The deposit for the purchase of the instrument is directly transferred from the overseas account of Star Technology to the account of the European instrument manufacturer, and after Qian Zhongming goes there to sign, the remaining balance will be paid to the other party's account.

At the same time, the purchased equipment will also be sent to Jinling through a special transportation company.

The total value of the instruments on this purchase list is more than 50 million US dollars, which is converted into more than 300 million RMB.

Considering the importance of this batch of instruments, Qian Zhongming did not delay, and on the day he took up his post, he booked a ticket for the next day and flew to Europe with Liu Bo.

And Lu Zhou was not idle, on the third day of Senior Brother Qian's trip to Europe, Jinling University held a seminar.

The specifications of this seminar are not small, not only professors of Jinda, but also universities of the C9 alliance such as Yan University, Mizuki, Zheda, Aurora, etc., as well as a group of professors in the field of materials science and organic synthesis from 211 science and technology universities such as Jinling University of Science and Technology, as well as engineers from battery companies such as BYD, also participated in the meeting.

Unlike the MRS conference, which is a semi-academic one, the symposium does not exchange research results, but discusses research directions.

In addition to scholars and professors who study lithium battery materials, the participants also include representatives of the National Scientific Research Fund, as well as representatives of new energy companies such as BYD and Shanke and project R&D engineers.

As for the topic of discussion, it can be seen from the lineup of the participating parties, which is naturally lithium-sulfur batteries.

As an internationally renowned scholar who has solved the lithium dendrite problem, Lu Zhou naturally participated in the conference.

The meeting started at 10 a.m., but it was only 9 o'clock, and the room was already packed.

It seems that because they know that this topic is very difficult and the task is arduous, everyone's expressions are serious, and the atmosphere in the conference room is also very depressing. Even though it was full, I couldn't hear much.

Sitting on the seat with his name brand, Lu Zhou took a sip of the mineral water bottle he had developed, and took advantage of the time before the meeting to observe the expressions on the faces of his peers.

Overall, the situation does not seem particularly rosy.

At about half past nine, Lu Lao and the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences next to him whispered a few words.

Seeing that almost everyone had already arrived, he straightened the microphone, cleared his throat and spoke.

"Now that everyone is there, we don't want to waste precious time waiting."

Stopping the whispering, the conference room fell silent, waiting for Lu Lao to continue.

“…… Energy is the lifeblood of industry, and whoever masters new energy will master the future. This task is very arduous, and it is related to the strategic layout of our country in the field of new energy. ”

"In the last meeting, the senior management in Beijing has decided to take lithium-sulfur batteries as the key development direction, but for how to solve more specific technical problems, we still need everyone's wisdom."

"In this seminar, the main discussion is about problem-solving ideas."

"If you have any good opinions, I hope you can brainstorm, speak enthusiastically, and put forward your own opinions."

At the meeting, Mr. Lu, as the host of the meeting, made a brief opening remarks.

On the surface, the meeting seemed to be of little use, and the discussion was not about what was going on, but about how to solve it. But in fact, the doorway is far from being as simple as the layman thinks.

National and corporate research funding is limited, and not all projects can apply for sufficient research funding.

Generally speaking, if the country decides the general direction of lithium-sulfur batteries, then in the application for longitudinal projects, the topics of lithium-sulfur batteries will be relaxed, and other research topics such as lithium-air batteries will be tightened.

The same is true when it comes to research.

To solve the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries, you can start with the cathode material, or you can start with the electrolyte, and then subdivide it downward, and thousands of methods can be separated.

However, the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance are not academic.

But it's okay if they don't understand, they don't need to understand. When making decisions, they often refer to the opinions of some industry leaders, formulate a macro direction in decision-making, and give priority to ensuring that the topics in this direction can get sufficient research funds.

Under such macro-control, there are always some potential research projects that can incubate high-quality results.

It is for this reason that the importance of such seminars is highlighted.

From a personal point of view, everyone naturally hopes that their research direction can get more policy and financial support.

It is precisely for this reason that although the atmosphere before the start of the meeting was very depressing, after the meeting began, the discussion was quite enthusiastic.

The first to speak was Professor Wang Haifeng from Zheda University.

After getting up, Professor Wang smiled warmly and spoke.

"Since Director Lu said it, everyone brainstormed and spoke freely. Then I'll just throw bricks and tell me some of my humble opinions. ”

"Our research team has discovered a highly ordered nanostructured carbon-sulfur cathode structure in the experiment, which can use the structural framework of carbon materials to limit the dissolution of sulfur during charging and discharging, thereby effectively curbing the shuttle effect."

There was no empty talk, and Professor Wang came up with the existing research results to enhance his persuasiveness.

Regarding Professor Wang's opinion, Lu Lao immediately expressed his attention, and asked with a serious expression: "What about the cost?" And energy density? Is this technology reliable? ”

"The cost is not expensive, but the energy density is considerable, and the theoretical energy density I measured in the laboratory is close to 2000h/kg, which is far more than the lithium-ion batteries that are commonly used in the industry today. I published a related paper in the top journal of materials science, "Advanced-Materials", but this technology is not perfect and needs to be improved. ”

After a pause, Professor Wang continued.

"In fact, the key to solving the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries, the current mainstream practice in academia, is to use porous carbon materials to block polysulfide ions and reduce the dissolution and loss of sulfur. My suggestion is that we could take a similar approach and focus our R&D on sulfur-carbon composites. ”

Lu Lao nodded seriously.

The secretary sitting next to him was quickly taking minutes of the meeting in his notebook.

After Professor Wang finished speaking, he smiled and nodded to his peers and sat down.

However, before his stool was hot, a calm and steady voice came from the seat of Professor Yan University.

"I have something to say, too."

The speaker was Academician Wu Shigang from Aurora, who, like Professor Wang, is also a big bull in the field of materials science.

Seeing this old man, Elder Lu also said respectfully.

"Academician Wu, please speak."

Straightening the microphone, Academician Wu pondered for a moment and spoke.

"When I was involved in the 863 project to study the problems related to lithium-sulfur batteries, I actually considered carbon-sulfur composites. This strategy seems to be effective academically, but it is very limited in practice. ”

"The research work in the laboratory is based on very small button batteries, with very thin electrodes and low sulfur loads, and the total sulfur content is about a few milligrams. The sulfur content of the actual battery is large, generally gram-level, and the electrode is very thick and the unit sulfur load is very high. ”

"The sulfur/carbon composites that can be cycled 1,000 times in the laboratory can only be cycled a few times in an actual battery, and sometimes they can't even be discharged once."

"Moreover, the most lethal common problem of carbon-sulfur composites is that the volume energy density is not high. If it is a battery of 3C products such as computers and mobile phones, it is easy to say that carbon and sulfur composite materials are used as the positive electrode, but if it is a car or something larger, it is difficult to say. ”

Mr. Lao has been doing research in this area since 10 years ago, and because he is an engineer-born scholar, he pays more attention to the practical value of a technology than a scholar who is good at theory.

Moreover, he is doing solid electrolyte direction.

However, Professor Wang was suddenly not happy.

However, it was not him who refuted it, but another professor who was engaged in the direction of carbon and sulfur composite materials, and he said it reasonably.

"You're right, sulfur-carbon composites do have flaws in this regard, but in my opinion, these flaws can be solved through repeated experiments. A year ago we all thought lithium batteries were unstable, but now? Who can doubt the great promise of lithium batteries? ”

Lu Zhou: ......?

Lu Zhou, who didn't want to intervene in the bulls, sat there and didn't speak, but he was shot inexplicably.

The meeting was very lively.

Although it is not as direct and tragic as the MRS meeting, with a little heart, you can hear the open guns and hidden arrows in the words.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the front row, sighed in his heart.

Fortunately, the system's scanning gun saved him a lot of research and development costs, and the technology of lithium dendrites was also sold at a good price. Otherwise, at this moment, I am afraid that he will have to join this battle head-on.

Just then, another professor spoke.

"I'll say a few words too."

The speaker this time was Professor Sun Hongbiao of Mizuki University.

In terms of lithium battery materials, Mizuki University is slightly inferior to Aurora and Yanda in the international rankings, but its influence is also quite large.

However, his speech was a little different from that of the bulls who spoke before.

I saw the old professor cough lightly and speak unhurriedly.

"I noticed that Professor Lu had not spoken, but judging by his expression, it seemed that he had already made up his mind about this question. I didn't have anything to say when I got up, I just wanted to hear his opinion. ”

Lu Zhou: ???