The joy brought by the good news of the controlled nuclear fusion project is still in my heart, and there is another good news from the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute.

It's not that there is any breakthrough in high-temperature superconducting materials, but I heard that a method has been found that can quickly synthesize graphene.

Graphene, the name must have been heard by anyone who has even a little bit of interest in the materials world.

It is a two-dimensional atomic-scale, hexagonal allotrope allotrope material, which has important application prospects in optics, electricity, mechanics, micro-nano fabrication, energy, biomedicine and drug delivery.

It is also a new type of nanomaterial with the thinnest, strongest strength and strongest electrical and thermal conductivity discovered so far, known as "black gold" and "the king of new materials".

Scientists even predict that graphene will "revolutionize the 21st century." It is very likely to set off a disruptive new technology and new industrial revolution that will sweep the world.

If there are any disadvantages, on the one hand, it is very difficult and expensive to produce graphene on a large scale, and on the other hand, graphene materials are easily oxidized in the air, which limits its range of use to a certain extent.

Of course, this refers to the kind of graphene that can be used industrially, not the hundreds of layers of graphene that you can get by holding a 2B pencil and scratching it on the manuscript paper.

That doesn't make any sense at all.

At present, when the global production of graphene was reported in 19 years, the total of all countries was only 1,200 tons.

1,200 tons, this figure is less than a drop in the bucket compared to the global market's demand for graphene.

When reproducing high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials before, Xu Chuan asked the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute to study carbon nanomaterials by the way, and the purpose was also here, and he wanted to try it to see if he could make a breakthrough in this area.

After all, in addition to graphene, there are many other types of carbon nanomaterials.

For example, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon nanospheres, fullerenes, nanodiamonds, etc., these carbon nanomaterials also have a fairly broad application prospect.

For example, fullerene, in addition to some properties of graphene, it can also be applied to cosmetics.

Fullerene C60 has the effects of scavenging reactive oxygen species, activating skin cells, and preventing aging.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, fullerenes have been used as cosmetic raw materials, and have excellent value for anti-wrinkle, whitening, and anti-aging, and have become a cutting-edge beauty ingredient that has attracted much attention. Many high-end skincare brands contain fullerenes.

It has unique properties that allow it to act like a sponge to remove free radicals from the skin, with strong absorption and super capacity.

But its disadvantages, like graphene, are also unable to be produced in large quantities.

Carbon nanomaterials can be said to be a huge treasure trove, and digging a little out of it is enough to benefit for a lifetime.

It is with this mentality that Xu Chuan asked the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute to study it.

However, he really didn't expect that in the field of graphene, the institute would make a breakthrough so quickly.

Quickly rushed to the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute, Xu Chuan came to Fan Pengyue's office.

Seeing him coming, Senior Brother Fan, who was busy handling work, put down the signature pen in his hand.

Xu Chuan didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly and quickly: "What about the new method of synthesizing graphene?" ”

Fan Pengyue got up, opened the drawer, took out a document that he had promised to prepare in advance, and handed it over.

Xu Chuan took it and read it carefully.

The result was a little surprising to him, the way of rapid synthesis of graphene materials made by the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute was not studied by the carbon nanomaterials research team. It was inadvertently discovered by the lithium battery research team when they were studying lithium-sulfur batteries.

Because of the relationship between artificial SEI thin films, Chuanhai Materials Research Institute has always had an independent department in the research of lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-metal batteries, etc.

After all, in the case of lithium dendrites problem being solved, these batteries are very promising fields.

In the process of further optimizing lithium batteries, a researcher named 'Yan Liu' used hydrazine hydrate/ascorbic acid/molten salt hydroxide/cathode waste current collector aluminum foil as a reducing agent to try to modify the LiFePO4 cathode and improve the electrochemical performance and cycling stability of lithium batteries.

The optimization was not achieved, but unexpectedly, during the production test of the failed product, Yan Liu found a thin film of carbon attached to the negative electrode.

After testing, it was confirmed that this is a layer of graphene film material with high purity.

This graphene film immediately attracted Yan Liu's attention, and he knew that the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute was currently researching carbon nanomaterials, so he quickly reported the matter to Fan Pengyue.

Under Fan Pengyue's arrangement, led by Yan Liu, with the assistance of researchers from other carbon nanomaterials, a steering group was set up to study this layer of graphene, or the original experimental process.

Finally, the results show that the embedding/departing of Li+ during the charging and discharging of LIBs will break the van der Waals bonds between the graphite layers, resulting in the expansion of the crystal lattice, which can effectively separate the graphite layers.

To this end, the graphite anode after electrochemical cycling is chemically oxidized to obtain a uniformly dispersed GO, which can increase the yield of graphene under the action of shear force and acid treatment, and then form graphene.

Through further reduction experiments, Yan Liu and others obtained graphene with layers of one to four layers, and the peeling efficiency was 3-11 times that of natural graphite, with a maximum yield of 40%, a graphene layer thickness of 1.5 nm, and a conductivity of 9100 S m1.

Compared with the normal preparation of single-layer or multi-layer graphene materials by mechanical exfoliation, orientation epigenesis, liquid phase or gas phase direct exfoliation, the efficiency of this method can indeed be said to be quite high.

After reading the information in his hand, Xu Chuan also sighed a little.

I have to say that sometimes luck is really important in the process of material research.

Who would have thought that when optimizing lithium-ion batteries, a new way to prepare high-purity graphene materials would be unexpectedly found?

Of course, there are also problems with the way in which graphene materials are synthesized.

For example, the use of this method of 'chemical oxidation-reduction' to produce graphene from discarded lithium-sulfur batteries obviously involves the use of environmentally unfriendly and expensive oxidants and reducing agents.

At the same time, due to chemical reactions, the integrity of the graphene structure will also be destroyed, and so on.

These are all questions.

However, aside from these problems, the prospect of preparing graphene materials by this means is indeed broad.

Not to mention the rest, its peeling efficiency can reach several times that of natural graphene, which is quite an exaggerated number.

After learning more about the preparation process of this graphene material and sorting out some ideas in his mind, Xu Chuan continued to hand over the matter to a researcher called Yan Liu to deal with.

As for himself, he returned to Qixia Controlled Nuclear Fusion Park to preside over the work.

The mass production of graphene is indeed quite important, it is a large market, but the first ignition run of the Daybreak fusion device is even more important.

On the other hand, when Xu Chuan was closely preparing for the ignition test run, the EAST device on Luyang Science Island was ready to start again.

The time quickly came to September 25th.

The weather in early autumn is cloudless, and a breeze brings a hot breath on people's faces.

In the general control room of the EAST controllable nuclear fusion reactor on Luzhou Science Island, Chen Mingji stared at the screen in front of the main console, on which various beating images and curves showed that the EAST device was running.

On the side, assistant Mo Hongyun reported the situation: "Academician Chen, the plasma temperature has reached 117 million degrees Celsius, is the experiment officially started?" ”

Chen Mingji nodded and gave an order: "Start running the experiment!" ”

As the orders were delivered, the work was completed one by one, and the long and tense time passed little by little.

Five minutes to arrive quickly.

I have to say that the EAST device, which has experienced thousands of experimental discharges, does have its capabilities, and the time of five minutes and three hundred seconds is not its limit.

In the general control room, Chen Mingji, who always pays attention to various data, showed a satisfied look in his eyes, although he had previously ordered the running time to be set at five minutes, he also made another preparation.

If, during the experiment, the EAST device works well, the experiment will continue and reach the limits of the EAST.

I don't know how long it was, but there was a cheer in the general control.

Chen Mingji, who was standing in the crowd, also had a smile on his face.

Although he is not interested in that academician Xu because of his position and ass problems, he is indeed sincere about the advancement of controllable nuclear fusion experiments.

450.73 seconds!

There is no doubt that this running time broke the history of a tokamak installation!

The 120 seconds created by the French superconducting tokamak device are only a third of it.

Compared with the 300 seconds he proposed before, it is nearly half the running time.

Seven and a half minutes, this data is enough for him to show off to the world.

With the completion of the finishing work, Chen Mingji also accepted the invitation of the media to make a detailed report on the EAST operation experiment.

After all, the current EAST is the largest controllable nuclear fusion reactor in the country, and it is also the most advanced reactor, with an operating time of 450 seconds, breaking the operating time of 100 million in Korea and 20 seconds, creating a new historical record.

There is no reason why you shouldn't make a report on such a great moment and show it to the world.

Especially for Chen Mingji, this kind of exposure is also a must.

After all, every operational test, especially this record-breaking experiment, is the best evidence for him to ask for funds from above, and it is also the best way for him to control the field of controlled nuclear fusion in China.

"Academician Chen, it's an honor to interview you today, I heard that EAST has just achieved a running time of 450, can you please explain the meaning of this number to the general public?"

After politely greeting the reporters, the reporters of the "Nuclear Industry Press" who came to cover the interview began the formal interview.

Chen Mingji nodded with a smile, and said happily: "Of course it's no problem." ”

"EAST is a magnetic confinement nuclear fusion experimental device independently developed by Luyang Plasma Research Institute, and it is also the world's first non-circular cross-section fully superconducting tokamak, and in recent years, we have made a number of original achievements in high-performance, steady-state, and long-pulse plasma research."

"For example, at a temperature of 100 million, the longest running time was 20 seconds in Korea, but today, on this basis, we have increased the time to 450 seconds! Twenty-two times better. ”

"This not only sets a new record for the operating time of a tokamak device, but also for the longest operating time of a controlled nuclear fusion reactor created by the stellarite spiral 7X."

"Of course, this means that we are at the forefront of the world on the road of controlled nuclear fusion, and it also means that we are one step closer to truly realizing controlled nuclear fusion!"

Reporter: "Congratulations on creating a new history. ”

After a word of congratulations, the media reporter of the "Nuclear Industry Press" then asked: "I heard that the Qixia controllable nuclear fusion project led by Academician Xu Chuanxu also achieved ignition in July, which is currently the second fusion reactor in our country that can achieve 100 million-level temperature control." ”

"And it's expected that on October 1st, they will also start the ignition run experiment, I wonder what you think about this? Can Academician Xu achieve the same 450-second running time? ”

Hearing this, Chen Mingji sneered, but then restrained his smile and said, "It's not that easy to achieve a 450-second running time. ”

"It took 13 years from 2007 to the present to achieve a 450-second running time. And this record, which no other country has yet been able to achieve, shows how difficult this road is. ”

"To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about the fusion project led by Academician Xu, who relied on decommissioned equipment purchased from the Planck Plasma Research Institute, and it has only been less than two months since he came back from operation."

"In two months, it is very good to be able to do the ignition experiment, and I am afraid it will take a little time to achieve a EAST450-second operation record."

On the "a little bit" of the last sentence, Chen Mingji deliberately accentuated some tones.

On the other side, the reporter of the "Nuclear Industry Newspaper" obviously understood the words of the person in front of him, but he didn't say anything, just smiled.

According to the person in front of me, this is a little bit, I'm afraid the specific time is not easy to say.

After all, he couldn't break the casserole and ask to the end, so he could only think that this academician Chen was answering euphemistically.

Smiling, the reporter then asked: "In other words, if Academician Xu announced that he wants to break the operating record on October 1st, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to do?" ”

Chen Mingji nodded with a smile and said: "There are many problems to be solved on the tokamak device, plus it is still a second-hand equipment bought, and their operation can be successfully ignited and run for about ten seconds, which is already very good." ”

"If you want to break the record, even if it is the 20-second ignition record set by Goryeo before, it is very difficult, and there is not much hope. As for the EAST450 seconds of operation, I am afraid it will take a long time to do so. ”

"After all, he is only a junior on the road of controlled nuclear fusion."

PS: I'm sorry readers, I broke my promise today, and it was supposed to be a good three watches, but after getting up today, the eight tails may have blown the air conditioner at night and caught a cold, and I was dizzy all day, and my nose was running non-stop.

The weather here in Changsha has been so hot these days, 389 degrees (personal estimates must have been 40 degrees, as for the broadcast, you know) So I turned on an air conditioner in the past two days, and I have been a fan before, and I may not be able to adapt to it, and then I caught a cold? (I just hope it's not Sanyang)

I went to the community hospital and hung up four bottles of water before coming back in the afternoon, and I barely wrote a chapter to update it, sorry.

Another: The things that the eight tails promised will not be refused, as compensation, and when the cold is cured, the promised will be doubled!