Great Country Academician

A more awesome project than lithium-sulfur batteries!

Hearing these words, Fan Pengyue's body trembled, a trace of shock flashed in his eyes, and he opened his eyes wide.

For the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute, which started with artificial SEI films, batteries undoubtedly account for the bulk of revenue.

In the battery field, he can think of only one project that is more awesome than lithium-sulfur batteries.

That is the legendary black technology: "lithium-air battery!"

Taking a deep breath, Master Xiong suppressed the shock in his heart, swallowed his saliva and asked, "Are you sure about the research on lithium-air batteries?"

The reason why I ask this is because the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute itself is doing lithium-air related research, but the previous investment in research and development was very small, and it has not become a core project of the institute like lithium-sulfur batteries.

After all, for things like lithium air, not to mention them, all the battery manufacturers and scientific research institutions in the world combined have not made any breakthroughs.

So far, this thing is still a laboratory product or even a theoretical product with numerous flaws.

Lithium-air battery: A battery that uses lithium as the negative electrode and oxygen in the air as the positive reactant.

It has a higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries and even lithium-sulfur batteries. Because the cathode (mainly porous carbon) is very light, and the oxygen is obtained from the environment instead of being stored in the battery.

Theoretically, since oxygen is not limited as a positive reactant, the capacity of lithium-air batteries only depends on the lithium electrode, and its specific energy can reach 5.21kWh/kg.

Traditional lithium batteries are calculated in terms of Wh/kg, while lithium-air batteries are calculated in KWh/Kg. The change in units is enough to show its extremely superior performance.

Therefore, the concept of lithium-air batteries has been sought after all over the world since it was proposed.

However, after decades of research and development, although there are many directions, there is still no progress.

As for the samples that are often released in laboratories in various countries, it can be said that they all have problems of one kind or another.

So when he heard Xu Chuan's words, Fan Pengyue was really shocked.

If they can also master lithium-air batteries, then in this era, they can really say that they directly control the future!

Because, electric energy is the future!

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "I don't have much research on lithium-air batteries."

"but."

After a pause, his eyes fell on the computer paper and said with a smile: "But the theory of the paper you are reading is enough to point it in a direction."

For lithium-air batteries, the core mechanism is actually very similar to the artificial SEI film in lithium-ion batteries.

In most cases, the function of the artificial SEI film is to prevent the elements in the electrolyte from aggregating and penetrating, or by guiding aggregation to prevent further decomposition of solutes in the battery electrolyte, thereby reducing battery side reactions and The purpose of electrolyte loss.

In lithium-air batteries, the core mechanism lies in how to extract "high-purity" oxygen from the air to supply the battery reaction, and how to prevent chronic leakage of the electrolyte separator in the lithium battery.

At present, the mainstream research direction of lithium-air batteries in various countries is basically to create a layer of 'membrane material' similar to an artificial SEI film to isolate the electrolyte and air, and draw oxygen from the air to participate in the battery reaction.

Such films undoubtedly have extremely high performance requirements.

Whether it is the isolation of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases in the air from harming the battery itself, or the low efficiency of power transfer, short service life, and safety issues, these are all huge troubles.

The most critical thing is that in current lithium-air battery technology, its most basic redox mechanism has not yet been clearly demonstrated.

Through this paper he produced, combined with the experimental data of lithium-air batteries, there is great hope that the redox mechanism of lithium-air batteries can be completed.

With the mechanism in mind, and then using this as the core to conduct research and extension, the difficulty of technological research and development of lithium-air batteries will be reduced by at least half!

This is one of the reasons why Xu Chuan chose electrochemistry as a breakthrough point in reconstructing the theoretical reconstruction of computational models of chemical materials from the beginning.

Because the reaction of lithium-air batteries is electrochemical, as long as they follow this routine, maybe they are not far away from lithium-air batteries that are more advanced than lithium-sulfur batteries.

On the sofa, when he heard Xu Chuan say that the key to solving lithium-air battery technology lies in this paper, Fan Pengyue turned over the laptop in his hand again and asked, "What should I do?"

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "It's very simple. First, the research institute will work with the Network Technology Company to convert this paper into a mathematical model, and then collect experimental data related to electrochemistry and lithium batteries to fill it in."

"Once the quantum computing mathematical model of the electrochemical microscopic substantive reaction is established, we can start research on lithium-air batteries."

Fan Pengyue nodded, took a breath and asked, "What's the direction? Which route should we take?"

Unlike lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries are currently at the forefront of battery research. Although there are studies in various countries, due to difficulty, no one route has truly become mainstream.

For lithium-air batteries, there are currently several research directions, including developing a more stable electrolyte system, improving cathode materials, researching new anode materials for lithium-air batteries, and improving battery safety and stability.

Each of these routes has achieved certain results, but to say that any one has an overwhelming advantage, there is really no one.

Some people may say, can’t I study them all? The advantages of each route are extracted and finally formed into one direction and one research.

In theory, this idea is possible, but the question is where will your scientific research funds come from?

Researching one route consumes a lot of money, let alone researching all routes at the same time.

And apart from scientific research funding, it is even more unrealistic to study all directions at the same time.

Because there are so many things to consider when developing all routes at the same time.

If the complexity of studying one route is '100', then the difficulty of studying all routes at the same time can soar to 10,000 or even higher.

Because you need to consider the combination of each material, the parameter coefficients between each reaction, and also need to consider various aspects such as its conductivity, chemical stability, and lifespan. The level of complexity has increased exponentially.

Hearing this question, Xu Chuan thought for a moment and said, "The direction and route can ultimately be solved by the results of experimental data and computational models."

"However, compared to electrolyte and other routes, I am personally more optimistic about the membrane route."

After a pause, he continued: "Of course, the key now is for the research institute to cooperate with the network technology company to create a mathematical model first. After the model is completed, and with enough data, we can naturally conduct it through experimental data. analyze."

As he just said, he does not have much research on the research direction of lithium-air batteries, and he does not know the research direction of lithium-air batteries.

According to the development trajectory of the previous life, this technology will make little progress before 2035. In addition, he has never entered this field himself, so current research in the field of lithium-air batteries can only proceed step by step.

Fortunately, the Chuanhai Materials Research Institute has experienced development over the years and already has a certain foundation in the field of lithium batteries.

Although this background is not as good as those of old research institutes and laboratories, it is not a problem to choose a suitable research direction combined with the quantum theory of the microscopic substantive reaction process of electrochemistry.

Opposite, the master Xiong Fan Pengyue frowned slightly and said: "If this is the case, in the early experiments, we will conduct a large number of experiments on different routes of lithium battery research to obtain enough data to fill in the model."

"As a result, the expenditure on funds is probably not a small figure."

It is natural to find the direction through models, but this path is based on the analysis of a large amount of experimental data.

Every piece of experimental data needs to be obtained through experiments. Experiments are not difficult, but the difficulty lies in the large amount of funds corresponding to a large number of experiments. Funding is the key.

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "I know this. Although this is the stupidest way, it is also the safest way."

"As for funding, if we can solve the problem of lithium-air batteries, it will be worth investing more. You don't have to worry about this, I will provide it."

For scientific research, funding investment is necessary.

Nothing is more expensive than scientific research, but nothing is more profitable than successful scientific research.

Lithium-air batteries are an extremely huge market. As long as we can take the lead in this, without even having a monopoly, it will be enough to recover costs and bring a lot of benefits.

Fan Pengyue nodded, thought for a while and then said: "Okay, I will arrange this matter. Make preliminary preparations before the year, and the related projects can be officially launched after the year."

"By the way, are you participating in the research and development of lithium-air batteries? Or should we follow the research and development of lithium-sulfur batteries?"

Xu Chuan thought for a while and replied: "It depends on the situation, if I have time then."

He has many things on his hands. Although lithium-air batteries are very promising, if you calculate the time, the large strong particle collider under construction in Star City may be completed next year.

In comparison, this is more important. He really may not be able to spare time to study lithium-air batteries.

After all, both dark matter and gravitons involve the progress and development of physics and even the entire civilization, and they are also areas that he is more interested in.