Lu Zhou didn't expect that when he arrived at the hotel lobby, not only was Professor Lee here, but there were also two old men that he didn't know.
One of them looked familiar, but he couldn't remember his name. As for the other one, he didn't know him at all.
With a hint of doubt, Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lee Yong-eun.
"You two are?"
Professor Lee was actually quite helpless.
Originally, he planned on contacting Lu Zhou in a few days and asking about patent authorization. However, he didn't expect to bump into Dean Li from the chemistry department next door, who was also attending the MRS conference. Not only that, Dean Li was also following him.
According to Dean Li, he had been calling Lu Zhou since the morning, but he couldn't reach Lu Zhou.
Thinking that Dean Li had helped him a lot and that the big shot next to him had a powerful background, Professor Li had no choice but to help.
As for the patent, it seemed like he would have to wait until next time.
"Let me introduce you, this is the head of our energy-related department, Lu Kaimin …"
"What head, I'm here personally. According to the customs here, just call me Mr. Lu," said Lu Kaimin as he shook Lu Zhou's hand enthusiastically. He didn't put on any airs as he said with a hearty smile, "Professor Lu, I've heard people say that you're young and promising. You're even younger than the rumors say."
Lu Zhou was a little surprised by this big name's enthusiasm. However, he wasn't an inexperienced person, so he politely shook hands with him.
"You're too kind, Mr. Lu!"
Professor Lee continued to introduce, "This is the dean of our chemistry department, Dean Li Shuwen."
"Hello, hello …"
It wasn't polite to talk while standing.
After some small talk, the group found a restaurant near the hotel.
This restaurant wasn't high-end, but it wasn't cheap either. It mainly served Boston's local specialties.
While on the way, Lu Zhou learned that Dean Li was here to attend the MRS Conference.
As for the head of the relevant department, Mr. Lu, he applied for an academic visit under his own name and came with Dean Li.
While eating, Lu Zhou, Professor Lee, Dean Li, and Mr. Lu talked a lot about lithium batteries.
As they chatted, the topic soon turned to patents.
Mr. Lu: "I heard that Professor Lu licensed the negative electrode material to Umicore?"
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, is there a problem?"
"No problem, I just have a small suggestion. Professor Lu, please don't misunderstand." Mr. Lu smiled and cleared his throat. He said in a serious tone, "Here's the thing, regarding the patent authorization of the modified PDMS film material in China, we absolutely support all of your legal rights and interests. I just hope that when you choose a partner, no matter which company you choose and which cooperation method you choose, please don't sell the exclusive rights to a foreign company. "
Actually, he had no choice but to make such an abrupt request.
China was the world's largest consumer market for electric vehicles. With the breakthrough of lithium battery technology, it was foreseeable that the domestic lithium battery industry would usher in a period of rapid development.
The positive electrode was not a problem as the patent for LiMo2 had expired a long time ago. It was not a problem to use any of the positive electrode materials.
However, the key to lithium battery technology was the lithium anode material, not the positive electrode material. If the patent of the lithium anode material was in the hands of a foreign company, it would undoubtedly be equivalent to the upstream water source being blocked for domestic battery companies.
The reason why Mr. Lu singled out foreign companies was not because of trade discrimination, but because the case of compound artemether was still vivid. It was even used as a classic case of intellectual property rights, and it was posted on the official website of the National Knowledge Bureau.
It was clearly a technology that was developed by oneself, but it was controlled by someone else. This kind of pain was more unacceptable than being inferior.
The relevant departments obviously did not want Lu Zhou to license the technology at a low price or Fan Cui to waive the patent fees for domestic companies. After all, the original purpose of the patent law was to protect innovation, allow social resources to flow into the research and development field, and encourage society to create wealth through intellectual property rights.
However, on this basis, the state hoped that he would be aware of the "irreplaceability" of his own technology and avoid giving international capital a tool to monopolize the domestic market.
After all, the existence of the WTO and the shortcomings of the relevant domestic laws made it difficult for domestic anti-monopoly investigations of international capital. Direct administrative intervention could also be met with resistance from other levels.
Compared to the relevant departments, this kind of private conversation was undoubtedly more tactful.
Of course, Lu Zhou knew what Mr. Lu was trying to say. He even vaguely guessed what Mr. Lu was trying to say in the hotel lobby.
"Don't worry about this, the cooperation between me and Umicore does not involve the domestic market. As for the domestic patent authorization, I will authorize all companies that intend to enter the production of anode materials at a fair and reasonable price. This will ensure that domestic battery manufacturers can obtain the raw materials at a reasonable price. "
"With Professor Lu's words, I can rest assured." Lu Kaimin had a reassuring smile on his face as he immediately said, "Please rest assured, Professor Lu, for a talent like you, the state will not let you suffer any losses!"
"You're exaggerating, how can this be considered a loss?" Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Mr. Lu, you didn't come to Boston just for this, right? Just a phone call is enough. "
Lu Kaimin shook his head and said, "It's not exactly for this, it's a sudden situation. Actually, the original purpose of my trip was to pay you a visit and ask you about something. "
Lu Zhou: "What?"
Lu Kaimin said in a serious manner, "In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the higher-ups gave instructions for the development of the alternative energy industry. They want to increase the battery capacity by 2020. So far, with the breakthrough in lithium battery technology, there is no difficulty in achieving this target. But the world is also improving, we can't just be satisfied with this. As for the next development strategy, I want to ask you for advice. "
Lu Zhou said, "I'm a mathematician, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for me to give advice on this kind of thing. You should ask an engineer in the battery field for the future development strategy of the country. "
Lu Kaimin insisted, "I don't agree with this. Who said that the opinions of a mathematics professor have no value? Just like our collider, the country values Mr. Yang's opinion, and the country also values Mr. Qiu's opinion. We need to integrate everyone's opinions and gather everyone's wisdom to find a suitable path. As for the future of lithium batteries, I hope Professor Lu will not be stingy with your advice. "
That's right, but this is completely different …
Lu Zhou was a little helpless.
How was he going to explain to Mr. Lu? Although Qiu Chengtong was a mathematician and studied differential geometry, he was also studying mathematical physics. He was half a physicist, and he would not be surprised if Qiu Chengtong won a physics prize. After all, the old man's Karabi-Qiu manifold was one of the basic concepts of modern string theory.
Although Lu Zhou was praised by the "old liars" at the MRS Conference as the "industry benchmark" of computational materials science and "one of the fathers of lithium batteries", in fact, his research did not involve lithium batteries itself. Most of the data he calculated were theoretical values.
Instead of asking for his opinion, it was better to ask the battery manufacturers.
However, looking at Professor Lu's attitude, Lu Zhou knew that if he did not say anything, he would offend him.
"… Then I'll just say a few words, don't take it seriously." Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "In my personal opinion, among the many directions of lithium batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries are a very promising direction. The theoretical specific energy of the Li-S system is. Of course, there are still many problems that need to be solved. For example, the most troublesome shuttle effect and the poor electronic conductivity of elemental sulfur, etc. "
Lu Kaimin quickly asked, "What about lithium-air batteries? Are they reliable? "
When Lu Zhou heard this, he immediately knew what Lu Zhou was thinking.
Everyone had the same starting point in the cutting-edge areas. Therefore, they were the most likely to catch up to the US and the UK.
After all, whether it was lithium, sodium, magnesium, or the legendary silicon batteries, giants like Sony and Samsung had already laid out their patents in advance.
In this environment, even if you developed it, you might not be able to get rid of the patent barriers. Choosing a key research direction was naturally more suitable for a direction with broad prospects.
However, even then, leapfrogging research was absolutely not advisable.
Especially lithium-air batteries …
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's very difficult, very difficult … To put it bluntly, that thing is clearly a scam at this stage."
He had to admit that the energy density of lithium-air batteries was indeed very attractive. Compared to lithium-sulfur batteries, which had been researched for many years, it was easier to establish their own core technology.
Forget about a business giant like IBM, even the former Minister of Energy appointed by Barack Obama, Zhu Diwen, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics, was almost fooled when he was formulating an energy development strategy.
In the face of such attractive prospects, lithium-air batteries faced even more serious problems.
This was not just a problem with lithium dendrites. From the separation of pure oxygen to a series of complex side reactions, any one of these technologies would change more than just the battery industry.
With modern technology, it was not that they were not prepared to answer this question, it was just that they did not know where to start.
Lu Zhou actually knew that someone would put his name in a PowerPoint presentation and use the concept of lithium-air batteries to scam research funding.
Even though scientists could not be scammed, he still hoped that China's technology tree would not take detours and spend money on real projects.
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