Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, materials science laboratory.
Lu Zhou stood next to an optical microscope and gently rotated the fine focal screw. He observed the carbon nanotube fibers on the glass slide.
After a few minutes, Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu, who was standing next to him.
"Is there no way to make it longer?"
Yang Xu shook his head.
"This is the most I can do."
According to the data observed under the microscope, the shortest sample was only 5-10μm long, and the longer ones could reach 2mm. However, there were only a handful of them.
What was even more despairing was that the carbon nanotube samples that were grown to 2mm. Compared to the smooth and clean carbon nanotube threads on the fabric, the sample lying on the slide was like a pile of beard stubble, the kind that was shaved unevenly …
Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and contemplated for a bit.
He then asked, "What about the directional growth technology used in the SG-1 superconducting material? Have you tried it yet? "
"I've tried everything you can think of." Yang Xu shook his head and said, "The pore size of this high-tensile carbon nanotube is much smaller than the pore size of the SG-1 material, so it's difficult to synthesize through directional growth … Even if it could be done this way, it would be very costly, right?"
It would be fine if it were a superconducting material. It was used in cutting-edge fields, so the cost was acceptable. However, if it was just a tensile material, then it was a bit unnecessary.
Lu Zhou stared at the microscope with a complicated look and asked, "You don't have any ideas at all?"
"Not really, I do have some ideas." Yang Xu pulled out a report from the side of the experiment table and handed it to Lu Zhou. He said, "According to the feedback from several sets of experimental data, we can effectively improve the ratio of long carbon nanotube molecules in the product by improving the type of catalyst. Based on this property, this kind of carbon nanotube molecules with nitrogen groups on the surface is very similar to some of the samples I've done before.
"Therefore, we only need to continuously improve the catalyst so that the catalyst remains active during the high-temperature growth process of the carbon nanotubes. In theory, we can increase its length."
For the growth of carbon nanotubes, the deactivation of the catalyst during the high-temperature growth process was an irreversible rule. It was also one of the main reasons that limited the length of carbon nanotubes.
Therefore, by improving the catalyst and prolonging its deactivation time, it was indeed a technically feasible and cost-controllable research idea.
After listening to Yang Xu's words, Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Then do it according to your plan. If you don't have enough money, just tell me."
"Don't worry about that, I won't hesitate to help you if I really need funds." Yang Xu smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I have to ask you something. Now that the laboratory preparation problem has been solved … Do I need to register a patent?"
Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, "Register a carbon nanotube sample first, we'll wait for the catalyst."
Yang Xu: "What about the thesis?"
Lu Zhou: "After the patent is registered, we can consider sorting out the contents other than the preparation process and submitting it to the first zone."
Keeping the synthesis process a secret and simply submitting the nitrogen-containing sample as an interesting carbon nanotube would work in the materials science community.
If he could attract more research institutes to participate, it would also be beneficial for him.
This wasn't just true in the materials science community, this was true in all fields of academia. The more popular a problem was, the more interested research institutes were, and the faster results could be produced.
If a research institute were to work behind closed doors and didn't communicate with other scholars or research teams, they might not be able to see results even after a decade.
"Then we'll do as you say." Yang Xu nodded and said, "Oh yeah, what should we name it?"
Yang Xu didn't think too much about it and asked the question subconsciously.
However, as soon as he said this, he regretted it.
However, since he had already asked the question, it was too late to regret it now.
Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and thought for a while.
He then said, "Let's call it N-1."
There was nothing special about the naming principle. It was purely because the nitrogen-containing modification group on the surface of the carbon nanotube was too unique compared to other carbon nanotube materials. Therefore, the letter N was used to name this material series.
As for N-1, it was obviously because it was number 1. If they developed a new similar material in the future, they could just follow the rule of number 1234.
Although he also considered using names such as "super tensile resistant carbon nanotubes" or "carbon nanotubes that are 100 times more tensile than steel" to describe the material's performance, he dismissed the idea because it would take too much space to write them down.
Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with his naming ability. He looked at Yang Xu. He wanted to ask for his opinion, but after seeing that Yang Xu didn't respond, he hesitated.
"… What?"
"Nothing …" Yang Xu smiled awkwardly and said, "I just think it's your style."
Lu Zhou: "…?"
What do you mean?
Are you looking down on my naming sense?
Suddenly, a phone call came in to Lu Zhou's phone.
Lu Zhou took out his phone and saw that it was Director Li. He said hello to Yang Xu, then picked up the call and walked into the corridor outside the laboratory.
"Hello?"
"It's me."
Hearing Director Li's tone, Lu Zhou didn't bother with small talk and went straight to the point.
"What happened?"
Sure enough, Director Li's next sentence confirmed his bad premonition.
"… There is a problem at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. The core module's heat dissipation system is not strong enough." Director Li paused for two or three seconds and said in a heavy tone, "The launch plan may have to be postponed."
For spacecraft, heat dissipation was a very serious problem, and it was also a problem that was difficult to detect during the design stage. Even though current technology could simulate the total heat production and heat dissipation, this kind of simulation could still deviate from the actual situation due to various reasons.
For example, the GOES-17 satellite in the United States had a design flaw in its cooling system, which made it vulnerable to solar radiation and overheating. This made it unable to effectively capture infrared cloud images in time. It was like a blind satellite at night, and hundreds of millions of US dollars of investment went down the drain.
In a sense, being able to detect the problem on the ground was quite lucky. After all, once the spacecraft was in the sky, it was almost impossible to repair it.
When Lu Zhou heard that there was a heat dissipation problem, he immediately asked, "Can't it be solved by installing a heat dissipation plate?"
Director Li said, "… The problem is not with the heat dissipation plate. Apparently, the problem is with the loop heat pipe."
When Lu Zhou heard that the problem was with the loop heat pipe, his heart suddenly sank. He immediately realized that the problem was not simple.
"… You mean, the entire loop heat pipe has to be redesigned?"
The voice from the other end of the phone was a little bitter.
"I'm afraid so."
Lu Zhou: "…"
Jesus …
Redesign the loop heat pipe!
This is the same as dismantling the entire core module and sending it back to the furnace.
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