On April 18, 2026, Professor Cui Kunpeng of the University’s “Double Helix” Innovation Talent Cultivation Program led the Student Innovation Team for Key Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) Materials to Wanwei Group, where they joined the USTC–Wanwei Joint Laboratory in holding a milestone exchange meeting on research progress and technical demand alignment across the PVB industrial chain. The meeting focused on key technical challenges throughout the full value chain of high-end PVB materials, from resin synthesis to end-use applications. It reviewed the team’s previous research achievements and clarified the directions for the next stage of industrial research and development. A total of 17 participants attended the meeting, including Xu Hongping, Deputy General Manager of Wanwei High-Tech, R&D and process engineering specialists from both sides, and student representatives.
At the meeting, student leaders presented the team’s phased research achievements in sequence, fully demonstrating the effectiveness of the “Double Helix” project in promoting learning through research. Wan Caixia systematically presented progress in the classification of hydroxyl content in PVB resins and proposed a preliminary plan for optimizing the performance of PVB adhesives. Qiao Menglan focused on the mechanism of strain-induced microstructure formation in PVB films and shared the screening results of blend-modified samples, confirming that the 8560 blend system exhibited the best performance in terms of processability and high-temperature mechanical properties. Zhou Yu reported on progress in thickness detection technology for acoustic interlayers and heat-insulating functional modification. Jiao Ranran introduced the latest results in synchrotron radiation in-situ characterization, as well as optical and heating-process simulations for HUD windshields. These studies provided theoretical support for solving practical industrial problems.
Drawing on pain points from frontline production, Wanwei Group put forward targeted technical needs from three dimensions: resin, film, and laminated glass. The key needs included establishing a method for determining the hydroxyl content distribution of PVB, developing low-temperature-forming PVB films with a softening temperature reduced to 100°C for photovoltaic laminated modules and automotive smart glass, overcoming the problems of uncontrollable surface texture during casting and adhesion of embossing rollers, developing online inspection equipment for thickness and defects, and further deepening simulation studies on the wedge angle of HUD laminated glass. The two sides held in-depth discussions on each technical need and clarified the pathway linking fundamental research with engineering implementation.
In his concluding remarks, Professor Cui Kunpeng stated that the “Double Helix” talent cultivation project has always adhered to the principle of driving talent development through real industrial problems, enabling students to sharpen their engineering innovation capabilities while tackling critical bottleneck technologies. Deputy General Manager Xu Hongping noted that university-enterprise collaboration can not only accelerate the localization of high-end PVB materials, but also cultivate urgently needed innovative talent for the industry. Wanwei Group will fully support the advancement of the project and work together to build a model for talent cultivation and industrial innovation featuring deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application.
