The deposit for the purchase of the instrument was directly transferred from Star Sky Technology's overseas account to the European instrument manufacturer's account. After Qian Zhongming signed, the rest of the payment would be transferred to the European instrument manufacturer's account.
At the same time, the purchased equipment would be sent to Jinling through a specialized transportation company.
The total value of the equipment on this purchase list was more than US $50 million, which was equivalent to more than 300 million yuan.
Considering the importance of this batch of equipment, Qian Zhongming didn't procrastinate. He booked a plane ticket for the next day and flew to Europe with Liu Bo.
Lu Zhou wasn't idle either. On the third day of Qian Zhongming's trip to Europe, Jin Ling University held a conference.
This conference wasn't small. Not only were there professors from Jin Ling University, but Yan University, Shuimu University, Zhi University, Aurora University, and other C9 Alliance universities, as well as Jin Ling University of Technology and other universities in the field of materials science and organic synthesis, as well as engineers from battery companies such as BYD, all participated in the conference.
Unlike academic conferences like the MRS Conference, this conference was semi-academic in nature. It didn't exchange research results, but it discussed research and development directions.
In addition to scholars and professors who researched lithium materials, there were also representatives from the National Research Fund, as well as representatives from alternative energy companies such as BYD and Shanke.
As for the topic of discussion, it could be seen from the lineup of participants that it was obviously lithium-sulfur batteries.
As an internationally renowned scholar who solved the lithium dendrite problem, Lu Zhou naturally participated in the conference.
The conference started at 10 am, but it was only nine o 'clock, and the conference room was already packed with people.
Everyone knew that this project was difficult, so they all had a serious expression on their faces. The atmosphere in the conference room was also very depressing. Even though the conference room was full of people, there wasn't much noise.
Lu Zhou sat in his seat and took a sip from his water bottle. Before the conference began, he observed the expressions on the faces of his peers.
Overall, the situation didn't seem particularly optimistic.
At around 9: 30 am, Old Lu and the academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences whispered to each other.
Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, he straightened the microphone, cleared his throat, and spoke.
"Since everyone is already here, let's not waste any more precious time."
The whispers stopped, and the conference room quieted down, waiting for Old Lui to continue.
"… Energy is the lifeblood of the industry. Whoever controls new energy will control the future. This mission is very difficult, and it concerns the strategic layout of our country in the field of new energy. "
"In the last meeting, the higher-ups in Beijing decided to focus on lithium-sulfur batteries. However, we still need everyone's wisdom to solve specific technical problems."
"This seminar will mainly discuss how to solve the problem."
"If you have any good suggestions, I hope that everyone can brainstorm and actively voice out your opinions."
At the meeting, Old Lui, as the host of the meeting, made a brief opening speech.
On the surface, this meeting seemed to be useless. Everyone was not discussing the current results, but the ideas to solve the problem. However, the truth was that it was not as simple as the layman thought.
The research funds of the country and enterprises were limited. Not all projects could apply for sufficient research funds.
Generally speaking, if the country decided on the general direction of lithium-sulfur batteries, then the lithium-sulfur battery research topic would be relaxed, and other research topics such as lithium-air batteries would be tightened.
It was the same for research.
The solution to the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries could be started with the cathode material or the electrolyte. There were thousands of ways to solve the problem.
However, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance didn't understand academia.
It didn't matter if they didn't understand, they didn't need to. When making a decision, they would often refer to the opinions of some big names in the industry. They would set a macro direction and prioritize research projects in this direction to ensure that they could receive sufficient research funds.
Under this macro control, there would always be some research projects with potential that could incubate high-quality results.
Because of this, the importance of this kind of seminar was highlighted.
From an individual point of view, everyone naturally hoped that their research direction could receive more policy and funding support.
Because of this, even though the atmosphere before the meeting was very depressing, the discussion was quite lively after the meeting began.
The first person to speak was Professor Wang Haifeng from the University of Zhi.
After standing up, Professor Wang smiled warmly and spoke.
"Since Director Lu said so, everyone should brainstorm and speak freely. In that case, I'll throw out a brick to attract jade, and say some of my humble opinions. "
"Our research team discovered a highly ordered nanostructured carbon-sulfur cathode structure in the experiment. It can use the carbon material structure to limit the dissolution of sulfur during the charging and discharging process, thus effectively curbing the shuttle effect."
Professor Wang didn't make empty promises. He immediately took out the existing research results and increased his persuasiveness.
Old Lu immediately expressed his importance to Professor Wang's opinion. He asked with a serious expression, "What about the cost? And the energy density? Is this technology reliable? "
"The cost is not expensive, and the energy density is quite impressive. The theoretical energy density I measured in the laboratory is close to and far exceeds the lithium-ion batteries that are widely used in the industry. I published a related thesis in the top materials science journal, 'Advanced-Materials'. However, this technology is not perfect, and it still needs to be improved. "
Professor Wang paused for a second before he continued.
"In fact, 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 idea and focus our research and development on sulfur-carbon composites. "
Old Lu nodded in a serious manner.
The assistant sitting next to him was quickly taking notes on her notebook.
After Professor Wang finished speaking, he smiled at his peers and sat down.
However, before he could even sit down, a calm and steady voice came from the Yan University professor's seat.
"I also have something to say."
The speaker was Academician Wu Shigang from Aurora University. Just like Professor Wang, he was also a big name in the materials science field.
Old Lu looked at the old man and spoke respectfully.
"Academician Wu, please go ahead."
Academician Wu adjusted the microphone and thought for a second before he spoke.
"When I participated in the 863 project, I actually considered carbon-sulfur composites when I researched lithium-sulfur batteries. This strategy seems to be very effective academically, but its practical use is very limited.
"The research work in the laboratory is based on very small button batteries. The electrodes are very thin, and the sulfur load is not high. The total sulfur load is about a few milligrams. The actual battery has a large sulfur content, which is usually in the gram level. The electrodes are very thick, and the unit sulfur load is very high.
"The sulfur/carbon composite materials that can be cycled 1000 times in the laboratory can only be cycled a few times in the actual battery. Sometimes, the battery can't even release a single charge.
"Also, the most fatal problem with carbon-sulfur composites is that the energy density is not high. If it's a 3C product such as a computer or a mobile phone, using carbon-sulfur composites as the cathode is fine. If it's a car or something larger, it's hard to say. "
The old man had been doing research in this area since ten years ago, and because he was a scholar with an engineer background, he paid more attention to the practical value of a technology than scholars who were good at theory.
Also, he was in the field of solid electrolytes.
However, Professor Wang was not happy.
However, it wasn't him who refuted. It was another professor in the field of carbon-sulfur composites.
"You're right, sulfur-carbon composites do have defects in this area, but in my opinion, these defects can be solved through repeated experiments. A year ago, we all thought that lithium batteries were unstable, but what about now? Who can doubt the broad prospects of lithium batteries? "
Lu Zhou: "…?"
Lu Zhou did not want to get involved in the argument between the big names. He just sat there and did not say a word. However, he still got shot in the end.
The conference was very lively.
Although it was not as direct and tragic as the MRS Conference, if one paid more attention, one would be able to hear the hidden meaning behind the words.
Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the front row, sighed in his heart.
Fortunately, the scanner gun saved him a large amount of research and development costs, and the lithium dendrite technology was also sold for a good price. Otherwise, at this moment, he would have to brace himself and join in the battle.
At this moment, another professor spoke.
"Let me say a few words."
This time, it was Professor Sun Hongbiao from Shuimu University.
In the field of lithium materials, Shuimu University was slightly inferior to Aurora University and Yan University, but it was still quite influential.
However, his speech was a little different from the big shots who had spoken before him.
The old professor coughed lightly and spoke unhurriedly.
"I noticed that Professor Lu hasn't spoken, but looking at his expression, he seems to have a card up his sleeve. I don't have anything to say, I just want to hear his opinion. "
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