Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 56 Prospects for Catalysts
As the sun began to set outside the window of Orange Technology's small workshop, Chen Mo rubbed his aching neck and glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his computer screen—16:50.

He got up and pulled his coat, which was draped over the back of the chair, the metal zipper making a crisp sound.

"Tiezhu! I need to see Teacher Lin. You can close the shop and leave when it's time!"

"My goodness!" Zhao Tiezhu immediately perked up, and with a grin, he bumped Chen's shoulder: "Brother Chen has finally figured it out! When Teacher Lin helped us with the production qualifications, you should have brought two bottles of Xifeng liquor to thank him long ago!"

He suddenly lowered his voice and winked mysteriously, "Brother Chen! Want me to come with you? I promise I'll make the atmosphere lively!"

"Go away!" Chen Mo laughed and kicked him. "You just want to freeload, I'm going to talk serious business!"

Chen Mo knows perfectly well what this kid is up to.

Besides, with the slightly serious tone in Teacher Lin's voice still ringing in Chen Mo's ears, he naturally realized that the other party had something important to tell him.

Chen Mo is still a little confused about how the news of his development of gaseous lithium batteries reached Teacher Lin's ears.

But now is the perfect time, as I have a physical prototype to prove that my gaseous lithium battery is not just a pipe dream.

The main reason we didn't proactively contact Vice President Lin was that having only documents wasn't enough to provide convincing evidence.

Besides, the battery patents and core smartphone patents have only just begun to be applied for. It would be troublesome if too many people knew about them.

Chen Mo stroked the incredibly ugly battery prototype. The world's first gaseous lithium battery prototype, perhaps because of its poor appearance, escaped the fate of self-inspection and submission for inspection before being "scrapped".

Human affairs are unpredictable, whether it brings fortune or misfortune!
Shenzhen University.

The restaurant on the second floor of the West Gate was filled with the unique aroma of Cantonese soy sauce. Vice Dean Lin used serving chopsticks to put a piece of roast goose on Chen Mo's plate, the glistening sauce shimmering warmly in the celadon dish.

"Little Chen! You really stole the show this time! Old Jiang, with his stubborn temper, was so angry with you that he didn't call me for three days!"

In the laboratory, Professor Jiang's knuckles turned white as he gripped the lab notebook, his right little finger trembling slightly. His roar at the graduate students made the fume hood buzz.

"If I weren't busy researching gaseous lithium batteries in the lab, I would definitely take these records and ask that old guy Lin in person." He suddenly glanced at the electrolyte under the electron microscope, which showed no progress, and the roar in his throat turned into a long sigh: "...I would ask him in person, how exactly did Chen Mo teach this guy!"

When fully charged, the electrolyte is an ionic gaseous polymer. After being charged, it will produce a mixture after sublimation. The catalyst is already mixed when it is in a gaseous state, so it is impossible to distinguish it!

For a nation-state, keeping the packaging process secret is nothing; electron microscopy, vacuum disassembly, and many other methods are readily available and can be easily used to resolve the issue. However, catalysts that mix multiple polymers are a different story.

Even if I tell you that the catalyst is a red solid with 58% purity, and then I mix the white, red, green, and black substances evenly and vaporize them, you can then separate the red solid with its unique impurities!
The experts at the Shenzhen National Key Laboratory of New Energy are not the only ones facing this dilemma; a group of experts at the Beijing Qinghua Battery Laboratory are also having a headache!

Ultimately, the outcome depends on whether Vice Dean Lin can persuade Chen Mo to voluntarily hand over the catalyst formula.

Chen Mo took a sip of buckwheat tea and finally asked the question that had been nagging at him all the way: "Professor Lin! How did you know I was researching gaseous lithium batteries?"

"Haha! You should thank your 'benefactor' for this!"

Vice Dean Lin picked up a glass of water, blew on it, and smiled with a hint of amusement.

"Xu Mingyuan's secretary sent the wrong battery information, sending the battery information that was supposed to be sent to Lao Jiang's Yuantu Company instead to you."

"Now the entire new energy-related department is in an uproar!"

As he spoke, he pushed some non-confidential academic forum discussions about gaseous lithium batteries from his phone in front of Chen Mo. The screen full of exclamation marks and doubts was particularly glaring under the warm yellow light.

While Chen Mo was still in a daze, Vice Dean Lin suddenly stopped smiling and turned his gaze to the darkening sky outside the window.

"Xiao Chen! Are you aware of the national new energy storage center's molten salt energy storage power station construction plan?"

He pointed to himself: "I am the chairman of the National Energy Storage Technology Standardization Committee. The first demonstration energy storage center in Haiqing Gobi is exactly what we need, a stroke of genius like yours that can 'vaporize' lithium ions!" Chen Mo's fingers unconsciously rubbed the inside of the teacup, the slightly cool touch making him fall into deep thought.

Memories from later generations surge like a tide—before switching to thorium-based molten salt reactor energy storage in 2025, new energy storage had gone through three five-year plans.

China has built four major energy storage centers, a total of 290 molten salt energy storage power stations, a 1.2GW energy storage miracle, and an astronomical figure of 1300 billion yuan.

At this moment, all these things seemed to transform into the expectant gaze of the old man before him.

Got it! Chen Mo now understood why the country valued a gaseous lithium battery that hadn't been tested in the market.

What the authorities value is not the battery itself, but the catalyst that can triple the energy density of liquid lithium batteries!

It is worth noting that in later generations, we directly occupied 68% of the global commercial market for molten salt storage.

This is a new energy market worth nearly a trillion dollars. Before developed countries withdrew from the carbon neutrality agreement, it brought huge returns to developed countries that did not have carbon quotas every year.

This not only covered the costs of building molten salt power plants in China in the early stages, but also earned a small profit of "hundreds of millions".

To put it simply, a molten salt power station is like a battery, which serves to store electricity and regulate peak demand, preventing the waste of electricity.

Solar power, thermal power, and wind power—these unstable power sources were previously called "garbage electricity."

Building molten salt power plants can store the electricity generated in small, scattered bursts, and then output it stably when needed.

However, this catalyst is certainly not suitable for commercially available electronic lithium batteries and power lithium batteries.

The reason is simple: with energy density tripling, the battery volume increases exponentially.

原来是1x1x1，现在是3x3x3倍啊！

The energy density increases by 3 times, and the volume increases by 27 times.

However, what does it matter if the volume of a large building like a molten salt power station is increased by 27 times?

The Northwest is vast and sparsely populated, with some areas being barren Gobi deserts. The area occupied by the molten salt power station could be expanded by more than 27 times, or even 100 times.

Chen Mo suddenly looked up, his eyes shining.

"Teacher! Using boron nitride polymers as catalysts in molten salt power storage plants can reduce costs by at least 35%. If the country needs it, I can submit a catalyst formula!"

This saves 35% of the cost. Over the three five-year plans, the total cost of building molten salt power plants was 130 billion yuan. This will save at least 455 billion yuan.

Don't let watching too many short videos make you think that 1300 billion is too little.

It should be noted that, excluding demolition and other expenses, the main construction cost of the Three Gorges Project was only 120 billion yuan.

The only difference between the two is that the Three Gorges Dam stores water, while the four major energy storage centers store electricity.

Of course, the energy storage center has only just begun its first five-year plan, with an investment of 400 billion yuan, and should be able to save about 140 billion yuan in the initial stage.

"Xiao Chen! You've calculated things very clearly!" Vice Dean Lin smiled with satisfaction and gently patted his shoulder: "What's most commendable is your awareness!"

He took a document out of his briefcase; the red seal gleamed with an air of authority under the light.

(End of this chapter)