The value of room-temperature superconducting materials cannot be simply described in monetary terms. It is more about its significance to the development of human civilization and science and technology, and deserves the attention of all researchers in related fields.

Xu Yuan and his team have officially decided to study the existing high-temperature superconducting material and try to transform it into room-temperature superconductivity.

No more wasting time.

The next day.

It was not even eight o'clock in the morning and all the project members were already in place.

Started working under Xu Yuan's arrangement.

It is also worth mentioning that Xu Yuan is well aware of the difficulty of this project. The project cycle will definitely be longer than the research and development of new aerospace materials.

So he reported the project to the headquarters as soon as possible.

In this way, the institute will not easily assign him tasks, and he can focus all his energy on the room-temperature superconducting materials project.

Among them, Dean Bai Xinzhou couldn't help getting excited when he learned that Xu Yuan was going to conduct research on room-temperature superconducting materials and that he and his team had made some discoveries.

We attach great importance to this project.

He stated on the spot that the hospital would fully support it.

We can provide the greatest possible assistance if you encounter any problems during the material research and development process.

Although Xu Yuan was a little surprised by Bai Xinzhou's reaction, he understood it in his heart.

It’s because room-temperature superconducting materials are so special.

So many laboratories around the world are conducting research, but no progress has been announced so far, which shows how difficult it is to develop room-temperature superconducting materials.

Fortunately, this situation has changed now because Xu Yuan has officially participated in it.

……

In the following period, as the project officially got on track, Xu Yuan's life rhythm became regular again.

Basically, most of my working time is spent in the laboratory.

Use the panel progress bar in your mind to find feasible directions for material synthesis.

But only after truly immersing himself in it did Xu Yuan realize the difficulty of it.

It is indeed much more difficult than proving the world's difficult mathematical problems.

A few months passed in the blink of an eye.

When the Spring Festival, which netizens jokingly called the first year of space landing, came to an end, it is no exaggeration to say that the progress bar on the panel showed no signs of growth, and sometimes even went backwards. This shows that he has not yet mastered the correct direction and method of synthesizing room-temperature superconducting materials.

However, Zhang Jin and others worked particularly hard on project research.

With this high-temperature superconducting material that can achieve temperature increase in hand, research is carried out using it as the base material.

Try experimenting by changing the ratio of the material elements and the synthesis method.

Although a number of new materials were synthesized through this method, after superconducting tests, it was found that the new materials were worthless and even their original superconducting properties disappeared.

The gold content is actually not as good as the original high-temperature superconducting material.

This can naturally be called a blow to everyone, as if it was telling them.

Room-temperature superconducting materials do not exist at all.

If Zhang Jin was the only member of the project, they might have considered giving up by now.

After all, instead of wasting time on vague and unknown materials, it is better to study other fields.

At least it can create value quickly.

But it is precisely because of Xu Yuan's presence that everyone is willing to believe that this project can still create miracles and give everyone a huge surprise.

For this reason, I remain full of motivation throughout the day and continue to carry out various experiments.

2024 2 Month 28 Day.

Wednesday.

In the morning at the Superconducting Materials Laboratory of Yanda University, Xu Yuan was sitting on a chair, looking at some documents on the field of superconducting materials.

In order to ensure efficiency and save time, he is still immersed in deep learning.

He looked so serious, as if he was isolated from the surrounding space.

Not easily disturbed by external environmental factors.

About ten minutes later, he finally put down the documents in his hand and quickly came back to his senses.

But the expression on his face was still somewhat solemn.

Obviously he has a lot on his mind.

"There are still too few research papers and literature on room-temperature superconducting materials."

"It's really not easy to master room-temperature superconducting materials!"

If someone could synchronize his perspective at this time, they would find that while Xu Yuan was muttering to himself, his eyes were fixed on the progress bar on the panel in front of him.

I am very dissatisfied with the current progress bar.

-

Mission: Room-temperature superconducting material technology

Subject: Materials Science
Progress: 13%.

Result: Not completed
Yes.

Nearly four months have passed since the room-temperature superconducting material project team officially launched the project, and the progress bar on the panel has hardly changed, which means that they have been standing still.

But there is nothing we can do about it.

After all, in the synthesis of materials, even a small change in a certain link will produce a new material with completely different properties. It is not so easy to find the right one among so many directions. It is definitely much more difficult than proving the world's mathematical problems.

So in this case, he wanted to use research data to further screen out the research direction that was tending towards the correct direction.

It also helps to reduce sunk costs.

Improve the progress and efficiency of the project.

Unfortunately, there has been no obvious progress or breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting materials in the world.

Even finding valuable literature is not easy.

This forced Xu Yuan to find another way and speed up the progress no matter what.

Otherwise, it is possible that a lot of time will be wasted on this project.

Although the headquarters has great confidence in him and there is no need to worry about support and funding, he still has to consider the interests of the country.

If there is really no progress, it means that the current level of technology is not yet capable of synthesizing room-temperature superconducting materials.

In this case, it would be better to seal the project for the time being.

This will also free up time and energy to take charge of projects that can better demonstrate the value of your technology.

Just as Xu Yuan was thinking about these things in his mind, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhang Jin and others walking towards him from the corner of his eye.

Judging from the gloomy expression on his face, it was obvious that today's material test had failed again.

When everyone walked up and stopped, Xu Yuan also raised his eyes and immediately took the initiative to say hello.

"The experiment is over?"

"It has just been concluded, but unfortunately the results are very unsatisfactory. The materials tested today do not even possess the zero-resistance superconducting properties."

Although Zhang Jin was in a depressed mood, he did not keep any suspense in response to Xu Yuan's questions.

He just said it in a sarcastic tone.

Regret and self-blame.

After saying that, he handed the report in his hand to Xu Yuan.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan didn't say much. He took the report and took a quick look at it.

Just as Zhang Jin said, the materials tested today do not have the zero-resistance superconducting properties no matter what the temperature environment is.

Simply put, this is not even a superconducting material.

At the same time, apart from the characteristics of superconductivity, it cannot meet the current standards for material use in terms of new material properties such as high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, and can be completely called waste.

No wonder Zhang Jin was so depressed.

"The performance of the materials tested this time is really not that good, and even conventional materials cannot replace it."

Xu Yuan closed the report in his hand, raised his eyes to look at Zhang Jin, nodded and said this.

Under normal circumstances, the materials they synthesize, even if they do not have superconducting properties, can be applied to other fields, which to some extent can serve as a material upgrade.

The result was a total failure, which is really hard to accept.

As if what Xu Yuan said touched his heart, Zhang Jin immediately took over the conversation and responded:

"Who says it isn't?"

"But this experiment also reminds us that we still need to find the general direction first and can't rashly carry out synthetic experiments like this."

"If all the materials we produce are waste, we will be embarrassed."

Xu Yuan listened to everything Zhang Jin said, thought for a moment and then spoke again in a deep voice.

"Leave the research direction to me. I hope to find a roughly accurate method for synthesizing room-temperature superconducting materials. This way, our project will progress much faster."

As Xu Yuan's voice fell.

Including Zhang Jin, everyone at the scene showed excitement on their faces.

Everyone knows the project status of the past few months and is very clear about it.

If we continue with the current situation, I'm afraid we won't be able to make any significant progress even if we spend another year.

Not to mention completely conquering room-temperature superconducting materials.

Now that Xu Yuan has spoken, everyone is undoubtedly reassured.

Since Xu Yuan can tell the solution to the research direction, there won't be much deviation.

If before they were looking for room-temperature superconducting materials in the ocean.

Then after Xu Yuan determines the main research direction, it is very likely that the ocean will become a lake.

The difficulty is completely incomparable.

It can definitely make the project progress grow rapidly.

The key is that with Xu Yuan's many achievements, everyone has nothing but trust in him.

There is no doubt about the value of this sentence.

"It would be great if this is true. Even if it is just a general research direction, it can save us a lot of effort." Zhang Jin did not hide the joy on his face at all, and immediately said excitedly to Xu Yuan.

In the following time, the few people stopped disturbing Xu Yuan and went back to their work.

……

A few days later.

Xu Yuan came to Bai Xinzhou's office in the general hospital early in the morning.

The reason I didn't go to the laboratory as usual was to get something from Bai Xinzhou.

Xu Yuan was naturally familiar with Dean Bai Xinzhou's office.

We arrived at our destination very quickly.

Seeing that the door was not closed, he stood at the door, raised his hand to knock on the door and walked inside.

"You've arrived just in time. Come in and sit down."

Bai Xinzhou noticed Xu Yuan and immediately greeted him warmly.

As he spoke, he took out a stack of information from the drawer, pushed it in front of Xu Yuan and said, "These are domestic research data on superconducting materials. I have asked for all of them for you. I hope they can help your project."

That's right.

What Xu Yuan came to get today was the research data on superconducting materials from domestic institutions and laboratories.

In order to determine the research direction more quickly with the help of the progress bar, the best way is to collect relevant experimental data and quickly lock in the approximate range.

But often these data are the research results of relevant institutions or laboratories.

Under normal circumstances, it is kept confidential.

Bai Xinzhou, the president of the Academy of Sciences, is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

Now it seems that his choice was not wrong.

"Excuse me, Dean. It must be quite difficult to get this data."

Xu Yuan took the pile of information in front of him and responded with a smile. He was quite grateful in his heart.

Upon hearing this, Bai Xinzhou waved his hand and said:

"It's mainly because everyone is giving you this face. As long as I can see that you have really conquered room-temperature superconducting materials, then my efforts will be worth it."

"I will definitely live up to the hospital's expectations." Xu Yuan replied firmly.

He was not just saying that casually. Although room-temperature superconducting materials are extremely difficult to make, with the help of the progress bar on the panel and these materials, he believed that he could first screen out a range of research directions.

If we conduct further experiments based on this range and direction, I believe the efficiency will be much higher.

For Bai Xinzhou, what he likes to hear most is definitely Xu Yuan's confident promise.

Because this often means that the project is not far from success.

So a bright smile appeared on his face, and he immediately replied: "Then I'll be waiting for your good news."

After hearing what Bai Xinzhou said, Xu Yuan was anxious to study the data and did not stay in the office for too long.

He then said goodbye and left the office.

Bai Xinzhou stared at Xu Yuan's back until he completely disappeared from his sight. Then he withdrew his gaze and couldn't help but murmured:

"Room-temperature superconducting materials are really exciting!"

Room-temperature superconductivity, which is called the king of materials by the academic community, is related to the research on controlled nuclear fusion technology.

If successful, the impact will undoubtedly be huge.

It may even have an impact on the entire international situation.

It is possible to cause international conflicts. After all, room-temperature superconducting materials have been mastered. If the controlled nuclear fusion technology can be solved, the entire world pattern will be completely settled.

This is definitely something that some regions do not want to see.

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Although it has not been confirmed yet, Xu Yuan and his project team have mastered the technology of room-temperature superconducting materials.

But I guess there won’t be any difference in the results.

It is indeed necessary to plan ahead and choose what response plan when the time comes.

……

Xu Yuan didn't know that Bai Xinzhou had already made up a lot of things in his mind after he left.

When he returned to the superconducting materials laboratory, he locked himself in an office.

And don't let others disturb you.

Then the whole person enters into a deep learning state and studies the data with high efficiency.

In the next two months, Xu Yuan rarely showed up in the laboratory.

Zhang Jin and others did not dare to disturb them.

Everyone knows that Xu Yuan is determining the synthesis direction of room-temperature superconducting materials, which will greatly improve the progress of the project. In this case, everyone naturally hopes that Xu Yuan can continue his research for a longer period of time.

After all, the more precise the direction is, the greater the probability of developing room-temperature superconducting materials.

In the blink of an eye, it was early May.

On this day, Xu Yuan was still studying materials in the office. The draft papers piled on the desk in front of him were filled with a large number of chemical and mathematical formulas.

It looks so crowded and overwhelming.

At this moment, Xu Yuan's eyes were indeed bright, as if he had discovered something new.

It was difficult to completely conceal the excitement within.

“Can we achieve superconductivity by using lead and phosphorus as the matrix and adding rare earth and other substances to synthesize it?”

He murmured softly, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.

About half a minute later, Xu Yuan suddenly came out of his deep learning state and uttered a few words with an excited expression.

"It really works."

Because just as he was thinking about this, he suddenly noticed that the progress bar on the panel increased by 20%, allowing the total to successfully break through the 30% limit.

When this happens, it only means one thing.

His current synthesis plan is feasible, at least at this stage it is moving in the right direction.

In fact, among the several plans he completed in the past few days, two of them also made the progress bar rise.

But it was far from the level it is today.

Although it is still uncertain whether room-temperature superconducting materials can be synthesized.

At least it's helpful.

With his thoughts stuck here, Xu Yuan could no longer sit still.

I am eager to conduct experiments myself to see whether the synthesized material has the properties of room-temperature superconductivity.

"Perhaps this time there is hope of conquering room-temperature superconducting materials, and experiments must be carried out as soon as possible."

After muttering to himself, he immediately stood up, opened the door and went to the superconducting materials laboratory without hesitation.

Then when he appeared in the laboratory wearing a white lab coat, Zhang Jin and others were stunned at first, and then a look of surprise appeared on their faces at the same time. They quickly stopped what they were doing and walked towards Xu Yuan.

"Got a direction?"

Zhang Jin had nothing to worry about at this time. He walked up to Xu Yuan, stopped, and asked directly.

Hearing this, Xu Yuan nodded and said, "We do have some directions, but the specific results still need to be verified through experiments."

"That's great! This is the best news I've heard recently." Zhang Jin took over the conversation and said excitedly.

After all, he had worked with Xu Yuan before, so he knew that Xu Yuan had always been humble and conservative.

Although we only have some direction at the moment, we should have some confidence in our hearts since we can come directly to the Superconducting Materials Laboratory.

The thought stayed here, and Zhang Jin immediately expressed his attitude.

"Just arrange it as you wish."

This statement was recognized by others, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

Xu Yuan currently has three different synthesis directions, all of which can increase the progress bar.

He would not be able to synthesize these three materials quickly on his own.

Then Xu Yuan directly assigned the tasks to others, asking them to be responsible for the synthesis of materials in the other two directions. He, Zhang Jin and his assistants were to synthesize a new modified lead apatite crystal structure material.

In addition to the need to add certain metals, it also includes relatively special rare earth minerals.

At the same time, the synthesis method is relatively complicated and it takes at least two days to obtain the target material.

Zhang Jin and Xu Yuan are both senior experts in the materials industry and have extensive experience in materials research and development and synthesis.

It is a powerful combination.

In this case, it can only be said that it is more than enough to synthesize a new material.

From the establishment of their project team to now, it can be said that today is the time when everyone is most motivated. Even at lunch time, no professor chose to go downstairs to eat.

I was afraid that problems would arise during the synthesis process due to my own reasons.

This results in deviations between the obtained materials and the expected ones.

In this case, you will have to start all over again, which is a waste of time.

In the end, I had to ask my graduate student to bring me some food, so that I could fill my stomach and stay energetic.

Since the new modified lead apatite crystal structure material that Xu Yuan and Zhang Jin were responsible for was the most time-consuming, by the day after tomorrow, the other two materials had been successfully synthesized into samples and tested as soon as possible.

Whether a material is a superconductor is determined by its critical temperature, resistance, and critical magnetic field.

Although the final result gave everyone some surprises, there was still a big gap from the value in mind.

-

"Of the two new synthetic materials, one was tested and confirmed to be a superconductor material."

"The record value of superconducting critical temperature at normal pressure is 140K."

At around eight o'clock in the evening, the superconducting materials laboratory was still brightly lit.

After listening to the project members' reports, Xu Yuan and Zhang Jin's expressions looked somewhat complicated.

A new superconducting material has been discovered again, and the record value of the superconducting critical temperature has reached 140K. If this research result alone is announced, it will be enough to trigger a new wave of discussion in the academic community.

But the reality is that no one was smiling at the scene.

The main superconducting critical temperature record is 140K, which is approximately equal to more than one hundred and thirty degrees below zero.

It can only be called a high-temperature superconducting material.

There is still a huge gap from the room temperature of 300K.

Since they have set up this project team to carry out research, it is naturally to conquer room-temperature superconducting materials, and they will certainly not be satisfied with just this little achievement.

The only remaining hope is the new modified lead apatite crystal structure material that has not yet been synthesized.

"It seems that now we can only wait for the test results of this final material. I hope it can give us more surprises."

Zhang Jin looked at the material samples in the high-temperature furnace and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Not only him, but other project members around him were also staring closely.

It's as if all the treasures were put on it.

After all, if this material fails in the end, it means that the direction determined by Xu Yuan is wrong.

It will make the research on room-temperature superconducting materials more difficult.

Xu Yuan listened to Zhang Jin's words, and he naturally understood what everyone meant.

But now everything that needs to be done has been done, and all that is left is to wait patiently.

So Xu Yuan did not choose to take over the conversation and agree with it, but just lowered his eyes to check the time.

Then he whispered:

"It's almost time, take out the materials."

Almost as soon as the words fell, the assistant who had been prepared for a long time immediately turned off the high-temperature furnace, then opened the lid and used tools to take out the new modified lead apatite crystal structure material inside.

This scene immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. When they looked up, they saw only a thumb-sized gray crystal, which appeared in front of everyone without any special features.

Of course, it is impossible to distinguish superconducting materials with the naked eye.

Xu Yuan had no time to waste on this, and immediately arranged as soon as the materials were taken out:

"Let's conduct superconductor tests on the material as soon as possible. I hope it will give us all a surprise later."

……

(End of this chapter)