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Chapter 161 Only by never forgetting your original intention can you always succeed

Everyone is familiar with the process and the topic has entered the optimization stage, making it easier to understand.

Simply put, Liu Hao and his team chose to use poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) as a temperature-responsive polymer and modified polyethylene glycol to achieve temperature sensitivity.

Then, molecular monomers containing Diels-Alder reaction are used to form dynamic covalent bond monomers to realize the memory function.

The synthesis method is to mix the responsive monomer with the cross-linking agent to form a gel through free radical polymerization.

A cross-linking reaction is carried out in the solution to form a uniform gel network. Finally, the network structure of the gel is realized through hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking.

The best situation in the laboratory at present is to achieve more than 70% recovery of fracture strength, and the self-repair efficiency has also reached more than 75%.

However, Party A requires that at least 90% of the fracture strength must be recovered and the self-repair efficiency must reach more than 95%.

Because it is said that MIT has achieved a self-healing efficiency of more than 95% by introducing dual-network dynamic keys, and the material's fracture strength recovery has reached 92%.

The University of California, Los Angeles also used thermoresponsive polymers to achieve materials that recovered more than 90% of their fracture strength.

The problem now is that those solutions have low universality and high cost, especially the dynamic chemical bond design, which is too expensive and not suitable for large-scale industrialization.

That’s why Liu Hao’s mentor was able to receive this order. He wanted to make some breakthroughs. Especially in the field of aerospace, there is a high demand for this kind of material.

Used for external coatings, it can sense and repair microcracks, and its self-healing property can extend the service life of the material in the harsh environment of space.

At the same time, temperature responsiveness can also protect the equipment from working under extreme temperature conditions.

Another is the manufacture of energy storage battery electrode materials, which can not only perform structural adjustments or repairs according to the temperature changes generated during the charging and discharging process, but also extend battery life and prevent safety accidents caused by thermal runaway.

Of course, this kind of smart material has many other applications. However, according to Senior Brother Zhang’s suggestion, if they can really make it, Party A will definitely first design products specifically for these two directions.

Moreover, many research institutes in China are currently making breakthroughs in this area, but their research group and the Huairou Institute are still at the forefront in the country.

Of course there are differences. For example, this project is larger. In fact, the project involves far more than just the people involved today. Two other laboratories are also doing some supporting work.

However, just like that day, Qiao Yu learned the specific laboratory methods in the laboratory, and then looked at the literature and laboratory data in the office, and found that this problem was indeed quite tricky.

The main reason is that the entire laboratory environment is a dynamic reaction network, and there are indeed too many parameter dimensions.

Time, solution concentration, molecular forces... there are too many factors that can influence the results.

The most troubling thing is that the data they collected is also very complicated. Although there are relatively mature solutions, as long as there is a slight change, the parameters may be greatly different, or the performance of the self-repaired material may be seriously degraded, and so on...

Looking at the messy laboratory data, Qiao Yu was simply astonished, and he also understood that the current development of new materials meant a large-scale trial and error experiment.

I roughly know what I need and how to make it, but I can only make mistakes in many details, such as the concentration of the fusion agent, the reaction time of gel cross-linking, and the ratio of monomer to cross-linking agent...

And so on. You need to keep trying and making mistakes at each step until you get a relatively satisfactory result.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with this method. After all, everyone does it this way.

But it would be fine if the experimental results were linear every time. As long as we can gradually approach the ideal results, everyone will see hope and be full of motivation to work.

The problem is that the results of each test are nonlinear. In simple terms, sometimes the results look good, and then fine-tuning is done on this basis, and the results become worse.

Fine-tuning again, worse. Until occasionally a better result appeared from a lab sample...

After reading the lab records, Qiao Yu probably understood why Professor Lu told them to do more experiments first. This pattern was too elusive.

Using these results to build models and run simulations would be like killing the supercomputer, and it probably wouldn't be of much use.

After all, supercomputer simulation must first collect enough data, so that it is possible to obtain some more reliable possibilities without the need for actual experiments.

Without sufficient data support, it is impossible to effectively control various parameters. In this case, letting the supercomputer run aimlessly is a pure waste of computing power.

After reading the laboratory records and some literature, Qiao Yu turned his head to look at Senior Brother Liu who had been beside him and looking at him expectantly.

He asked very seriously: "Senior Brother Liu, I am not questioning your expertise, I just want to ask, if you accidentally come up with a good result in the laboratory, and then there is a mistake in the laboratory record, will you go crazy?"

Liu Hao was stunned for a moment, then a complicated expression appeared on his face. He then pointed at the window next to him and said firmly: "Crazy? Let me tell you, if anyone makes a mistake in their work under such circumstances, I will immediately throw them out of that window!"

After saying this, Liu Hao seemed to feel that he was too cruel, and added: "Of course, if it was my fault, I wouldn't ask for anyone's help and would jump down by myself."

Qiao Yu thought about it and realized that this should be on the fifth floor, and each floor of the Chemistry Building seemed to be higher than normal buildings. He estimated that it was about 20 meters from the ground.

In addition, there is hardened road surface under the window, so the hope of surviving a fall from a height of twenty meters seems slim.

Well...if those who study mathematics are just a little dirty-hearted, then those who study chemistry are too cruel!
Throwing people out of the window at every turn is unprofessional. If all else fails, why not feed them sulfuric acid? After all, throwing people downstairs randomly can easily hit them...

"Hey, I call you Junior Brother Qiao, but you don't know how hard it is to stay in the lab. Let me tell you, for this project, I haven't had a rest for half a year.

Really, I haven't had a day off in the past six months. Can you believe it? I'm not sure if you will believe me, but I only had three good nights of sleep in such a long time, and that was when I went on a business trip with my boss to attend a meeting.

It's not just me, everyone in the research group is similar. The average sleep time is no more than six hours a day. What's 996? We are the real 007!

Just say that in this case, if there is a good result, but it is not recorded due to human factors, even if I let him go, can others let him go?"

Liu Hao started to complain like crazy.

Qiao Yu nodded, and then he became deeply worried. There was a reason why this chemistry building was not on the main campus.

Not to mention the dangers of the lab building itself, if he stayed in the lab for such a long time, he would probably have some psychological problems. This building should be equipped with a psychologist.

Really, he originally thought that he and Senior Brother Chen had worked hard enough, but now it seems that Senior Brother Chen still has a lot of potential to be tapped.

This made Qiao Yu serious, and he asked, "Let's not talk about this for now. I see that you need to use SEM to observe the pore structure and network uniformity inside the gel every time. This directly affects the repairability of the material, right?"

"More than that. You see, this directly affects the key functional groups. Only when the network structure is uniform can dynamic covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds be formed. You can see this in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy."

……

With just a question and answer session, Qiao Yu soon had a good understanding of the entire process and the correlation of the test results.

Due to time constraints, Qiao Yu also had dinner in the laboratory. Of course, this time it was Liu Hao who asked Chen Jiang to bring dinner to everyone in the cafeteria.

Everyone is the same, with a box lunch and a bottle of mineral water, and a meal can be finished in ten minutes.

Of course, it was because the canteen at Yanbei University was cheap enough. Otherwise, eating like this every day would easily make the host poor again.

That afternoon, a batch of new materials were being tested and data collected and recorded in the lab. In short, everyone in the lab was very busy.

The same is true for Chen Jiang. According to Qiao Yu's observation, because each synthesis requires the preparation of solutions, dirty bottles are constantly produced.

To put it bluntly, the entire laboratory is just a more advanced and professional assembly line, not fancy at all.

"I understand almost everything, but I have to think carefully about how to deal with it this time. I have to take this data back. You know, the problem last time was very simple, but this time it seems a bit troublesome. I have to think of other ways."

After figuring out everything they needed to know, Qiao Yu spoke very frankly to Liu Hao.

It's not that he has reservations, it's just that the problem this time is indeed much more complicated than last time.

And as Professor Lu said, there is not enough laboratory data. Well, in fact, it is not just that there is not enough data, there is no clear direction, which makes it very difficult to model or design simulation models.

Even if the model is designed, it may not have the ability to generalize. Even if you force the design, you may not be able to know the direction of the experiment in the end, and the biggest possibility is that you will get repeated errors.

The last time the situation occurred at three different temperatures. There was enough data support for the other two temperatures, and after comparison, it was easy to analyze where the problem lay.

It is enough to read other literature and find out the different chemical reactions that may occur at 500K and the other two different temperatures, and you can make a rough judgment.

To be honest, Liu Hao was somewhat disappointed.

But if you think about it carefully, this is actually the normal situation. After all, Qiao Yu is not a god...

To be honest, his experience in this area may not be as rich as Professor Lu's.

It can only be said that the fact that Qiao Yu solved the problem in one day last time gave him some unrealistic fantasies.

But then again, at least Qiao Yu is not as bleak as Professor Lu said, so there is still some hope.

So Liu Hao immediately said, "It's okay, just take it back and analyze it. If necessary, we have new data every week. I will ask Chen Jiang to send it to you then."

"That's fine. By the way, I think Brother Chen Jiang has a very good memory. It's a bit of a waste to just wash the bottles. After all, a good memory may be helpful in the situation I just mentioned. Throwing people downstairs at will is too scary."

Before leaving, Qiao Yu made a joke.

"Haha, actually we all went through this during our first year of graduate school. But you're right, we should let Chen Jiang do other things later. It just so happens that we don't have enough manpower for this project. I'll talk to my boss and ask him to transfer another graduate student here."

Liu Hao also laughed and said.

Well, considering that this senior brother Chen, a chemist, still remembered what flavor of milk tea he liked after half a year, Qiao Yu really didn't mind saying a nice word.

Anyway, it doesn't cause any loss to him, and as a person with a very good memory, he should remember Ji En for a long time, right?
……

After communicating with Liu Hao, Qiao Yu said hello to the other people in the laboratory, then patted his butt and left.

Liu Hao still sent Qiao Yu to the downstairs of the laboratory building. After watching Qiao Yu scan a shared bike and drive away, he returned to the laboratory.

When passing by Chen Jiang, Liu Hao stopped and thought for a moment before saying, "Chen Jiang, a junior fellow student will come to take over your work tomorrow, so you should rest early today.

I will talk to your Senior Brother Zhang later and ask him to take you to familiarize yourself with the laboratory. Well, let's start with the simplest preparation, no problem."

Well, this sentence really made Chen Jiang feel a little surprised.

Although he didn't wash bottles every day, his seniors still let him participate in some simple experiments.

But when there is such an important project, I still like to ask him to wash the bottles. The reason is that I think he is more skilled in washing bottles and will not delay things.

This is really embarrassing.

To be honest, if Chen Jiang had to choose, he would rather do the experiments himself in those small projects than wash bottles in such a large research group.

But there was nothing he could do. A graduate student like him who had been in the group for less than a year really had no human rights, especially when his supervisor was very good. Moreover, he could not miss the classes he was supposed to take, and he could not choose what work he did in the laboratory...

The only thing to be thankful for is that the instructor is really generous. He gives them quite a lot of subsidies, and he never thinks of ways to get them back.

My senior is doing quite well in the School of Chemistry and gets a lot of scholarships. In addition to various subsidies from the state and the school, he has a lot of money.

Chen Jiang also inquired privately and found out that he received more money than most people of the same grade.

For example, another tutor who is also acquainted with Chen Jiang in the next dormitory is currently working on a battery project. He also washes bottles every day and has never been allowed to work on any small projects.

The various subsidies he received plus the subsidies from his boss only added up to about two-thirds of his monthly salary, sometimes only half.

This is how the motivation to work hard came about.

The boss of the laboratory suddenly said this today, which was definitely a blessing in disguise for Chen Jiang.

"Ah? Thank you, Brother Liu. Don't worry, I will definitely work hard."

The surprise came too suddenly, leaving Chen Jiang somewhat incoherent. After all, this meant that he was finally no longer the most transparent person in the laboratory, and being able to participate in the experimental operation was much more interesting than washing bottles.

Looking at Chen Jiang's surprised expression, Liu Hao sighed in his heart.

In fact, everyone has washed bottles. In a sense, this step is to test one's patience.

After all, the transition from washing bottles to laboratory operations is not that different. If you do it too much, it will all become the same old thing.

If I can't even get past washing the bottles, the boring laboratory life will be even more unbearable.

Not to mention that chemical experiments often involve various dangers. If you don’t have the patience and something goes wrong, it won’t be a question of whether you can graduate, but whether you can take care of yourself in the future.

"Well, actually you don't need to thank me. Just now when Qiao Yu left, he said that you have a very good memory and he is very optimistic about your future performance in the laboratory. Of course, even if he didn't say it, you would have entered the laboratory after this project. Anyway, keep up the good work."

Liu Hao raised his hand, patted Chen Jiang on the shoulder and said something encouraging.

Although he hasn't graduated yet, he often serves as a teaching assistant and is deeply trusted by his boss, so now Liu Hao is actually the de facto junior supervisor in the research group, and his words definitely count.

Chen Jiang was a little surprised. He didn't expect that he could finish this boring job just because of Qiao Yu's words...

The little guy who was much younger than him could actually decide his position in the laboratory. Although it might have been just a few months in advance, he still felt somewhat moved and emotional.

When he was sixteen, he was still memorizing lessons every day, while others could already decide their position in the laboratory at the age of sixteen. The gap is too big!

……

Qiao Yu got on his bike and didn't go back to Yanbei University. Instead, he turned directly into Huaqing University and went straight to Qiao Xi's place.

This kind of thing has to be shared with someone, and Qiao Xi is naturally the best choice.

When Qiao Xi was in Xingcheng before, she had to make phone calls to communicate with the other party.

Now that I live nearby, I stayed in the lab too late and was too lazy to go back to school, so I might as well go over and stay for a night.

Not to mention that the house that Yuan Lao allocated to Qiao Xi originally had two rooms. Qiao Yu felt that the subtext was that he had left one room for him to live in whenever he wanted.

"How did you come?"

After opening the door with the password, Qiao Yu saw Qiao Xi half lying on the sofa, looking at him in surprise.

The TV opposite was still on.

This made Qiao Yu feel that Yuan Lao was not thoughtful enough and was too prudent in thinking about everything. For example, something like a television, which was used for leisure and entertainment, could be completely eliminated.

So Qiao Yu ignored Qiao Xi's words and scolded her in a very sad tone: "You are actually watching TV? Do you know what people should do at the right time? Why don't you study hard at your age? Do you plan to work hard when you are old?"

Qiao Xi smiled, but a little coldly, which showed that the PUA was not very successful.

Then Qiao Xi sat up straight, patted the seat next to her sofa, and said, "Come, sit here, I'll explain it to you."

Qiao Yu closed the door and moved a stool to sit far away from Qiao Xi before saying, "Forget it this time. Considering that you have worked hard on the train today, this won't happen again."

"Haha...so why did you come here?" Unable to cope with the fight, Qiao Xi was too lazy to pay attention to Qiao Yu.

There's no way, the two of them are too familiar with each other.

Qiao Yu knew very well that once Qiao Xi took a shower and lay on the sofa, he would be too lazy to move unless he went to sleep.

"Remember the last time I told you about the time I worked as a consultant in the Chemistry College's laboratory, helped them solve a problem, and then they gave me two million in consulting fees?"

Qiao Xi nodded. Qiao Yu had just told him about this in the middle of the year and had also boasted about how rich he was now, so he naturally remembered it.

"That Senior Brother Liu has come to me again. This time it's still a horizontal project, but this time the problem is more troublesome. I've been staying in the laboratory until now, and I thought it would be closer to Huaqing, so I just came to live with you."

"Oh, is the problem solved?" Qiao Xi asked.

Qiao Yu shook his head and said, "This is a bit troublesome and not so easy to deal with. And I feel that they haven't found the right direction yet and are a little too impatient."

Qiao Xi thought for a moment and said, "Well... you're not here to see if they've found the right direction, are you? Are you trying to earn some consulting fees again?"

"Why can't I do it because of my friendship with Senior Brother Liu?" Qiao Yu asked back.

"Hehe..." Qiao Xi chuckled twice, then glanced at Qiao Yu. That look seemed to be able to see through everything.

So Qiao Yu admitted it confidently: "Okay! I admit that I have this idea. But why not make the consulting fee? Unless I am stupid! This is legal income. The current economic situation is not good, of course, this opportunity to make a lot of money cannot be missed.

And let me tell you, this time their lab had competition. Party A not only commissioned them, but also commissioned another research institute, and used two different solutions.

In other words, if the other party produces results first, then all the work done by Senior Brother Liu during this period will be in vain! So if I can help, maybe the consulting fee can be higher. "

Qiao Xi frowned and said, "We don't seem to be short of money now, right? Both Mr. Yuan and Director Tian have high hopes for you. Shouldn't you focus on research? Can't you wait until you are an adult to make money?"

Qiao Yu blinked, looked at Qiao Xi, and said doubtfully: "Really? Didn't you always encourage me to stand on the top of the mountain and look down on all living things? I am now striving towards my ideal, you can't hold me back ideologically!"

Qiao Xi was silent for a moment, then said seriously: "Qiao Yu, is it possible that what I said at that time was that I hope you can stand at the top of mathematics? And if you can become a figure like Mr. Yuan, do you still need to consider making money?"

Qiao Yu sternly retorted: "No, no, no, Comrade Qiao Xi, you have to understand one thing, top mathematicians are indeed not short of money, but that doesn't mean they are very rich.

In fact, even if they are top mathematicians, even if they have won the Fields Medal, they are only authorities in the academic world. This does not mean that they have enough power to control themselves.

But money or capital is different. At the top of mathematics, I can only use my influence to decide some things, such as planning future research directions.

But if I can be very rich, or even control capital, I can do more. For example, among so many great mathematicians in the world, have you ever heard of anyone who has a private jet or a private yacht?

Well, even if you don't care about these things, let's talk about academics. If one day I find that mathematics can be monetized and I need money to invest, wouldn't it be better for me to give away my money to others if I don't have the money?

So the real pinnacle is definitely not just to achieve enough achievements in mathematics. Maybe in the future my influence can build a mathematics center because someone is willing to invest in my achievements. But I can't use my influence in mathematics to get people to help me build a community, right?

Besides, if I don’t think about how to make more money now, what will I do if I become a math expert in the future and am tempted by so much research and development funding?
You have to know that it is legal to make money as a consultant, but embezzling research and development funds is a crime and requires a lot of cost. So in order for me to become an honest and noble mathematician, I naturally have to make more money while I am young, right?"

"you……"

After saying the word "you", Qiao Xi didn't know what to say for a moment. Although she felt that Qiao Yu was starting to make crooked arguments again, she didn't know how to refute it.

However, Qiao Yu spoke again: "Actually, it's very simple to think clearly about this matter. Please recall now, why did I choose to study mathematics? Wasn't it because Teacher Lan told me that I could make a lot of money by studying mathematics well?
So doing mathematical research is just a means, and making money is the goal. After I make enough money, I may change my goal. Do you think the future is much clearer after thinking it through?
Our life journey is still long. There will be many scenery and temptations on this road, such as warmth and satisfaction! So we must always keep in mind the original goal, so as not to go astray. Don't put the cart before the horse! Remember the saying, don't forget your original intention, and you will succeed. "

Qiao Xi turned her eyes towards the TV. The phrase “Only by keeping your original aspiration in mind can you achieve your goal” not only made her feel it was strange to use it here, but also completely gave up the idea of ​​debating with Qiao Yu.

There's no way around it. These days, those who earn money to support their families are always more capable.

Qiao Yu did not continue arguing with Qiao Xi about this issue. When the other party stopped talking, he moved over to the sofa and leaned against it, feeling much more comfortable.

My eyes were fixed on the TV, but my mind was racing.

Scientific research is like this, where there is cooperation there is naturally competition. And this thing is not about who works harder and gets ahead.

Especially when it comes to the task of developing new materials, a bit of luck is often required.

After all, as things stand, this is a game of trial and error.

So now his task is to see if he can do something during the whole trial and error process. It would be best if he could develop a cheat device and then sell it.

Contribute his intelligence and then get some insignificant financial rewards and friendship in return... and Liu Hao is worth investing in.

After all, he will be the junior supervisor of Professor Zhang who is very good at leading horizontal projects in the future.

This also means there will be many opportunities for future cooperation...

No, why would he only consider taking the work from one laboratory? If he could think of a more useful method, wouldn't he be able to earn the money of many laboratories?
This obviously complicates the issue...

No, it’s not that complicated…

Because he does not need to completely solve the problem, it is enough to give the research team a direction to solve the problem and help them reduce the cost of trial and error. At the very least, success or failure cannot appear too metaphysical.

But then again, this doesn't seem to be a simple matter. To put it bluntly, these experiments involving new materials lack direction. Even some laboratories that have published their results actually use very old methods.

Moreover, several materials science papers of this type that I read from Liu Hao today directly simplified the key experimental conditions and steps, and did not disclose the specific formulas, equipment adjustment details, etc.

This part of the content is also placed in the controlled access database, and must be authorized to access. This also made Qiao Yu learn some knowledge. It turns out that this is also possible...

Unfortunately, he is not good at mathematics. If he hides the key steps of the proof, no one will be able to understand the paper.

……

After admitting that he was not omnipotent, Qiao Yu simply went to take a shower and go to bed.

However, in the following week, Qiao Yu even suspended some of his work and spent most of his time looking for literature on similar research.

After all, reading some relevant industry review papers can really get a lot of information. At least you can understand the past and present of a project, and maybe you can find a solution.

Anyway, this is how Qiao Yu plays with mathematics.

Until Chen Zhuoyang called him.

"Junior brother, my mission is basically completed. Do you have anything that needs to be verified recently?"

Well, a first-author paper from a Big Four journal was so horrible that Qiao Yu didn’t expect that Senior Brother Chen would take the initiative to ask him to live…

Qiao Yu immediately replied: "Yes, I'll send it to your email later."

"Oh, that's fine. By the way, you can take a look at my recent work. I've also sent it to your email. Hey, you know what, I'm increasingly convinced that your project is a promising one!
I recently took some time to read some literature, and I found that if we can introduce higher-dimensional designs, we may be able to solve more problems. And I heard that some foreign teams have begun to try to use the framework you built to do some optimization tasks. "

Hearing this, Qiao Yu suddenly became interested and asked, "Oh? Really? Did you hear that from anyone?"

"There are related papers on arXiv, but some of the articles are so messy that I don't understand them at all. But I think some of the articles are pretty good."

"So fast?" Qiao Yu sighed.

"There's nothing I can do. The influence is too great."

"Okay, let's do this for now. I'll send you the task later."

After saying that, Qiao Yu, who was not in the mood to chat with Chen Zhuoyang, hung up the phone.

Then I logged into arXiv out of curiosity and searched for the generalized modal axiom system.

Sure enough, a bunch of related papers popped up soon, most of which were published recently.

After randomly clicking on a few articles and taking a glance at them, suddenly an article caught his attention.

"Dynamic System Analysis Based on Modal Axiom Optimization"

"Forehead?"

Seeing this title, Qiao Yu suddenly felt something hit his mind...

Really, for a moment, Qiao Yu felt that something must have lowered his intelligence recently. Why didn't he think that his axiom system could actually have practical value? !
　Thanks to Lao He from the Madhouse for the reward and encouragement!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)