Chapter 752 Did You Lose the Chain at a Critical Moment?
Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Materials Science Laboratory.
Standing next to an optical microscope, Lu Zhou turned the fine-focus spiral slightly, observing the carbon nanotube fibers on the glass slide.
After about four or five minutes, Lu Zhou's eyes left the eyepiece and looked at Yang Xu who was standing beside him.
"Is there no way to make it longer?"
Yang Xu shook his head.
"That's the best it can do."
According to the data observed under the microscope, the shortest samples are only 5-10 μm, and the longer ones can reach 2 mm, but the number is only a handful.
It is hopeless, even for samples of carbon nanotubes grown to 2mm. Compared with the smooth and smooth carbon nanotube threads on the cloth, the samples lying on this glass slide are like a pile of beard scum, or the uneven shaved ones. kind……
Touching his chin and thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said.
"...What about the directional growth technology used in SG-1 superconducting materials? Have you tried it?"
"I've tried every method you can think of," Yang Xu shook his head, "The pore size of this kind of high-tensile-strength carbon nanotube is much smaller than that of SG-1 material, so it's difficult to synthesize through directional growth... ...And take a ten thousand step back, even if it can be done in this way, it will be difficult to accept in terms of cost, right?"
If it is a superconducting material, it is fine, since it is used in high-tech fields, and it is acceptable to be more expensive if the amount is not large. But if it's just a tensile material that costs so much money, it's a bit unnecessary.
Staring at the pick on the microscope with a complex expression, Lu Zhou still asked with some reluctance: "No idea at all?"
"That's not true, there is still a little bit of thinking," Yang Xu found a report from the side of the experimental table, and Yang Xu handed it to Lu Zhou, "According to the information fed back from several sets of experimental data, by improving the catalyst The type can effectively improve the proportion of long carbon nanotube molecules in the product. In terms of this property, this kind of carbon nanotube molecules with nitrogen-containing groups on the surface is different from some samples I have done before. Very similar."
"So we only need to continuously improve the catalyst to keep the catalyst active during the high-temperature growth of the carbon nanotubes, and theoretically, its length can be increased."
For the growth of carbon nanotubes, the deactivation of the catalyst during the high-temperature growth process is an irreversible law, and it is also one of the main reasons for limiting the length of carbon nanotubes.
Therefore, improving the catalyst and prolonging its deactivation time is indeed a technically feasible and cost-controllable research idea.
After listening to Yang Xu's words, Lu Zhou nodded and said, "...Then do it according to the idea you said, and if you don't have enough funds, just tell me."
"Don't worry about this, I will definitely not be polite to you when the funds are really short," Yang Xu smiled, paused and continued, "By the way, I have something to ask you, now the laboratory is preparing The problem has been solved... Do I need to register a patent?"
Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, "Register a carbon nanotube sample first, and wait for the catalyst for preparation."
Yang Xu: "What about the thesis?"
Lu Zhou: "After the patent is registered, we can consider sorting out the content other than the preparation process and put it in a section."
Keeping the synthesis process secret, and simply submitting the sample with nitrogen-containing groups on the surface as an interesting carbon nanotube is also feasible in the material science community.
It would also be beneficial to him if more research institutions could be attracted to participate.
This is true not only in the field of materials science, but also in any field of academia. The hotter a problem is, the more interested research institutions are, and the faster the results will be produced.
If a research institute works behind closed doors and does not exchange opinions with other scholars or research teams, it may not be possible to see a result after more than ten years of thinking about a problem.
"Then do as you said," Yang Xu nodded, and continued, "...By the way, what name should we give it?"
Without thinking too much, Yang Xu subconsciously asked this sentence.
However, as soon as he said this, he regretted it.
It's just that all the questions have been asked, and even if you want to regret it now, it's too late.
Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly, thought for a while, and said.
"Just call N-1."
There is nothing special about the naming principle, purely considering that the nitrogen-containing modification groups on the surface of this carbon nanotube are too characteristic compared to other carbon nanotube materials, so the letter N is used to name this series of materials up.
As for N-1, it is naturally because it is No. 1. If a newer type of similar material is developed in the future, it can be deduced directly according to the law of 1234.
Although he also considered some more appropriate names to describe the performance of the material, such as "super-tensile carbon nanotubes" or "carbon nanotubes that are 100 times more tensile than steel", but because it took too much space to write, so He dismissed this idea.
Satisfied with his ability to name, Lu Zhou turned his questioning gaze to Yang Xu. He originally planned to ask his opinion, but saw that he didn't respond for a long time, so he hesitated to ask.
"……What's wrong?"
"It's nothing..." Yang Xu smiled awkwardly but politely, "I just think it's quite your style."
Lu Zhou: "...?"
What do you mean?
Look down on my taste in naming?
At this moment, a call suddenly hit Lu Zhou's cell phone.
He took out his mobile phone and saw that it was Director Li calling. Lu Zhou and Yang Xu greeted each other, then pressed the connect button and walked to the corridor outside the laboratory.
"Hey?"
"it's me."
Hearing Director Li's tone was not quite right, Lu Zhou didn't exchange greetings, and asked straight to the point.
"What happened?"
Sure enough, Director Li's next sentence confirmed his bad premonition.
"... There is something wrong with the Air Science Group. The heat dissipation system of the core cabin is not strong enough." After a pause of about two or three seconds, Director Li said in a heavy tone, "The launch plan may have to be postponed."
For spacecraft, heat dissipation is a very serious problem, and it is also a problem that is difficult to be found in the design stage. Although the current technology has been able to simulate the total heat production and heat dissipation, this simulation may still deviate from the actual situation due to various reasons.
To give a recent example, the U.S. GOES-17 satellite is susceptible to solar radiation and overheating due to design flaws in the cooling system, making it unable to obtain infrared cloud images in a timely and effective manner. At night, it is like a blind man, hundreds of millions of dollars The investment is almost in vain.
In a sense, it is quite lucky to be able to find problems on the ground. After all, after the spacecraft is in the sky, it is almost impossible to overhaul it.
As soon as he heard that there was a problem with heat dissipation, Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Can't it be solved by installing a heat sink?"
Director Li said in a serious tone: "...the problem is not with the cooling plate, it is said that it is with the loop heat pipe."
When he heard that the problem was caused by the loop heat pipe, Lu Zhou's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that the problem might not be simple.
"...You mean, the entire loop heat pipe has to be redesigned?"
The voice from the other end of the phone was a little bitter.
"I'm afraid so."
Lu Zhou: "..."
Mommy...
Redone the loop heat pipe!
What's the difference between this Nima and removing the shell of the entire core cabin and sending it back to the furnace?