With a defeated expression, Grynberg sighed and said helplessly.
"I admire your dedication and confidence in science. If you are successful, I hope you can consider us. "
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'll see. If I'm satisfied with the modified PDMS material, I don't mind continuing to work with you on new projects."
A smile finally appeared on Grynberg's face.
"Then I wish you success … Oh yeah, I want to ask, do you think the hollow carbon sphere is the key to solving the shuttle effect? Please don't misunderstand, I'm not asking about your research, it's just … "
"I did say something similar at the lithium-sulfur battery conference, but I hope you guys don't over-interpret it," Lu Zhou said with a headache, "I'm just optimistic, I didn't say it would work."
Lu Zhou had lost count of the number of people asking him this question.
Lu Zhou would definitely be responsible for every word he said. However, seeing so many people show interest in the hollow carbon sphere because of what he said, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
What if I get slapped in the face?
Wouldn't I lose my dignity?
He now understood why the old Scottish professor named Peter Bruce was so stubborn about lithium-air even after being slapped in the face countless times.
It wasn't just a matter of funding.
He had acted tough before, so he had to continue acting tough even with tears in his eyes.
Looks like I have to work harder …
Grynberg smiled and said, "I was just asking, don't take it to heart."
However, looking at his expression, it didn't seem like he was just asking casually …
Grynberg didn't stay at Jin Ling University for too long. He waited until the equipment was delivered to the laboratory building before he left.
Even though it was a pity that he couldn't reach a research and development agreement with Lu Zhou, it was just a pity for him. Scientific research was like gambling. Even top scholars couldn't guarantee that they would produce results.
At most, he would wait for the results to come out before cooperating with Lu Zhou on patent issues.
…
After the first batch of experimental equipment arrived, Lu Zhou's research institute in Jinling was no longer just an empty laboratory building.
According to Qian Zhongming's call from Belgium, the last batch of equipment had been set off. He and Liu Bo would return to China in two days.
From Qian Zhongming's tone on the phone, she could tell that he couldn't wait any longer.
After all, it was tens of millions of USD worth of equipment. It was impossible for a researcher not to be tempted.
Brother Qian, who was far away in Belgium, was not the only one who coveted this batch of equipment. Less than a day after the equipment was shipped into the laboratory building, Dean Li of the Chemistry Department heard the news and came to find him.
"Good heavens, this thing must be worth tens of millions." Reaching out to stroke the smooth surface of the instrument, the old man liked it very much.
Research in the fields of semiconductors and nanometers was inseparable from high-resolution microscopes. Images collected by ordinary electron microscopes were worlds apart from images collected by scanning electron microscopes.
There were many types of scanning electron microscopes.
The resolution of the mid-to-high-end tungsten filament gun scanning electron microscope was around 3 nm, while the resolution of the field emission gun scanning electron microscope was below 0.8 nm. The price difference between the two was also huge.
Whether it was the imaging lens on the scanning electron microscope, the electron gun, the accelerator, or even the high-pressure generator and low-temperature sample room, Lu Zhou followed the standards of a top laboratory.
Even though it was a bit expensive, you get what you pay for. From a long-term perspective, this investment was definitely worth it.
It wasn't just the researchers who liked the rich; major journals were the same.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that if you used a powerful scanning electron microscope to do an experiment, even if you pulled out a strand of hair and scanned it, it would still be an SCI thesis. If you used a normal electron microscope to do an experiment, no matter how good the data was, it would still be difficult to get published in Nature or Science.
It wasn't that Jin Ling University's chemistry department didn't have scanning electron microscopes, but they didn't have such powerful equipment.
Not to mention, it wasn't just the chemistry department that needed scanning electron microscopes, the life sciences department next door also needed scanning electron microscopes. Every professor had a limited number of scanning electron microscopes. As for the students writing their PhD theses, they had to apply in advance.
Academician Li had always wanted to buy a new scanning electron microscope for the chemistry department, but his application was never approved.
"It's not as crazy as ten million, eight or nine million." Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. He then remembered something and added, "But it's in USD."
Eight or nine million … USD?
That's around forty or fifty million RMB?
Academician Li's eyebrows twitched when he heard Lu Zhou's words.
He said it was a waste, but Lu Zhou was using his own money.
Other than envy, he didn't have any other feelings.
"You sure are willing to spend money … At this rate, I'm afraid the entire experiment will cost hundreds of millions."
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I can save on other things, but I can't save on the equipment. A rigorous mathematical model needs rigorous data support."
Actually, it wasn't as exaggerated as what Academician Li said. The scanning electron microscope took up most of the cost. Other experimental equipment such as the CVD vacuum tube furnace, arc chamber, Fourier infrared spectrometer, etc. Even though they also cost money, they didn't cost much.
Of course, even though it didn't cost much, Lu Zhou didn't want to save on these equipment.
It was fine to let the research dogs suffer in terms of salary, but he couldn't let his own people suffer in terms of equipment.
After all, the data couldn't be measured accurately, the samples couldn't be produced, and the experiments would always fail. Not only would the research dogs go crazy, but the boss himself would also suffer.
Also, the equipment wasn't a one-time use item. After this project, it could be used again for the next project.
According to Lu Zhou's plan, he would invest US $50 million in the first phase. After this project was completed, he would consider investing another US $50 million to equip his research institute with a series of equipment such as an atomic force microscope and a transmission electron microscope. He wanted to build a top materials science laboratory in the country.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that a lot of people would be willing to work for free just because of the equipment in his laboratory.
After all, working with Little Boss, who had no future and no money, even a second SCI first author had to scheme against each other. Working with a big boss like Lu Zhou and publishing two top SCI papers in a top laboratory like this, one's value would be completely different.
For some of the research dogs, as long as they had food and shelter, working for free was worth it.
Even though it was helpless, this was one of the current situations in the academic community.
Dean Li couldn't help but say, "Your computational materials science isn't something that just anyone can learn."
In the past, he used to gather people for meetings to discuss whether or not to open a computational materials science department at Jin Ling University. Now, it seemed like he didn't just lack professors, he lacked money.
"Yeah," said Lu Zhou. He then said, "Actually, I was planning on getting a supercomputer."
A supercomputer was the nuclear weapon of computational materials science, just like the "Anton" of computational chemistry.
A piece of paper and a pen were enough for qualitative calculations. However, if one wanted to do quantitative calculations, or even use experimental data to accurately simulate the polymer spatial model, it had nothing to do with mathematics. No matter how good one was at algebra and geometry, the amount of calculations was not something that the human brain could handle.
However, he just bought US $50 million worth of equipment and his assets had shrunk by a lot. It was impossible to say that he wasn't distressed at all.
In order to avoid a shortage of research funding, he planned on taking it slow before the new project produced results.
Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed that Dean Li, who was standing next to the scanning electron microscope, suddenly stopped talking. He was stunned for a second.
"What?"
Dean Li: "…"
He ignored Lu Zhou.
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