In June, a big event happened in the world of chemistry.

Or two pieces.

In the latest issue of JACS, two heavyweight papers were published.

In particular, the "A Caged Carbon Molecule and Sulfur Elemental Composite Cathode Material" written by Professor Stanley's research group has set off an earthquake not only in the field of materials science, but also in the entire field of new energy.

As early as a month ago, after the patent number was issued, the materials science laboratory at Binghamton University released relevant news, and now the materials science and industry have finally seen the true face of this paper.

While there are doubts about whether Professor Stanley has actually solved the lithium-sulfur battery technology, there is a general optimism in the academic community.

After all, Professor Stanley himself is a big bull in the field of lithium batteries, and with the support of ExxonMobil, the credibility of the paper is still quite high.

Many research institutions have begun to repeat the experimental results.

It may not be long before lithium-sulfur batteries will come out of the laboratory and completely change people's lives......

As for the other important paper, it is the controversial "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure".

Prior to this, there was no well-established theoretical model in the theoretical chemistry community that could thoroughly elucidate the microscopic essence of the various electrochemical processes that occur at the "interface".

If this theoretical model proves to be effective, it will help to advance the study of electrochemical interface structures throughout the theoretical chemistry community.

However, this theory is too new, and it can even be said to be quite advanced.

It is precisely for this reason that the publication of this paper has caused widespread controversy in the theoretical chemistry community.

It is no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for the weight of the Cafford Prize in Mathematics and the Adams Prize in Chemistry, JACS would never have been approved so easily, and the reviewers and academic editors would not have been able to make up their minds for a while.

Although mathematical propositions can be judged to be true or false through logical self-consistency, research outside the field of mathematics, especially when it comes to application, cannot simply take "whether the logic is self-consistent" as the main reason for judging the truth or falsity of propositions.

And the most difficult thing is that few people can analyze whether Lu Zhou's mathematical model is logically self-consistent from a mathematical point of view.

It may not be difficult to find a scholar who is proficient in mathematics in theoretical chemistry, but it is quite difficult to find a Crafford Prize-level mathematician in chemistry.

As for testing with factual arguments, it sounds like a good idea, but it's still not easy.

After all, supercomputing is not something that any laboratory can afford. In particular, supercomputing, which specializes in molecular dynamics simulation, is not cheap even if it is rented.

The reason why "Anton" has been able to dominate the computational chemistry world for so many years is not because there is no opponent who can fight.

However, considering Lu Zhou's influence in the field of mathematics and materials science, many people have begun to test the reliability of this theory.

Among them, there are scholars in theoretical chemistry and applied mathematics.

According to rumors, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG) in Germany has set up an interdisciplinary research group, gathering several scholars in mathematics, chemistry, and condensed matter physics to test the theoretical model proposed by Lu Zhou.

Maybe it won't be long before everything falls into place.

But now it looks like the controversy is going to have to go on for a while.

However, compared to the discussion from the outside world, Lu Zhou himself, who was at the center of the whirlpool, was much calmer, and was even doing the next experiment in a hurry.

On the third day of the new issue of JACS, . The second project of the Sha Institute's collaborative research is coming to an end, and the molecular dynamics simulation of the interface between carbon-sulfur materials and organic matter electrolytic solutions has finally come to an end.

After packing these multimillion-dollar experimental data and sending it to Yang Xu at the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, Lu Zhou was about to close his notebook when he coincidentally received a video call request from Sarot.

Probably guessed what the professor was looking for him, Lu Zhou casually clicked on it.

Sure enough, Sarot, who appeared on the other end of the video, had an embarrassed expression.

There was silence for a long time before he said in a ashamed tone.

"Sorry...... I failed to live up to your expectations. ”

After hearing this, Lu Zhou didn't blame him too much.

"It's okay, you don't have to feel guilty, you have done what I told you to do."

Scientific research is not farming, and the seeds sown will definitely bear fruit, so there is no need to be too harsh on researchers.

Just like the nuclear weapon "Anton" in the computational chemistry community, which crushed research in the same field, Professor Stanley, as the director of the Institute of Materials Research at Binghamton University, has academic resources at his disposal that Sarot could not imagine.

Coupled with the support of capital forces, if Sarot really wins the lottery, it is called winning the lottery.

However, as Lu Zhou guessed at the beginning, whoever developed this technology had no effect on him.

Sarot looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief, and finally couldn't help but ask the confusion in his heart.

"I don't understand why you look ...... It's like not caring about it. This is a lithium-sulfur battery project, and you have invested a lot of money in this project, right? ”

Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxed tone: "Of course, I have invested a lot of money in your laboratory, and your experiments are also enlightening for the study of HCS-1 materials, but when did I say that that cage-like carbon molecule is the key to solving the problem of lithium-sulfur batteries?" ”

The moment he heard this, Sarot was stunned.

Although Lu Zhou had always instructed him to do everything possible to solve the laboratory synthesis method of the cage-shaped carbon molecule, the HCS-1 material was indeed a by-product of the study of which cage-shaped carbon molecule.

But when did Lu Zhou say that the cage-like carbon molecule is the key to solving the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries......

He suddenly realized that Lu Zhou really didn't seem to say that.

His eyes widened, and even if he was sluggish, Sarot reacted.

"Wait, you mean ......"

"That cage-like carbon molecule is a very interesting material, both in terms of its geometry and its physicochemical properties. However, no matter what level of fun it is, it has nothing to do with lithium-sulfur batteries," throwing a sugar cube into his coffee cup, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "As for what it is for, I will tell you later." ”

Sarot swallowed and foamed: "That is, the paper published by Professor Stanley in JACS ......"

"They're probably as anxious as ants on a hot pot now," Lu Zhou smiled, his tone couldn't help but bring a little sympathy, "But it will become like this, and they will also be difficult to ride a tiger." ”

It's not like nothing like this hasn't happened before.

Moreover, even if Professor Stanley's paper proves to be flawed, it can be interpreted as an honest error, and the circumstances are not so serious, compared to active academic fraud.

Lu Zhou guessed that in order to get ahead of himself, Professor Stanley probably "embellished" some data so that the paper could be published as soon as possible. However, these data are not completely fabricated, and can only be said to be "not so reliable".

For example, according to his mathematical model of the effect of pore size and specific surface area of hollow carbon spheres on the diffusion of polysulfide compounds, this cage carbon molecule may have a slight inhibitory effect on the "shuttle effect", which was also confirmed by Professor Stanley's experiments.

However, this so-called point is only a point.

In terms of practical application value, its value may not even be as good as HCS-1, which was published by Lu Zhou as a phased achievement......

After learning the truth of the matter, Sarot didn't want to say anything other than a word of "".

What is Cattle Man?

What the hell is this......

When you think you've dug into a corner, you actually just take the pit back and excitedly hold it in your arms and lick it.

From Sarot's point of view, all of this was obviously arranged by Lu Zhou in advance.

Including Ricardo, who stole the data, everyone unconsciously participated in the performance of this big drama under the calculation of the boss.

If it hadn't been for Lu Zhou himself, he would have been kept in the dark even now.

However, what Sarot didn't know was that what was going on was not as complicated as he imagined.

However, I'm afraid that even if Lu Zhou explained to him seriously, he probably wouldn't believe it......

"By the way, about that Ricardo's lawsuit, let's drop it." Smiling, Lu Zhou continued, "Doing us such a big favor, it's a bit too much to hold on to his pigtails again." ”

It may be an exaggeration to say that it is a big favor, but now that the most competitive opponent has been killed, the pressure on the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials is naturally less.

In addition, looking at the credit for his indirect help to promote himself to the next level, Lu Zhou really didn't bother to pursue it any further, so he simply withdrew the lawsuit.

After saying this, Lu Zhou originally thought that Sarot would be a little reluctant to make his decision. What he didn't expect was that instead of showing any reluctance, he looked at himself with admiration.

"Okay, boss!"

He couldn't help it, and he answered it again.

"Wonderful, this plan is really wonderful......

Lu Zhou: ......?

What strategy?

What's the hell?

I don't know if it's my own delusion.

Lu Zhou always felt that he seemed to have misunderstood something.