Chapter 237 Preparations Before the Nobel Prize

Peng Hongxi stayed in Shanghai for three days, waiting for the preliminary test results of the new lead-free nanocomposite reconstructed nuclear protection material to be completed before returning to the capital.

Also going to the capital with him was Xu Chuan.

At the same time, two copies of different protective materials were taken away, as well as preliminary test results for the two materials.

On the one hand, it is to make a report on these phased results. On the other hand, it is to discuss the Nobel Prize in a month's time.

It's already November, and in less than a month, the Nobel Prize award ceremony will begin.

Although the Nobel Prize award ceremony is in Europe and not in the United States, it is relatively safer.

But with his current age and achievements, going abroad is no longer a matter for him alone.

So he had to go to the senior management to discuss it and see how to deal with it.

When I came to the capital again, I still stayed in the hotel next to the Forbidden City.

After throwing his luggage and everything at the hotel, Zheng Hai drove Xu Chuan to the office building where the Science and Technology Center was located.

This time I came to the capital, it was not to meet the same person last time.

It's a phased achievement, so there's no need to alarm that person.

Maybe he knows, but as a person, there are more important things at hand than this, and it is enough to be able to support the work of scientific researchers behind the scenes.

"Professor Xu, welcome!"

Under the office building of the Science and Technology Institute, Chief Qin Anguo personally greeted Xu Chuan, with two old men standing beside him.

"Chief Qin, we meet again." Xu Chuan responded with a smile.

"Come on, let me introduce you. These two are academicians of our National Academy of Sciences." Qin Anguo stepped aside with a smile and introduced the two old people beside him to Xu Chuan.

"This is Academician Wang Zhongwang, a famous scholar in the international nuclear energy field. He is a top scholar in advanced nuclear energy systems with inherent safety characteristics. The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology and circulating cooling water system of domestic nuclear power plants are all made by him."

"This is Academician Jiang Shengjie Jiang, a meritorious figure in our country's nuclear industry. He participated in the development of two bombs, guided the development of nuclear power plants and supporting nuclear fuel safety cycle systems, and made great contributions to our country's nuclear safety."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan's expression straightened, and he greeted the two old men respectfully: "Hello, Academician Wang, and Hello, Academician Jiang."

Wang Zhong shook hands with him and said with a smile: "A hero comes from a young age. I have heard Professor Xu's name for a long time. When I saw him today, he was younger than I thought."

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "Mr. Wang is overly praised. Compared with you, I am still far behind."

On the side, Jiang Shengjie stepped forward and asked directly without courtesy: "I heard from Chief Qin that you have developed a new type of nuclear radiation-resistant material?"

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "We have indeed made a new type of material, but we have only done some preliminary tests so far. The final results have not yet been determined."

"Did you bring any materials?" Academician Jiang Shengjie asked immediately, "Or can I go to your place and have a look?"

On the side, Qin Anguo explained: "Academician Jiang and Academician Wang are recently working together on a national nuclear energy safety project, which requires the use of some nuclear energy protection technologies and materials, and some traditional nuclear protection materials cannot match it."

"Professor Xu, I don't know if it's convenient for you. If it's convenient, after your results come out, the Science and Technology Department can apply for internal use of some of the materials. Do you think it's okay?"

Xu Chuan suddenly nodded and said, "It's nothing inconvenient. I can just ask the Magic City Research Institute to mail some of the relevant materials."

"It's just that the testing of this new material has not been completed yet, so I cannot guarantee its stability and effectiveness."

Jiang Shengjie's anxious expression softened and he smiled: "Then I'll trouble Professor Xu. I'll do the relevant tests here, so I won't put you in trouble."

Xu Chuan nodded. The nuclear beta radiation energy aggregation and conversion to electric energy project is a wholly state-owned project. Whatever achievements it has made, its intellectual property rights also belong to the state.

It is a normal thing to take it from the country and use it for the country.

As for the trouble, he wasn't worried.

In domestic academic circles, there are not many people who can cause trouble for him.

The group of four people chatted at the door for a while, and then, led by Qin Anguo, entered the science and technology building.

In the office, Xu Chuan took the tea handed by his assistant and put it on the table beside him.

"Chief Qin, I came here mainly for two things."

He didn't waste time and went straight to the topic. After all, both parties were busy people and didn't have much time to chat.

On the opposite side, after hearing this, Qin Anguo sat upright and said seriously: "You tell me."

"The first one is about the nuclear energy beta radiation energy aggregation and conversion into electric energy project. At present, the nuclear energy project has entered the formal stage, and the results of the first phase have been achieved."

"Following research needs support, whether in terms of scientific research funds or experimental materials."

Qin Anguo nodded and said: "These are no problem. You can rest assured that the country will definitely support the project of nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration and conversion into electric energy."

He didn't even ask Xu Chuan how much money or help he needed, and just agreed.

This is not only the huge reputation brought by the recent Nobel Prize, but also the phased results of the nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration and conversion into electric energy project.

Whether it is the ‘crystalline erbium zirconate’ material or the subsequent lead-free nanocomposite reconstructed protective materials, they are all of extremely high value.

The first batch of 1 billion yuan of capital investment, any of these two materials is enough to offset the investment.

In addition, more importantly, the person who applied for these things is Xu Chuan.

This name is enough.

The world's first Nobel Prize and Fields Medal double winner, only 21 years old, the series of achievements in solving the seven millennium problems, put in any country is enough for that country to invest heavily in him.

On the side, Xu Chuan continued: "The second thing is about the Nobel Prize."

"Nobel Prize?" Qin Anguo looked at Xu Chuan with a little doubt.

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "Although winning the Nobel Prize is a very happy thing, its award ceremony is abroad. Now I am in charge of a nuclear energy project. I don't know if I should go out to receive the award."

"If I go, how can I ensure safety. I believe that Qin Chuan also knows about the inexplicable death of an Iranian nuclear physicist not long ago."

He directly pointed out the matter and asked whether he should go to receive the award.

A Nobel Prize in Physics is still very important to him today, or to China.

Since we have obtained it, there is no reason not to take it back.

But considering some other things, security needs to be guaranteed.

Hearing this, Qin Anguo showed a relieved smile on his face: "Don't worry about this. The country has already considered it. Security is not a problem. Someone will protect you when the time comes."

"And we are not Iran. No one dares to do anything to an internationally renowned scholar like you."

"Unless they want to start a war directly!"

After a pause, he continued: "Of course, security is not a trivial matter. If it is not safe to travel by plane, we actually have another plan."

"What plan?" Xu Chuan asked curiously.

"Train!" Qin Anguo uttered two words.

"There is a dedicated train line from Beijing to Cosmo that can go directly to Europe. Although it takes a little longer, it is safer than flying and easier to deal with various emergencies."

"This is a backup plan. If Professor Xu doesn't mind wasting some time, we can take the train. It's safer."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan nodded suddenly. He heard that this train seemed to be able to go directly from Beijing to Cosmo. It was a tourist train and the scenery along the way was very good.

Compared to taking a plane, the train is indeed safer.

Even if there is an accident during the journey, it is on the ground.

Unlike flying in the sky, if there is a problem, it is useless.

After solving the two issues of the subsequent funding development of the nuclear energy project and the Nobel Prize, Xu Chuan also relaxed a lot.

After staying in Beijing for two days, he exchanged views with Academicians Wang Zhong and Jiang Shengjie on the safety protection of the nuclear energy project, and went to Shuimu University to see his sister Xu Xiao, and then he returned to Jinling.

The 'crystalline erbium zirconate' material and the lead-free nanocomposite reconstruction protective material have entered the test, and the work of the Nuclear Energy Research Institute has come to an end.

Others went to work as usual to deal with the follow-up matters, and Xu Chuan went to the 'Chuanhai Materials Research Institute' he bought.

After neglecting this place for more than a month, it is time to check the progress of the research and development of electrolytes and artificial SEI films.

Although the personnel configuration of the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute is similar to that of the Nuclear Energy Research Institute, the difficulty and complexity of the material research and development of lithium batteries is not as high as that of nuclear radiation protection materials.

And with the theories and instructions he left before, the research and development progress should not be too different.

Finding Fan Pengyue in the laboratory, Xu Chuan asked about the research and development of the two projects.

"The development speed of electrolyte is faster than that of artificial SEI film, after all, it is much simpler than artificial SEI film."

"There are preliminary finished products now, and they are being tested. If the test is OK, they can be assembled into a complete lithium battery for charge and discharge experiments."

"As for the development of artificial SEI film, it may take some time, and the specific time is uncertain. There are some problems in the development here, and we are trying to solve them. I was about to send you an email to tell you about it."

In the office, Fan Pengyue gave a brief report on the progress of the project during this period.

"What happened?"

Hearing that there were problems with the development of artificial SEI film, Xu Chuan asked in surprise.

In theory, with the detailed route and method he provided, the development should be smooth.

Fan Pengyue: "Researcher Yu Zhen produced a finished SEI film some time ago, but unfortunately, the performance of this SEI film did not meet your previous requirements."

"Inspection and testing found that although this artificial SEI film can avoid the formation of lithium dendrites, it cannot completely disperse the lithium ions that gather at the negative electrode."

"In theory, it does solve the problem of lithium dendrites. After all, lithium dendrites will no longer form. But in fact, because of the superposition of lithium ions at the negative electrode, it will also cause a decrease in coulomb efficiency and eventually lead to battery necrosis."

"What are the test results? Let me see."

Xu Chuan was very interested in the artificial SEI film made by Yu Zhen.

Although he did not do much research on lithium batteries, he could analyze various problems in lithium batteries from the perspective of materials science and mathematics.

This is something that most materials scientists cannot do because they do not have such a deep mathematical foundation.

"Wait a minute, I will print a copy."

Fan Pengyue responded and left in a hurry, but after a while, he rushed back with a document.

Xu Chuan took the still warm printed paper and read it while smelling the ink on it.

From the data recorded above and the test results, in a sense, this artificial SEI film has indeed solved the problem of lithium dendrites.

But it still has not solved the problem of lithium precipitation and lithium aggregation.

The so-called lithium precipitation is related to the operation of lithium batteries.

When lithium-ion batteries are charged, Li+ will be deintercalated from the positive electrode and embedded in the negative electrode;

However, when some abnormal conditions occur, such as insufficient lithium embedding space in the negative electrode, too much resistance to Li+ embedding in the negative electrode, too fast deintercalation of Li+ from the positive electrode but unable to embed the same amount in the negative electrode, etc., Li+ cannot be embedded in the negative electrode.

At this time, Li+ can only get electrons on the surface of the negative electrode, thus forming a silvery-white metallic lithium single substance, which is often called lithium precipitation.

Lithium dendrites are actually a type of lithium precipitation.

When too many lithium ions gather at the negative electrode to form lithium precipitation, not only will the battery performance decline, the cycle life will be greatly shortened, but also the fast charging capacity of the battery will be limited, and it may cause catastrophic consequences such as combustion and explosion.

In addition, it will cause excessive consumption of lithium ions in the electrolyte, resulting in lower and lower coulomb efficiency.

In layman's terms, the capacity of lithium-ion batteries decays exponentially.

If the coulomb efficiency of each cycle of the battery is 99%, then after 100 cycles, its capacity retention rate is 36.6%.

That is to say, a 100Ah battery will only have a capacity of 36.6Ah after 100 cycles in this case.

And the data in his hand shows that the lithium precipitation effect is particularly serious.

As a result, the coulomb efficiency of the assembled battery is only about 99.91%.

This value sounds very good. But it is not actually high.

Take the most famous battery of a certain Apple mobile phone as an example. Most normal batteries operate under normal conditions. When the number of charging cycles reaches 500, the battery can maintain up to 80% of the initial capacity.

That is to say, the battery cycles 500 times and the capacity retention rate is 80%, which is converted into a coulomb efficiency of about 99.96%.

It is 0.05 percentage points lower, which means that if this artificial SEI film is applied, the lithium dendrite problem is solved, but the number of battery charge and discharge times will be reduced by more than 200 times.

Solving the lithium dendrite problem can indeed increase the battery capacity.

But it is not worth it to greatly reduce the battery life.