rapid development of China's diamond micro powder industry; In the third stage, with the application of computer technology and variable frequency control technology, the diamond micro powder industry is developing towards intelligent production.
2、 Policy review of diamond micro powder industry
In recent years, the country has introduced multiple policies to promote the development of the industry. The Guiding Catalogue of Key Products and Services in Strategic Emerging Industries (2016) released by the National Development and Reform Commission includes "artificial diamond" in the "Guiding Catalogue of Key Products and Services in Strategic Emerging Industries", pointing out that the artificial diamond industry is an industry encouraged by the state to develop and guide social resource investment. The Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2019 Edition) released by the National Development and Reform Commission clearly proposes to encourage the development of functional artificial diamond material production equipment technology. The "14th Five Year Plan for High Quality Development of Manufacturing Industry in Henan Province" issued in 2021 clearly points out the need to consolidate the advantages of artificial diamonds, vigorously develop gem grade diamonds, and create a global superhard material industry base. Against the backdrop of active national support for the development of the artificial diamond industry, the industry enjoys a favorable policy environment, and enterprises with strong independent research and development capabilities and large-scale production capabilities in the industry will benefit more from policy support.
3、 Diamond Micropowder Industry Chain
Diamond micro powder is the core basic material for downstream diamond tool manufacturing and hard and brittle material processing. The industrial chain consists of upstream raw material suppliers, midstream production manufacturers, and downstream application fields. The upstream raw materials mainly include artificial diamond single crystals, while the downstream materials are widely used in fields such as diamond wire, glass panel cutting, semiconductor polishing, etc.
The upstream raw material diamond single crystal supply is stable. Artificial diamond single crystal is an important raw material for manufacturing diamond micro powder, and in recent years, China's production has been relatively stable. From 2018 to 2020, the production of artificial diamond single crystals in China remained stable at around 10 billion carats, and the production of artificial diamond single crystals and micro powders remained stable at around 15 billion carats. With the development of synthesis technology, the proportion of high-quality new products continues to increase, and the industry is steadily advancing.