What Lu Zhou didn't expect was that when he came to the hotel lobby, not only Professor Li was here, but also two old men he didn't know.

One of them looked familiar but couldn't name it, and as for the other, he didn't know him at all.

With a hint of doubt, Lu Zhou looked at Professor Li Rongen.

"Who are the two?"

Professor Li was actually quite helpless.

Originally, he planned to inquire about patent licensing in two days with Lu Zhou, but he didn't expect to run into Dean Li from the Chemical Institute next door who also came to attend the MRS meeting, and he was followed by this big guy.

According to Dean Li, he has been calling Lu Zhou's phone since the morning, but he has not been able to reach anyone.

Thinking that Dean Li had helped him a lot, and the big guy next to him was too big, Professor Li had to help with this.

As for the patent matter, it seems that we will have to wait until next time.

"Let me introduce, this is the leader of our energy-related departments, Lu Kaimin ......"

"What's the leader, I'm here as a private person, according to the habit here, just call me Mr. Lu," Holding Lu Zhou's hand enthusiastically, Lu Kaimin didn't put on any shelf, and said with a hearty smile, "I have long admired Professor Lu's name, I have always heard people say that you are young and promising, and when I see you today, you are even younger than the legend." ”

was a little surprised by the enthusiasm of this big guy, but Lu Zhou was not a person who had never seen the world, and shook hands with him politely.

"It's too good, Mr. Lu!"

Professor Li continued: "This is the dean of our Institute of Chemistry, Dean Li Shuwen. ”

"Hello hello ......"

Standing and talking is not rude.

After some pleasantries, everyone found a restaurant near the hotel.

The restaurant isn't high-end, but it's not low, and it serves more local Boston dishes.

On the way, Lu Zhou learned that Dean Li had come here to attend the MRS meeting.

As for Mr. Lu, the number one leader of the relevant department, he applied for an academic visit in the name of a private person and came with Dean Li.

During the meal, Lu Zhou talked a lot about lithium batteries with Professor Li, Dean Li and Mr. Lu.

Chatting and chatting, the topic quickly turned to the issue of patents.

Mr. Lui: "I heard that Professor Lu licensed the anode material to Umicore? ”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, is there any problem?" ”

"There is no problem, just a little suggestion, please Professor Lu don't misunderstand," Mr. Lu smiled, cleared his throat, and said in a serious tone, "Here's the thing, regarding the patent authorization of modified PDMS film materials in China, we absolutely support all your legitimate rights and interests." I just hope that when you choose a partner, no matter which company you choose and in which way of cooperation, please do not sell the exclusive rights to a foreign company. ”

In fact, making such an abrupt request was also a helpless move.

Huaguo is the world's largest consumer market for electric vehicles, and with the breakthrough of lithium battery technology, it is foreseeable that the domestic lithium battery industry will usher in a stage of vigorous development.

It's okay to say that the patent for cathode materials like LiMo2 has long expired, and it's no problem to choose or use it casually.

However, the key to lithium battery technology is the lithium anode material, not the positive electrode. If the patent rights of lithium anode materials are in the hands of foreign companies, for domestic battery companies, it is undoubtedly equivalent to being stuck in the upstream water source.

The reason why Mr. Lu named foreign companies was not trade discrimination, but the example of compound artemether was vivid, and it was even put on the official website of the CNIPA as a warning as a classic case of intellectual property rights.

Obviously, the technology developed by himself has to be controlled by others at his own doorstep, and this kind of labor pain is more unacceptable than inferior technology.

After all, the original purpose of the existence of the patent law is to protect innovation, allow social resources to flow into the field of research and development, and encourage society to create wealth through intellectual property rights.

It's just that, on this basis, the state hopes that he will be conscious of the "irreplaceability" of his own technology and avoid providing international capital with tools to monopolize the domestic market.

After all, the existence of TO, as well as the deficiencies in relevant domestic laws, make domestic anti-monopoly investigations of international capital both evidence collection and judgment have considerable resistance, and direct administrative intervention may be subject to resistance from other levels.

Compared with interviews with relevant departments, this kind of dialogue conducted in a private capacity is undoubtedly more tactful.

Of course, Lu Zhou would not have guessed what Mr. Lu meant, and even in the lobby of the hotel just now, he vaguely guessed a little.

"You can rest assured that the cooperation between me and Umicore does not involve the domestic market. Regarding the patent authorization in China, I will authorize it to all enterprises that intend to enter the production of anode materials at a fair and reasonable price, so as to ensure that domestic battery manufacturers can obtain the raw materials for production at a reasonable price. ”

"With Professor Lu's words, I am relieved," Lu Kaimin said with a reassuring smile on his face, "Please also rest assured Professor Lu, for a talent like you, the country will not let you suffer!" ”

"It's serious, where can you talk about what to lose." Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Mr. Lu didn't come to Boston just for this. A phone call is enough for this kind of thing. ”

Lu Kaimin shook his head: "It's not entirely for this, it's an emergency." Actually, the original purpose of my trip was just to visit you, and by the way, I would like to ask you about something. ”

Lu Zhou: "What's the matter?" ”

"In the white paper on the 13th Five-Year Plan, the high-level instructions for the development of the new energy industry are to increase the battery capacity to 500h/kg by 2020. At present, with the breakthrough of lithium battery technology, there is no difficulty in completing this indicator. But the world is also progressing, and we can't just settle for that. I would like to ask you for the advice of this expert on the next step in the development strategy. ”

Lu Zhouhan said: "I'm a math person, I'm afraid it's not suitable for me to guide the country." When it comes to the country's future development strategy, you should consult an engineer in the field of batteries. ”

Lu Kaimin insisted: "I don't agree with this, academic things can be said freely, who said that the opinions of mathematics professors have no reference value?" Just like our collider, Mr. Yang's opinion is valued by the state, and Mr. Qiu's opinion is also valued by the state. Only by combining everyone's opinions and gathering the wisdom of all people can we find a suitable path. Regarding the future of lithium batteries, I hope that Professor Lu will not be stingy to teach. ”

That being said, but these are two different things......

Lu Zhou felt a little helpless in his heart.

How should he explain to this old Mr. Lu that although Qiu Chengtong is a mathematician and studies differential geometry, in fact, others also study mathematical physics, and he is half a physicist, even if he wins a physics prize one day, he will not feel strange. After all, the old Calaby-Qiu manifold is one of the basic concepts of modern string theory.

Although Lu Zhou himself was blown into the "industry benchmark" of computational materials science and "one of the fathers of lithium batteries" by the "old liars" at the MRS conference, in fact, his research did not involve the lithium battery itself, and most of the calculated data were theoretical values.

It's better to ask his opinion than to ask those who make batteries.

However, looking at Mr. Lu's eager posture, if he doesn't say something, he will offend people.

“…… Then I'll just say a few words, and don't take it seriously. Lu Zhou thought for a while and continued, "In my personal opinion, among the many directions of lithium batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries are a very potential direction, and the theoretical specific energy of the Li-S system is 2600h/kg. Of course, there are still many problems that need to be solved. For example, the most difficult shuttle effect, and the poor electronic conductivity of elemental sulfur, etc. ”

Lu Kaimin hurriedly asked: "What about the lithium-air battery?" Is it reliable? ”

As soon as Lu Zhou heard this, he immediately understood what he was thinking.

In the cutting-edge field layout in advance, everyone's starting point is the same, so it is also the most likely to surpass Britain and catch up with the United States.

After all, in contrast, whether it is lithium battery, sodium battery, magnesium electricity or the legendary silicon battery, giants such as Sony and Samsung have already laid out their patents in advance.

In such an environment, even if you develop it, you may not be able to get rid of other people's patent barriers in the end. Choosing a key R&D direction is naturally more appropriate to choose a promising direction.

However, even so, leapfrogging research is absolutely undesirable.

Especially the lithium air thing......

Lu Zhou shook his head: "It's difficult, it's very difficult...... That thing is to put it bluntly, if it is proposed at this stage, it is clearly used for fraudulent funds. ”

I have to admit that the energy density of lithium air is indeed very attractive, and it is easier to establish its own core technology than lithium-sulfur batteries that others have been studying for many years.

Not to mention a business giant like IBM, even Comrade Steven Chu, the former secretary of energy and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, was almost fooled and lame when formulating the energy development strategy.

In the face of the attractive prospects, the problem of lithium-air batteries is even more acute.

It's not just a matter of lithium dendrites, from pure oxygen separation to a complex set of side reactions, and any one of these technologies can be solved, and it's not just the battery industry that will change.

With modern technology, it's not that you're not ready to answer this question, it's that you simply don't know where to start.

Lu Zhou actually knew in his heart that someone would put his paper and name into the PPT and use the concept of lithium-air battery to cheat scientific research funds.

Although the scientist's affairs cannot be called a lie, he still hopes that Huaguo's science and technology tree can take a little less detours and spend the money on projects that really need money.

Even these projects may lack a little imagination.