Ever since the lithium-sulfur battery breakthrough, various disputes and debates in the battery industry had disappeared. Both the academic community and the industry quietly adopted the new technology.
A bunch of aluminum ion battery projects had been cut off. Instead, companies had redirected their research and development to improve the “modified PDMS materials and HCS-2 materials”. These research projects were focused on increasing the energy density and safety of lithium-sulfur batteries.
The reason for this was because lithium was the king of batteries. It was simply impossible for any other periodic element to have a higher energy density than lithium, due to lithium’s position on the periodic table.
Lithium batteries had always been the apex predator of batteries, while the lithium-air battery was considered the holy grail of lithium batteries.
Trying to surpass it through changing materials alone was impossible. It would have to be something that wasn’t considered a chemical battery. For example, instead of using the electrochemical energy, the battery would instead use some kind of fusion energy…
However, while everyone believed that the lithium-sulfur batteries would dominate the battery industry for at least the next fifty years…
A paper published in JACS in the middle of March broke the silence!
At the parking lot of a kindergarten in Jinling, two parents stood beside their cars smoking. Because they were both car enthusiasts, they started to talk about the news.
“Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study invented this lithium-air battery! Apparently, it’s double the capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries.”
The bald parent was stunned. He spoke with his eyes wide open.
“No way?! They’re all made from lithium, can they really double the capacity? I think it’ll add at most a hundred or two hundred kilometers to the range.”
The tall parent pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke.
“Who knows, I’m not an expert. But think about it… it might be possible. I mean, lithium-air batteries use air as the positive electrode, right?”
“… Yeah, why?”
“Think about it, if the air is used as the positive electrode, that means the weight of the battery will be reduced, right? Reducing weight means the energy density will increase! I think this makes sense!”
The bald parent finally understood.
However, he suddenly frowned and slapped his thigh.
“F*ck, why the f*ck did I buy the new Tesla Model-S then!”
The skinny owner was startled.
“Oh sh*t, I didn’t know you were a baller!”
“Not a baller.” The bald owner flicked his cigarette and said, “I missed out huge this time.”
The skinner owner gloated and began comforting his bald friend.
“Haha, it will take a while before the technology is implemented. Just enjoy your car, maybe you’ll be able to swap out the battery. Also, why are you worrying, even these car manufacturers are not worrying. Haha, thank god I didn’t buy a new car, I’ll wait a bit and see what happens!”
Similar speculations on the battery were going on in many places.
The CTV news report was just the beginning.
The minute Professor Lu and his lithium-air battery appeared on the news, numerous reports and articles began popping up.
[Invention of lithium-air battery! The energy industry is going through a revolution?]
[Scientific genius! Another invention was made by Professor Lu?]
[One small battery is going to change the world!]
[The US Dollar is in jeopardy, we must stop China from manipulating the oil prices again!]
[…]
The only thing that could defeat lithium batteries, was lithium batteries.
Lithium-air batteries were no longer “science fiction”.
Oil prices didn’t become volatile due to this event… at least not as volatile as when the lithium-sulfur batteries were invented. However, the ExxonMobil CEO shouted in his office building in Texas.
“F*ck!”
Woods slammed his fist on the table and swept the documents off his desk. His blood was boiling.
“This shameless thief! Liar!”
His chest was shaking violently, so he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He then glared at his secretary who was sitting at a desk nearby.
“Find the file! I want to know in the next five minutes, which company owns the patent to the caged carbon molecules!”
Lithium-air batteries would mainly impact the lithium-sulfur batteries industry, increasing the market competitiveness of electric vehicles in the long term. However, oil prices wouldn’t be affected in the short term.
However…
This patent was originally theirs!
Now, this patent contained a key material in lithium-air battery technology! It was almost like throwing away rubbish that contained a diamond inside. Woods felt like he couldn’t breathe.
The only thing he hoped was that he still had time to buy back the patent before Star Sky Technology and Lu Zhou could react…
However…
Reality was often cruel.
His secretary’s trembling voice made him lose all hope.
“The patent was bought by a foreign trade company registered in California around three years ago…”
Woods cursed in his heart and suddenly had a thought.
However, he didn’t want to believe himself.
He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if…
Woods clenched his fist and said to his secretary, “Find the patent number! I want to know who owns the patent now.”
He swore that once he found out which company owned the patent, he would do everything he could to acquire it and amend his mistake! He knew he could do this, especially with ExxonMobil’s resources.
He only needed a shareholder to sell-out and put himself on the board of directors of that company, then make a deal the shareholders couldn’t refuse.
It would be perfect if the company was a public company, then he would have more room to maneuver.
“I’m searching…”
The secretary suddenly froze.
The secretary had a bitter expression on his face as he knew his answer would drive his boss crazy.
“The company that owns the patent is…
“Star Sky Technology.”
Star Sky Technology…
Woods relaxed his shoulders and smiled calmly.
He finally understood what was going on.
This started from the experiment six years ago, where the tides changed when the assistant leaked the model to Professor Stanley.
Not only did Professor Lu deliberately leak information, but he also used ExxonMobil’s resources and Professor Stanley to research key lithium-air battery technologies. They were even fooled into throwing away crucial patents that didn’t apply to lithium-sulfur batteries…
The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was. A beat of sweat dripped down Woods’ forehead.
That guy…
Was six years ahead of me.
Is he even human?
His plan… is horrifying…
