Chapter 152: The graphene prize cannot be given to John Bull
"You guys can continue with the meeting. I'll go see Lao Kong and see how things are going." Cao Mang said and left the meeting room.
"This Mr. Cao is really too generous." Wei Zhaosheng said excitedly after seeing Cao Mang leave.
"Yes, the research laboratory we stayed in before was reluctant to let them take 50 million, even 10 million." Luo Chuke, who was in the team, said.
"When our previous bosses heard that we were going to study gallium nitride, they pretended not to hear and changed the subject." Xu Xiaolin in the team curled his lips and said.
"Well, Xiao Wei and your team are trying to come up with a commercialization plan for lithium carbonate batteries before June next year." Ye Fan nodded and said to Wei Zhaosheng beside him.
"Brother, don't worry. In terms of battery materials, I dare to say that I am number one. No one dares to say that I am second." Wei Zhaosheng scratched his head and said with a smile: "Lithium carbonate has great prospects. I plan to conduct in-depth research and will not participate in gallium nitride."
I have done some research, and you also know that my expertise is in batteries."
"This is not a big problem, that's what I think. I called you here just to study this." Ye Fan nodded.
If it weren't for the 50 million annual free research expenses, Ye Fan would not have agreed to Ke Zhen's father's request and brought so many people to join Qilin Research Laboratory.
You must know that the research environment in China is very poor in this era. The father of the funder is afraid that what you are researching will be useless, or that this research will be a bottomless pit, and their money will be thrown into the water, so there is no free research funding.
That's what it said.
If you are lucky, you may spend tens of millions to research the same material, but if you are unlucky, you may not even be able to make a splash.
For Cao Mang, the annual fee of 50 million is not very high. It is not a big deal to let them research freely. What if what they research is useful?
If what they research is very outstanding in the future, Cao Mang doesn't mind increasing investment.
Kong Ling'er was in the research room. The assistant on the side rubbed him, pointed out the window and said: "Brother, the boss is here."
Upon seeing this, Kong Ling'er waved to Cao Mang outside the window, then he put down the reagents in his hands and walked out of the laboratory.
"Mr. Cao, why are you here?" Kong Ling'er asked with a smile after taking off his protective gear.
"Come here and see if you get used to it." Cao Mang said with a smile.
"It's not bad. It's much better than our previous environment." Kong Ling'er replied.
"Are you used to eating? Do you need to hire another chef?" Cao Mang asked again.
"Habit, it tastes much better than the food over there." Kong Ling'er said with a smile.
"Okay, you get busy first." Cao Mang patted Kong Ling'er's shoulder and left. He suddenly remembered something very important.
...
When Ye Fan and others were about to break up the meeting and go back to study, they saw Cao Mang coming to the conference room again.
"Mr. Cao, do you have anything else to tell me?" Ye Fan asked.
"Ye Fan, I want you to recruit a team to study graphene materials." Cao Mang said.
In 2004, two scientists at Johnstown University, Andrei and Konstantin, discovered that they could use a very simple method to get thinner and thinner graphite flakes.
They peeled off graphite sheets from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, and then stuck both sides of the sheets on a special tape. When the tape was peeled off, the graphite sheets could be split into two.
Continuously operating in this way, the sheet became thinner and thinner. Finally, they obtained a sheet composed of only one layer of carbon atoms, which is graphene.
They jointly won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Common graphene powder production methods are mechanical exfoliation, redox, SiC epitaxial growth, and thin film production methods are chemical vapor deposition.
Cao Mang did not want to give up the Nobel Prize to John Bull, and graphene has very broad application prospects.
"Why did Mr. Cao think of studying graphene? The cost of extracting this material is too high, and the research value of graphene is not very great." Ye Fan shook his head and said.
"My company in Lighthouse Country bought out a cheap extraction method last month," Cao Mang said.
"What?" Ye Fan and everyone in the conference room were surprised.
They all know that graphene has a wide range of uses, but because the cost is too high to be commercialized, not many people are studying it.
"I am already applying for a patent for extracting graphene from corn stalks," Cao Mang said.
"Oh my God, using corn stalks to extract graphene?" a researcher named Lan Sitong said in surprise.
"Isn't this impossible? Can graphene be extracted from corn stalks?" Wei Zhaosheng said in surprise.
"Damn it, they say making silicon crystals from sand is the Midas touch. Using corn stalks to extract graphene is the real Midas touch, right?" Luo Chuke said.
"Mr. Cao, if I know experts in graphene, if the method you mentioned is true, they will be able to come to Shenzhen City tomorrow afternoon." Ye Fan said.
"In addition to the corn stalk extraction method, they also provide another extraction method..." Cao Mang nodded.
Cao Mang knows more than ten methods for extracting graphene.
Micromechanical stripping method, chemical vapor deposition method, oxidation-reduction method, solvent stripping method, solvothermal method, high temperature reduction, light reduction, epitaxial crystal growth method, microwave method, arc method, electrochemical method, etc.
Among them, the redox method is the cheapest.
Graphene can be obtained by adding chemicals such as dimethylhydrazine, hydroquinone, sodium borohydride and liquid hydrazine to remove the oxygen-containing groups of graphene oxide. The oxidation-reduction method can prepare a stable graphene suspension.
It solves the problem of graphene being difficult to disperse in solvents.
However, the only disadvantage of the redox method is serious pollution.
"I understand, Mr. Cao, please wait a moment. I'll go out and make a phone call. You guys go back to work first." After Ye Fan finished speaking, he walked out of the conference room. Talking on the phone was not allowed in the Kirin Laboratory. All their phones were put on the phone.
At the security guard at the inner gate.
After Ye Fan left, the researchers in the laboratory also left the conference room.
Twenty minutes later, Ye Fan returned to the conference room.
"Mr. Cao, they only have two requirements. They are allowed to publish relevant papers and authorship rights, and invest at least 100 million in research fees every year. If you can agree, they will fly to Shenzhen City tomorrow." Ye Fan said.
Not every researcher can be as indifferent to fame and fortune as Mr. Tu. Ye Fan’s friends are for fame rather than fortune, so they make such requests.
"You can tell them that I agree to their request, as long as the laboratory is not mentioned to the outside world. I don't want too many people to know about the existence of the laboratory." Cao Mang couldn't ask for such a request, and he didn't want the reputation.
It's necessary, after all, there are too many secrets in my body.
Chapter completed!