The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 412 When something goes wrong, there must be a monster

The old man laughed and scolded, "You never tell the truth! How old are you? Still playing around?"

Since we need to test new materials, we should first look at their microstructure. The elderly person took the new material to an electron tunneling microscope for testing.

Not long after, the person who conducted the test rushed back: "Impossible, this is not scientific!"

"Don't overreact," the old man said disapprovingly. "What's unscientific about it? If it exists, it has a reason. What's the physical structure of the new material like?"

"If it only has one layer, then it's not a three-dimensional structure; it's a two-dimensional material."

The old man suddenly stood up, utterly shocked, because before this, both physicists and chemists had conducted extensive research and ultimately concluded that it was practically impossible for two-dimensional crystals to exist at room temperature.

"Did you see that clearly?" the old-fashioned phone asked excitedly. "Are your eyes playing tricks on you?"

"Seven or eight pairs of eyes have seen it clearly, and they are still in the lab in a daze."

The old man walked straight towards the laboratory: "I'll go take a look too. Could it be that two-dimensional materials really exist?"

The concept of graphene was first proposed in the 40s, but calculations showed that it was impossible for it to exist stably at room temperature. In the 60s, Higashiko also conducted research and prepared a near-monolayer structure, but a monolayer structure was never successfully prepared.

Liu Hua has now successfully made it using such a simple method, which is absolutely groundbreaking and will definitely shock the world.

Upon arriving at the laboratory, the old man asked his family to put on his glasses and then carefully observed the images on the screen. After just one glance, the old man was already certain of what was happening.

"Liu Hua, you've made history!" the old man exclaimed. "For the first time in human history, two-dimensional materials have been prepared at room temperature. You deserve the Nobel Prize for this discovery!"

Liu Hua shook his head: "The Nobel Prize is a crooked thing, I won't take it, I wouldn't even accept it if it were given to me."

"Who cares if he's crooked or not? If he gives it to you, just take it." The old man said with a smile, "You know the truth, but ordinary Chinese people don't. If we could win a Nobel Prize, it would be good for boosting national self-confidence."

"Because it's crooked, it's impossible for me to have it."

The entire laboratory was in an uproar. From authoritative experts at the top to junior researchers running errands at the bottom, everyone came to see the spectacle.

Even the administrative staff at the research institute came over to take a look. Although they were in charge of administration, they knew a little about the scientific community.

This is a height that no one before us has ever reached. Even if we can't participate, we can still watch the excitement.

The old man waved his hand: "Alright, stop the chaos, everyone get moving. This is the first two-dimensional material that mankind has ever been able to make. Test its performance thoroughly."

The entire research institute was mobilized. Liu Hua brought over a lot of materials, dozens of meters long, which were distributed among different laboratories.

The testing process was lengthy, but the discovery of the two-dimensional material quickly shocked the academic community; this news could not be kept secret.

On the third day, experts in materials science from all over the country rushed to Beijing, eager to know how Liu Hua had manufactured this material.

When they saw that it was just tape being repeatedly stuck to the graphite, they felt a little overwhelmed.

From the 1940s to the present, humanity has used all sorts of high-tech methods, but the conclusion has always been failure.

The academic community has concluded that it is impossible to create two-dimensional materials in a three-dimensional world, but here's the result... using the simplest methods and the simplest materials, they created something that is most unimaginable to humankind.

A week later, experts in materials science from abroad had already heard about this, although they only knew about the new material and did not know how to prepare it.

Experts in related fields have already flown to China, eager to obtain firsthand information.

Liu Hua was exchanging ideas with domestic experts and scholars: "Professor Liu, what were your reasons for preparing this new material?"

“New energy batteries.” Liu Hua said with a smile, “Our company is researching lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, and the progress is good, but I think it’s not enough, so I thought of carbon. This stuff is abundant on Earth and safe.”

"Haha, the world's greatest discoveries are often the most beautiful accidents."

The editor-in-chief of Nature magazine personally flew to China to commission an article from Liu Hua, wanting firsthand graphene papers.

Liu Hua was very troubled. He had basically never written a paper before, let alone one in English. It wasn't that he couldn't write it, but that he didn't want to.

Back then, he wrote his thesis day and night to graduate. He graduated after the first year of Tianlin, and the plagiarism checks were incredibly thorough.

Therefore, he absolutely does not want to write papers in his life if he can avoid it.

However, Liu Hua's superiors had a heart-to-heart talk with him, hoping that he would write this paper and bring glory to the country.

"Can a paper really bring glory to the country?" Liu Hua retorted. "Besides, I only discovered the production method of this new material by accident. I don't know much more about this new material than others."

"Your statement is untenable. No one in the world would believe that a scientist who has made great achievements in many fields would be so bored as to stick graphite together with tape in the laboratory."

There are still more intelligent people in the world who saw through the truth of the matter at a glance.

"As for whether a paper can bring glory to the country, of course it can. We are now open, and papers can demonstrate our scientific and technological strength. The stronger our scientific research capabilities, the more confident those wealthy talents will be in investing in us."

The task ultimately fell to Liu Hua: to produce a high-quality paper within two months and have it published on the front page of Nature magazine.

Liu Hua eventually had no choice but to accept the task. He had originally planned to work behind closed doors, write the paper, and hand it in.

But with the sounds of wind, rain, and reading filling the air, how can one find peace and tranquility amidst the pursuit of fame and fortune?

The company told Liu Hua that many Western funds and capital wanted to invest in Taiyi, and even if he went back, it wouldn't matter; they at least wanted to meet Liu Hua.

With no other option, Liu Hua had to set aside two days to reject all the funds and investors who wanted to invest.

While Liu Hua's refusal was disappointing, these funds and investors didn't take any drastic actions. After all, they were in it for the money, and harmony is key to success.

But even a donkey's mouth can get into the manger.

The man who came in arrogantly said, "Mr. Liu, our foundation is willing to sponsor your research unconditionally."

This was the first person Liu had encountered who only talked about investment but didn't want any return, but something was definitely amiss.

(End of this chapter)