Chapter 184: Experiment Begin!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“You want to borrow the laboratory?”
When Professor Li heard Lu Zhou’s request through the phone, he was analyzing carbon nanomaterials in the laboratory.
Lu Zhou held the phone against his ear as he said, “Yes, I found something interesting while reading theses. I want to use the laboratory, and I need a homogenizer and digital microscope.”
Obviously, he had made up the reason. Even though he had a good relationship with Professor Li, they were not that close.
After all, the value of this invention could not be measured by an SCI thesis.
Especially for someone looking to monetize this invention…
“Okay then, I’ll talk to the lab director. You can take Lab 304. Just look for Professor Wang Xianfu.”
Professor Li was curious as to why Lu Zhou needed to do this kind of experiment, but he did not ask him. Instead, he readily agreed to his request.
If someone else asked to borrow these types of equipment, he would hesitate and might even refuse. However, Lu Zhou was different as he had helped the professor greatly on that last thesis.
That was a billion yuan project, and not to mention, as a shareholder of Zhongshan New Materials, he was a direct beneficiary.
This was only a small favor which he was happy to help.
Lu Zhou was almost embarrassed to see Professor Li agreed so easily.
If I knew that this old man is so kind, I would’ve just asked for the SEM scanning electron microscope instead…
“Anything else?” asked Professor Li when he saw that Lu Zhou did not speak.
Lu Zhou shook his head, “Nope, thank you, professor.”
“Are you fine doing experiments alone? Do you want Qian Zhongming to help you?”
Lu Zhou said, “No thanks. I want to do it on my own.”
Naturally, he would not want any help.
Brother Qian would instantly see through his act.
From the design of the experiment to how it was done, Lu Zhou would not be able to explain anything to him.
He had to do this experiment with his own hands.
“Okay then, try not to break anything.”
Lu Zhou knew that Professor Li was joking, so he smiled and said, “Rest assured! I won’t break anything!”
…
After Lu Zhou took the keys to Lab 304 from Professor Wang, he could finally begin his next procedure.
From the reverse technology of the scanner, the key to solving the problem of lithium dendrite growth was in the treatment of polydimethylsiloxane materials.
In order to solve this problem, he designed two experiments.
However, the key to the problem remained in the processing of PDMS materials.
The untreated PDMS material, even if coated in copper sheet, was no use at all. The lithium dendrite would still explode.
Material science and mathematics were different. The former needed countless experiments and huge investments. The latter only needed a pen and paper. Most of the mathematics research funding was used for travel expenses.
Lu Zhou thought for an entire day and he still could not find a good solution. Finally, he decided to spend 500 general points to ask the system for help.
He saw his general points dropped back down to 1975.
This thing was expensive. 500 general points just for a PDMS material processing method.
The general points required for the technology of the entire battery could probably “buy” a Goldbach Conjecture.
Although it took a lot of general points, fortunately, the materials used in the formula could be found in the laboratory.
After three days and countless failures, Lu Zhou finally succeeded in preparing the qualified PDMS material. A box of waxy yellow gel.
This thing looked like honey and had a jelly texture. On the surface, it did not look like anything special, but when he placed it under a microscope, it did not look like ordinary liquid polydimethylsiloxane.
Lu Zhou could not bathe in this victory for long, so he quickly prepared a rectangular copper foil from the glue machine. He also began to prepare his next step of making the electrode materials.
Spin coating!
Spin coating relied on the centrifugal force and gravitational force generated by the rotation of the workpiece. This would completely spread the coating droplets to the surface of the workpiece.
Technically, the operation was very demanding.
An uneven coating could mean that lithium ions would not form on the negative electrode material.
Although Lu Zhou had some experience with spin coating, he still failed many times.
After a couple of hours, he finally succeeded in obtaining a copper foil that was uniformly coated with PDMS nanoporous film.
As Lu Zhou looked at the copper foil, he could not help but think.
I can probably sell this for hundreds of millions of yuan, right?
Lu Zhou packed up the remaining samples and PDMS materials.
There was only one step left and it was to make a simple battery.
He had to test the performance of this film to see if it was as magical as he thought.
Lu Zhou saw Brother Qian’s demonstration before, so he was basically familiar with the operation.
In another laboratory, Lu Zhou put on a white scientist robe before he placed his hand into the argon-filled glove box. He then carefully fixed the copper foil onto the battery mold.
The binder was sodium carboxymethylcellulose and styrene-butadiene rubber, the current collector was aluminum foil, and the positive active material was still the LiFePO4 commonly found in lithium-ion batteries that were used nowadays!
For the diaphragm, Lu Zhou used the Celgard 2325 three-layer composite diaphragm.
There were only slight changes made to the battery.
Once Lu Zhou finished the assembly, he felt proud of himself. He then carefully took the sample out of the box and closed the valves.
He then exhaled a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“Done!”
When he looked at the sample in his hands, he was really excited.
He had not expected this piousness.
Yes, piousness.
As a scientist, he was devoted to science.
This technology likely came from a civilization far more advanced than Earth.
Perhaps it came from a Star Trek battleship…
No matter where it came from, this valuable debris was in his hands.
Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He then placed the battery sample into the Bk-6808 battery charger before he carefully placed it under the digital microscope.
Now all he had to do was wait.
Hopefully, the result would not be disappointing.
Lu Zhou set a 10-minute photo timer and turned on the battery tester. He then took a Polignac’s conjecture research document and quietly started to read.