Indecision, quantum mechanics, not enough brain holes, parallel universes.

This is a very popular sentence on the Internet, which means that when you encounter something or a question that cannot be solved, just say "quantum mechanics".

And in the material world, there is actually such a saying.

The material is not enough, and graphene comes to make up.

Graphene is called an 'all-round material' by people in the materials industry.

It is a carbon material with a 'two-dimensional honeycomb lattice structure' made of carbon atoms tightly packed into a single layer, and has excellent optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. It has adaptability and important application prospects in almost most application fields such as materials science, microfabrication, energy, biomedicine, and drug delivery.

This is a material that is out of the circle, and many ordinary people know it.

Of course, the performance of graphene materials is also staggering.

Its strength and hardness even exceed that of diamond, and it can reach 100 times that of high-quality steel, and a one-centimeter-thick plate made of it can allow a five-ton adult elephant to stand on it without collapsing and breaking.

For example, in terms of light transmittance, the light transmittance of ordinary glass is only about 89%, while the light transmittance of graphene can reach 97.7%, so it is almost transparent to the naked eye.

And if graphene is used to make the battery screen of a mobile phone computer, the screen can be folded almost at will, and even folded into tofu blocks and put in a pocket will not affect its performance.

In terms of electrical and thermal conductivity, there is no traditional material that can surpass graphene.

In addition, graphene materials are also a major direction in the field of superconductivity research.

In 2018, researchers represented by Cao Yuan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his mentor, Pablo Giarillo Herrero, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published a paper in the journal Nature, showing the team's research results on graphene.

When the overlapping angle of two graphenes is close to 1.1°, the band structure will approach a zero-dispersion band, resulting in the transformation of this band into a Mott insulator when half-filled.

And this superconductivity after rotating and charging stacked graphene.

In addition, graphene has extremely high electron mobility, which makes it possible to pair electrons in pairs like superconductors, making it one of the future materials for studying high-temperature superconductivity and even room-temperature superconductivity.

However, it is very difficult to break through room temperature superconductivity on graphene.

Even after more than ten years, Xu Chuan has never heard of any country that can manufacture graphene high-temperature superconducting materials, and high-temperature graphene superconductivity is still in the laboratory exploration, not to mention room temperature superconductivity.

Of course, the potential of graphene superconducting materials is enormous.

On the one hand, graphene, a two-dimensional material, can be fabricated arbitrarily like plasticine as long as a method is found, and it can be round, square, long, flat, and hollow.

On the other hand, it lies in the current load capacity of graphene materials.

There is also a difference between superconducting materials and superconducting materials.

The higher the current load capacity, the stronger the magnetic field and various properties that can be provided.

And in this regard, graphene has great potential.

The only reason that limits the application of this superb material is that industrial production is too difficult.

At present, there is no way to produce high-quality graphene in large quantities and stably.

However, for now, Xu Chuan does not want the superconductivity of graphene materials, he only needs the excellent physical properties of graphene to help improve the toughness of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials.

As for the current problem that graphene cannot be produced in large quantities, it is not a problem that he needs to have a headache.

If it is applied to superconducting materials, small batch manufacturing is also sufficient.

How to cut costs, how to productize, and how to make profits from them are all things that the industry and business circles need to consider, and they have little to do with him as a scholar.

Compared with the doped zirconia atoms mentioned by Academician Zhang Pingxiang, Xu Chuan is more optimistic about using graphene materials as whisker (fiber) toughening materials to make up for the toughness of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composites.

Because for a superconducting material, if the crystal structure between the materials is broken, it will lead to a gap in the superconducting energy gap, and the gap in the superconducting energy gap will lead to a sharp decrease in the superconducting performance in all aspects.

However, the core of whisker (fiber) toughening technology is actually rooted in the chemical bonds of the material.

As we all know, most metal materials are susceptible to plastic deformation, and the reason for this is that metal bonds are not directional.

In materials such as ceramics, the bonding bonds between atoms are covalent bonds and ionic bonds, and the covalent bonds have obvious directionality and saturation.

In this case, the repulsion of the ionic bond is very large when the ionic bond is close to the same number of ions, so ceramics, which are mainly composed of ionic crystals and covalent crystals, have few slip systems and generally break before the slip occurs. (High school knowledge, don't say you can't understand it!) ）

This is the fundamental reason for the brittleness of ceramic materials at room temperature, and the properties of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials are very similar to those of ceramic materials.

However, whisker (fiber) toughening technology can make up for this very well, when the whisker or fiber is pulled out and broken, a certain amount of energy is consumed, which is conducive to preventing the expansion of cracks and improving the fracture toughness of the material.

To put it simply, when you want to break a chopstick, there is a film on the chopsticks, which absorbs the force from your arm and maintains the shape of the internal chopsticks.

Of course, the specifics of using graphene for whisker (fiber) toughening are more complicated.

Because the combination of graphene and high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials is not simply mixed together, it is more like a composite material, organically bound together through an extremely thin interface.

In this case, it is possible that the chemical bonds in graphene may replace the doped carbon atomic bonds in the copper-carbon-silver composites.

The reason why Xu Chuan chose to use graphene as a toughening material is also because of this consideration.

Graphene is a pure single-layer, 'two-dimensional honeycomb lattice structure' carbon material, and its organic combination with the copper-carbon-silver material interface does not change the composition of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials.

Therefore, theoretically, it is still possible to achieve the purpose of whisker (fiber) toughening through graphene.

As for whether it can be done, it depends on the results of the experiment.

In the Chuanhai Materials Laboratory, Xu Chuan and Zhang Pingxiang are studying and solving the problem of insufficient toughness of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials from various directions that they are optimistic about.

On the other hand, Gao Hongming, who had left to prepare information on the parameters of the domestic controllable nuclear fusion experimental reactor, came back.

It not only brings the detailed parameters of the experimental reactors in the major controlled nuclear fusion research institutes in China, but also brings the list of domestic manufacturers who are qualified and capable of producing high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials.

The first thing Xu Chuan looked at was the detailed parameters of the experimental reactors in the major controlled nuclear fusion research institutes in China.

This is related to the measurement of the plasma turbulence control model.

In the office, Xu Chuan flipped through the materials brought by Gao Hongming.

To put it more broadly, there are currently more than a dozen controlled nuclear fusion research institutes in China, but only 11 fusion reactors.

That's a lot of people, but in reality, most of these 11 fusion reactors are just experimental reactors or even device reactors.

The so-called experimental reactor refers to the experimental apparatus that can meet the most basic experimental needs of plasma experiments.

And the device pile, not to mention, it can't even do an ignition experiment.

In the information brought by Gao Hongming, there are currently only two fusion reactors in China that have the ability to do ignition operation experiments.

They are the magnetic confinement fusion tokamak device 'EAST' of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Academy of Sciences and the inertial confinement fusion device 'Shenguang' of the Ninth Institute of Engineering.

The means of inertial restraint are completely different from magnetic constraints.

Magnetic confinement can be understood as allowing high-temperature plasma to flow and fuse in a device to form a high temperature.

Inertial confinement uses the inertia of matter to pack a mixture of a few milligrams of deuterium and tritium into a small ball with a diameter of about a few millimeters.

Then the laser beam or particle beam is evenly injected from the outside, and the spherical surface evaporates outward due to the absorption of energy, and by its reaction, the inner layer of the spherical surface is extruded inward to form a high-temperature environment, so that the mixed gas of deuterium and tritium of several milligrams explodes, generating a large amount of heat energy.

If three or four of these explosions occur every second and continue continuously, the energy released is equivalent to a million-kilowatt power station.

In simple terms, inertial confinement is similar to the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, which then draws heat from the energy of the explosion to generate electricity.

It's just a smaller, more controllable kind.

This method is of little significance to the plasma turbulence control model studied by Xu Chuan, because the fusion methods are completely different.

Therefore, after excluding the inertial confinement fusion device 'Shenguang' of the Ninth Institute of Engineering, the only experimental reactor he could choose was the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak device.

The 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak facility, also known as the fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device, has created plasma operation experiments of more than 50 million degrees Celsius in 16 and 18 years, respectively.

In 17 years, a record stable 101.2 seconds of steady-state long-pulse high-confinement plasma operation was achieved.

In China, it is a well-deserved leader in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, and even if it is put into the world, it is also the top batch of experimental reactors.

However, with the exception of 'EAST', the other fusion devices are a bit less than satisfactory.

Xu Chuan didn't expect that at the end of 19, the domestic field of controlled nuclear fusion would still be like this.

Indeed, technically speaking, on the route of controlled nuclear fusion, China is already the top batch, and the technologies are still quite good on the whole.

But in the experimental pile, it is indeed a little scarce.

Aside from the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak facility, there are currently no other experimental reactors capable of ignition experiments.

The well-known KTX fusion reactor, Circulator No. 2 HL-2A and HL-2M experimental reactors are still under construction and unfinished.

Even the most recently completed Circulator 2 will have to wait until the end of 20 years.

And even when it's finished, it doesn't have the ability to start an ignition experiment right away. It will take at least one to two years to complete the various tests, and at least two or three rounds of ignition experiments before it is possible to test the plasma turbulence model.

This situation made Xu Chuan smile helplessly.

Now it seems that he has no choice at all.

The only good thing is that the parameters of the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak are quite good.

The main part of the EAST device is 11 meters high, 8 meters in diameter, and weighs 400 tons, and is composed of six components: ultra-high vacuum chamber, longitudinal field coil, polar field coil, internal and external cold screen, external vacuum dewar, and support system.

It has 16 large "D" shaped superconducting longitudinal field magnets, which can produce a longitudinal field magnetic field strength of 3.5T, and 12 large polar field superconducting magnets can provide magnetic flux change ΔФ≥ 10 volt seconds. Through these polar field superconducting magnets, a plasma current of ≥ 1 million amperes will be generated; The duration can reach more than 1000 seconds, and the temperature will exceed 100 million degrees under high-power heating

This series of parameters, even if it is put into the world, is quite good.

With excellent equipment, coupled with the mathematical model of plasma turbulence, even if it is only a model, Xu Chuan is confident that he will break the record for the longest operation of the current tokamak device.

It's not even impossible to chase down the stellarator's runtime record.

After reading the information in his hand, Xu Chuan shook his head lightly and sighed: "I didn't expect the development of controlled nuclear fusion in China to be like this." ”

On the sofa, Gao Hongming leaned forward and asked nervously, "Didn't you meet the requirements?" ”

Xu Chuan nodded, shook his head again, and said: "There are those who meet the requirements, but there is only one, the EAST device over there in Luyang meets the requirements from the data, and as for the others, it can't." ”

Hearing this, Gao Hongming breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "As long as there are those who meet the requirements, the leader of the EAST device is Academician Chen Mingji, who is also the person in charge of our country's docking ITER international fusion project, and I will communicate with Academician Chen in the future." ”

Xu Chuan nodded, thought for a while, and said: "I should have gone to this matter in person, but recently I have been working with Academician Zhang Pingxiang on how to optimize high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials, and I really can't get rid of it." ”

"In this way, I ask Academician Peng Hongxi to come with you on a trip, and it seems that I pay more attention to it. After all, to use other people's equipment, you also need to modify the control model, which is also a big deal for controlled nuclear fusion. ”

Gao Hongming nodded with a smile and said, "It's okay, you are busy with your research first, I believe Academician Chen will understand." ”

After a pause, he continued: "By the way, regarding the work you communicated with Qin Yun before about the production of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials, I have also brought the information of qualified and capable manufacturers with me by the way, can you take a look first?" ”

Xu Chuan nodded, took the information from Gao Hongming's hand, and was about to look through it, he thought about it and said: "By the way, I just read the information, the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak device still uses niobium-titanium alloy as a superconducting material. ”

"Regarding this application for the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak device, you can communicate with Academician Chen, and I will not take it for nothing, and I will make some compensation."

"If he is willing, I can provide him with some high-temperature superconducting materials for free in the first batch after the production and manufacture of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials, and I believe that the performance of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials can make the 'EAST' magnetic confinement fusion tokamak device go further."

PS: I got the computer back this afternoon.,But it's too late.,Tomorrow it's a double shift.,By the way, ask for a monthly pass (repair more than 500 fast,Woo woo ┗ ( T_T ) ┛,)

(End of chapter)