Chapter 298: Large Lithium-Sulfur Battery Project

International companies had been researching lithium-sulfur batteries for a long time.

To put it in perspective, if humans needed to solve 10 technical problems to “unlock” lithium-sulfur batteries, these 10 technical problems could be divided into 10 patents each for a total of 100 patents. International research institutes had already obtained 30-40 of these patents.

Under the WTO regulation, a company could not set up barriers with their patents, otherwise, it would put other companies at a disadvantage.

For example, Qualcomm had completely dominated the silicon processor field. If they forced one to release one’s patents under the WTO law, one couldn’t do anything but to oblige.

The industry was based on the fact that both parties had equal access to resources; if the access wasn’t equal, then there would be no competition, and a monopoly could form.

The same applied to countries. Except instead of stock prices, they were dealing with a trade surplus.

When Lu Zhou heard Old Lu’s request, he thought about it seriously before he said cautiously, “Although I really want to help you, I have only researched anode materials. I don’t really know the lithium battery industry well, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t lying, he was telling the truth.

Although the modified PDMS film solved the biggest lithium dendrites problem, the technology involved did not translate to anode materials.

For example, the electrode cycle performance was extremely poor.

The sulfur positive electrode didn’t generate lithium sulfide when it was discharged. Instead, it was accompanied by the formation of lithium polysulfide intermediate products. Lithium polysulfide would dissolve in the electrolyte, causing dissolution loss. These dissolved lithium polysulfides would diffuse to the negative electrode and then oxidized at the positive electrode.

This phenomenon would eventually cause the positive electrode material and the negative electrode to stick together. Although this issue didn’t make the battery dangerous, it made the battery non-recyclable.

And this “shuttle effect” was exactly what Professor Kerr told Professor Sarrot at the MRS Conference.

There were many potential methods to solve this problem such as from the anode material side, the electrolyte side, or from the electrode material. Although there were many paths, none of them were easy to accomplish.

Lu Zhou’s high-tech lithium battery scan model was probably the highly advanced lithium-air battery, which was at least two generations ahead of the current technology.

Although lithium-air batteries also used lithium as its negative electrode, it didn’t use sulfur as the positive electrode. It didn’t even need electrolytes, so it didn’t have the “shuttle effect”.

“Of course, this burden will not be placed on you alone,” said Old Lu with a smile. He then added, “This study will involve more than 20 national research institutes such as the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Nanoscience Research Center. This study will focus on technical difficulties in the energy field. Lithium-sulfur batteries are one of the most important aspects of our new energy development plan. Other than you, there will be many expert research groups working on this problem!

“Our lithium battery expert professors have unanimously agreed that you are the most suitable candidate. We are not trying to change your research plan, we just hope that if you are looking for a new research direction, try to prioritize the lithium-sulfur battery direction. We will try our best to monetarily compensate you!”

Lu Zhou heard this and couldn’t help but scream in his heart.

Originally, he thought that Old Lu was talking about an ordinary support policy. He didn’t expect the higher-ups to take this matter as a national project.

If the former was an air-drop supply for researchers fighting on the front lines, then the latter was equivalent to an “army” composed of research units at all levels preparing for a large-scale operation on the fight for new energy.

Outsiders might not have been able to feel this impact, but for the people in the industry, this was a big deal.

This was obviously a good thing for Lu Zhou. Old Lu’s statement was clear, Lu Zhou would get heavy research preferential treatment.

Although Lu Zhou didn’t lack money, the support policy could still help him get rid of a lot of troubles.

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Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at Old Lu.

“If this is the case, then I agree!”

…

The intention of cooperation was obvious; next was the discussion of the specific content of the cooperation.

Old Lu’s proposal was to build a material science research institute in Jinling’s newly-launched high-tech industrial park, focusing on the development of lithium-sulfur battery-related technologies. At the same time, the state would provide preferential policies such as five-year tax exemption, import equipment rebate, and three-year new energy research subsidies.

Part of the research funding would be subsidized by the country while the remainder was from the enterprise.

At the same time, Jin Ling University could offer experts to work at the laboratory.

Like physics, the materials science department was one of the strongest departments at Jin Ling University. Their organic and nanomaterials research were cutting-edge.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with Old Lu’s requests.

However, this wasn’t the main point.

What Lu Zhou cared about was the research result.

This was what any researcher would care about.

If this was natural sciences, then there wouldn’t be much concern. Any research result would benefit the entire human race. However, if it was engineering-based research, not only would it benefit the entire human race, it would also benefit specific organizations and individuals.

A manifestation of the phenomenon could be seen in patents.

Old Lu thought cautiously about Lu Zhou’s question before he said, “I’m not an entrepreneur. I can’t give you a specific plan. However, I can guarantee that 30% of the profits in lithium-sulfur batteries will go to you.”

Under normal circumstances, the government did not care about profits and losses on research projects. Therefore the researchers often wouldn’t receive a profit from the research results.

On the other hand, companies would pocket the majority of the research profits. They would never give out 30%.

Because scientific research was like gambling, investing in it was a bottomless pit. Companies had to bear considerable risks when conducting research. The only researchers that would get a share of the profits were researchers that had a stake in the research fund.

The television show “The Big Bang Theory” talked about this problem. The research results that the university professors did were split in a ratio of 25% professor, 75% university.

For the profit-oriented companies, this split would be even more extreme.

Therefore, Old Lu’s proposition was quite generous.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t lacking in money, and he was sure that he could achieve the results.

Although Lu Zhou knew the Old Lu was doing this out of kindness, he still refused.

“I don’t need companies to invest in this project, I can invest in it myself.”

Old Lu heard Lu Zhou’s request and smiled.

“That’s great then. If Professor Lu is willing to fund his own research, as long as this research institute is built on Chinese soil, all of the research results will go to you!”