Chapter 302: I Want To Hear His Opinion

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The deposit for the purchase of the equipment was directly wired from the Star Sky Technology’s overseas account to the account of the European instrument manufacturer. After Qian Zhongming signed the document, the remaining payment would be sent to the other party.

At the same time, the equipment purchased would be sent to Jinling through a specialized transportation company.

The total price of the equipment was over US$50 million, which was more than 300 million yuan.

The pieces of equipment were important, so Qian Zhongming didn’t want to delay this matter. He and Liu Bo immediately booked a flight and went to Europe.

Lu Zhou was also busy. Three days after Brother Qian went to Europe, Jin Ling University organized a seminar.

This seminar was huge. Not only did it invite professors from Zhi University, Shuimu University, Fu University, and various other C9 alliance universities, but they also invited technology schools such as Jinling Polytechnic University. Professors in the field of synthesis, as well as engineers from battery companies such as BYD, also participated in this conference.

Unlike the MRS Conference, this seminar was semi-academic in nature and was mainly focused on future research rather than research results.

In addition to lithium material professors, representatives of the national research funds, as well as representatives of energy companies such as BYD and Sugi, also participated.

The subject for the discussion was obviously lithium-sulfur batteries.

As an internationally renowned scholar, Lu Zhou naturally participated in the conference.

The conference would begin at ten o’clock, but at only nine o’clock, the conference room was already crowded and packed.

It was like people knew that this conference was going to be difficult, so everyone had a serious expression on their face. Although it was packed with people, it was oddly quiet inside the conference hall.

Lu Zhou opened his water bottle and took a sip. Before the conference began, he took the chance to observe the faces of his peers.

In short, the situation didn’t look good.

Around 9:30 a.m, Old Lu whispered a few words to the academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Once almost everyone had arrived, Old Lu adjusted the microphone, cleared his throat, and said, “Since everyone has already arrived, we won’t waste anyone’s precious time.”

The conference room quieted down. They waited for Old Lu to continue.

“… Energy is the lifeblood of the industry. Whoever masters energy, masters the future. This mission is very difficult as it relates to the strategic layout of our country in the field of energy.

“At the last meeting, the top executives have decided to develop in the direction of lithium-sulfur batteries. However, the wisdom of everyone here today is needed to solve the technical problems.

“The main discussion topic of this conference is about the thought process to solve these problems.

“I hope that everyone can brainstorm and to speak up if they come up with any ideas.”

Old Lu was the moderator of the conference, therefore, he was the one to make a brief opening remark.

On the surface, this conference looked like it was useless. Everyone wasn’t talking about existing results, but rather the thought process of problems. However, this wasn’t the case.

The national and company research fund was limited and not every research project was able to apply for adequate research funding.

Generally speaking, if the country decided on the direction of lithium-sulfur batteries, then the projects related to lithium-sulfur batteries would increase, and other lithium batteries related projects would decrease.

This was the same for research.

There were thousands of ways to solve the lithium-sulfur battery shuttle effect. It was possible both from the positive electrode material and the electrolyte.

However, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance did not understand academia.

But that didn’t matter. When they made a decision, they would often consult the industry experts and take their opinion into account. They could guarantee sufficient research funding on a certain research topic.

There was always a few research topics that had potential and could bread high-quality results.

This was why this conference was so important.

Everyone hoped that their research topic or direction could receive more financial support.

Because of this, the atmosphere was heavy even before the conference began. But after the conference began, the discussion was quite enthusiastic.

The first to speak up was Professor Wang Haifeng from Zhi University.

Professor Wang stood up and smiled as he said, “Since Director Lu told everyone to brainstorm and share their ideas, I will throw in my two cents.

“Our research team found a highly ordered nanostructured carbon-sulfur positive material. This can be used as a carbon structural framework to limit the dissolution of sulfur during charge and discharge, thus effectively curbing the sticking effect.”

Professor Wang took out some existing research results to back up his claims.

Old Lu took Professor Wang’s opinion seriously, and he asked, “What are the costs? What is the energy density? Is this technology reliable?”

“The costs are not high and the energy density is quite impressive. The theoretical energy density measured in the laboratory was close to 2000Wh/kg. This far exceeds current lithium batteries. I have published relating theses on ‘Advanced Materials’, but this technology needs to be perfected.”

Professor Wang paused for a second before he continued, “In fact, in the current mainstream practice in the academic world, the key to solving the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries is to use porous carbon materials to block polysulfide ions and reduce the loss of sulfur. My suggestion is that we can adopt a similar approach. The focus of research and development should be on sulfur-carbon composites.”

Old Lu nodded seriously.

The assistant sitting next to him quickly started to type on his laptop.

After Professor Wang ended his speech, he smiled at his peers and sat down.

Suddenly, another professor spoke.

“I have something to say.”

It was Academician Wu Shigang from Aurora University; he was also a big name in the materials science industry.

Old Lu looked at the old man and said respectfully, “Academician Wu, please go ahead.”

Academician Wu grabbed the microphone and paused for a second before speaking, “I was involved in the 863 Program, therefore, I have already considered carbon-sulfur composite materials when I was other lithium-sulfur batteries issues. This strategy seems to be very effective on paper, but the actual effect is very limited.

“The experiment in the laboratory was based on a small button cell, the electrode was very thin, the sulfur load was not high, and the total sulfur content was only about a few milligrams. Actual batteries have a much larger sulfur content, generally at a gram. Also, the electrode is very thick and the unit sulfur load is very high.

“The laboratory was able to circulate 1,000 times of sulfur/carbon composite material, which in turn can only be cycled several times in actual batteries.

“Moreover, the most deadly problem of carbon-sulfur composites is that the energy density is not high enough. If it were used in 3C products such as computers and mobile phones, it would be fine to use carbon-sulfur composite materials as the positive electrode. If it were used in cars or larger electronics, it might not be the best.”

The old man had been doing research in this area for over 10 years. As an engineer, he paid extra attention to the practical value of technology as opposed to the theoretical academic value.

Moreover, he was involved in the field of solid electrolytes, which was the opposite of Professor Wang.

Professor Wang was naturally unhappy.

However, it wasn’t him that refuted; it was another professor in the field of carbon-sulfur composite materials that spoke up.

“You are right, sulfur-carbon composites do have defects in this area, but in my opinion, these defects can be solved with repeated experiments. A year ago, we all thought that lithium batteries were unstable. But what about now? Who can doubt the potential of lithium batteries?”

Lu Zhou: … ?

Lu Zhou, who stayed silent this whole time, was inexplicably targeted.

The meeting was becoming fiercer.

Although it wasn’t as aggressive as the MRS Conference, everyone could still feel the tension in the room.

Lu Zhou started to think.

Fortunately, the system’s scanner gun saved him a lot of research and development costs, and the technology of lithium dendrite was sold for a good price. Otherwise, he would have to bite the bullet and join this discussion.

Suddenly, another professor spoke.

“Let me say a few words.”

This time, it was Professor Sun Hongbiao from Shuimu university.

Although Shuimu ranked lower than Aurora University or Yan University in the field of lithium battery, it was still quite influential.

However, his words were different from the previous big names.

This old professor coughed and said slowly, “I noticed that Professor Lu hasn’t spoken yet, but I can tell he has some good ideas about this problem. I don’t want to say anything, I just want to hear his opinion.”

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

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