196: Chapter 196 Exactly!

Hearing Zhao Yang's conclusion, which was so definitive and precise down to the specific number of cycles, Engineer Liu's expression darkened.

He was a senior researcher who had spent fifteen years grinding away at the forefront of lithium-ion battery materials.

Over these fifteen years, he had experienced several technological iterations, from lithium cobalt oxide to lithium manganese oxide, and now to ternary materials.

He possessed his own technical system and accumulated experience.

Yet, this Zhao Yang before him, while having achieved world-class success in mathematics and even causing a huge sensation both domestically and abroad, was nothing more than a novice who had just come into contact with experimental procedures in the fields of materials science and chemical engineering.

Without using a computer to calculate, and without even moving the pen on the table, he had merely glanced at the parameters on the formula sheet and dared to assert that the battery would collapse at the twenty-eighth cycle.

A wave of strong defiance rose inexplicably in Engineer Liu's heart.

This direct negation of empirical science based purely on mathematical logical deduction was something he found difficult to accept.

So what if he solved a world-class mathematical conjecture?

This is just too arrogant!

Chemical reactions involve the basic theories of thermodynamics, but they also contain many uncertain variables within the kinetic process.

And many of these variables have a direct impact on the final electrochemical performance.

Engineer Liu believed that Professor Wu Kai had blind trust in Zhao Yang's judgment.

Purely theoretical mathematical models, limited by the dimensions of input variables, could not possibly fully cover all the physical changes at the microscopic interface of materials during the charging and discharging process.

Did he think his data was absolutely reliable?

Thinking of this, Engineer Liu ignored Zhao Yang.

He took the formula sheet with 88% high nickel content, turned around, and went to find Professor Wu Kai to apply for experimental materials and equipment time.

Although Professor Wu Kai trusted Zhao Yang's model, as the research director, he needed physical data from a control group to verify the accuracy boundaries of the mathematical model, so as to provide supporting negative data for future patent applications; therefore, he approved Engineer Liu's application.

Engineer Liu personally put on a full set of dust-proof clothing and entered the material preparation workshop.

He began to manufacture the battery according to his own set formula.

Three days later.

After precision assembly, this batch of 88% high nickel content coin cells officially rolled off the line.

The batteries were clamped into the testing fixtures and placed into independent channels of the battery testing cabinet.

The test started.

Because he was unhappy with Zhao Yang and also wanted to prove a point, Engineer Liu poured a great deal of energy into this batch of batteries, spending most of his time every day sitting in front of the main testing computer, personally watching the data fluctuate on the Neware testing software interface.

For the first twenty cycles, the battery data performed extremely well.

Not only did the battery's initial discharge specific capacity break through the 200mAh/g mark, reaching an astonishing 205mAh/g, but the initial coulombic efficiency was as high as 89.5%.

The energy density set the highest physical record since the laboratory was established.

Moreover, the cycle curves for the first twenty times overlapped to a very high degree, with almost no signs of any capacity degradation.

If it remained stable like this, the battery's performance would be excellent!

Looking at the stable data curve on the main control screen, a hint of triumph appeared in Engineer Liu's eyes.

Several material researchers and a Doctoral Student intern nearby also gathered around the computer to check this set of data.

With looks of amazement in their eyes, they began to praise Engineer Liu one after another.

"Engineer Liu, you're amazing! The charge-discharge efficiency and platform voltage are kept so stable."

"Indeed! It has to be Engineer Liu. The energy density of this battery is too strong; it's much higher than the best-case scenario we previously estimated. If this formula can be stably mass-produced and the safety issues resolved, we can definitely apply for a core patent."

Another Doctoral Student echoed.

"Yes, it was also through my persistence. I didn't expect that at a sintering temperature of 830 degrees, the lattice stability could be maintained so well. It's a good thing I didn't listen entirely to those purely theoretical mathematical models; materials science still has to rely on the real things burned in the furnace to speak for themselves."

Engineer Liu's tone carried a hint of modesty, but the direction of his words was very obvious.

As he spoke, his gaze moved quietly toward Zhao Yang's workstation, hiding a trace of triumph in his eyes.

Zhao Yang was sitting at a computer not far away, processing data.

He couldn't even be bothered to lift his head, not looking at Engineer Liu at all.

He didn't need to argue, nor did he need to pay attention to those so-called impressive early data.

Zhao Yang had already calculated it before and given a definitive result.

At the high temperature of 830 degrees, the radius difference between divalent nickel ions and lithium ions would be amplified by thermodynamic effects, making cation mixing inevitable.

He trusted his calculation results.

Scientific laws never shift because of personal will.

The channels of the testing cabinet were running day and night.

When the cycle reached the twenty-fifth time.

On the main control screen, the twenty-fifth discharge curve showed an extremely slight jitter at the 3.8V discharge midpoint voltage position.

This tiny change in data made the smile on Engineer Liu's face gradually disappear, and his expression slowly became serious.

In the twenty-sixth cycle, the voltage drop expanded to 0.05V.

In the twenty-seventh cycle, the time for the constant voltage charging phase extended, indicating that the internal polarization resistance of the battery was rapidly increasing.

The deintercalation of lithium ions was becoming difficult.

When the twenty-eighth cycle ended, the channel data finished its automatic settlement.

As the testing software finished, the data summary chart refreshed quickly.

On the screen, the red line of capacity retention rate, which had originally remained stable at over 99%, suddenly presented a near 90-degree cliff-like drop.

The polarization resistance data instantly soared threefold, and the battery had lost its engineering value for continued testing, becoming directly scrapped.

Engineer Liu's face was ashen as he stared at that cliff-like curve on the screen.

He did not believe this was a problem with the formula.

How is this possible! This must be a coincidence! It's a problem with the material itself!

Thinking of this, he immediately stopped the test, put on insulating gloves, took off the battery that had just been scrapped, and took it directly into the glove box filled with high-purity argon gas.

Inside the glove box, he used a specialized casing opener to perform a destructive disassembly, and after processing it, he urgently sent it to the physical and chemical analysis room next door to conduct X-ray diffraction analysis.

Half an hour later, the analysis result chart came out.

The cation mixing rate was as high as 6.2%, far exceeding the safety critical value for maintaining the stability of the layered structure.

The internal two-dimensional diffusion channels for lithium ions had been completely blocked by the large number of migrated nickel ions.

The twenty-eighth cycle.

Precise to the T, exactly the same as what Zhao Yang had predicted a few days ago!

The laboratory was extremely quiet at this moment.

With the test report and XRD chart in his hand that declared the experiment a complete failure, Engineer Liu stood in front of the printer, stunned for a full two minutes.