They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 26 Spending money on scientific research

Scientific research is a waste of money. If hundreds of thousands of RMB are spent on a certain scientific research field, you won’t even see a splash.

It is for this reason that when the Qingbei admissions duo came to visit, Zhang Wei transformed into a money maniac and took turns twirling people's heads.

Zhang Wei spent all his scholarship money to buy Qilu Petrochemical's stocks, just to ensure that he could have more funds for experiments on producing graphene.

Qilu Petrochemical, which I bought for 4.97 cents two months ago, has now gone up to 7 yuan.

Zhang Wei didn't know how much it would eventually rise, but he needed money now, so he sold all the stocks he held.

If Zhang Wei had waited another two months, the principal amount of 500,000 would have at least doubled. The rise in petrochemical stocks would not start to hit the brakes until Saddam was captured by the US military.

With 700,000 yuan in hand, plus the 200,000 yuan scholarship given by Tsinghua University after registration, Zhang Wei had a huge sum of 900,000 yuan. However, he spent some money on renting a house, buying tape, buying a computer, etc., and he still had more than 800,000 yuan on hand.

For the more than 800,000 yuan, he needed to purchase some experimental equipment, the biggest expenses of which were spectrometers and electron microscopes.

Graphene is a layer of carbon atoms that cannot be seen even with a light microscope.

Without a spectrometer and an electron microscope, Zhang Wei could not confirm whether what he separated was multi-layer graphite particles or single-layer graphene.

As for the experimental materials, they are very cheap. The tape used to separate the graphene is actually ordinary office tape, which is of better quality and transparent to facilitate subsequent observation.

The graphite used is highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. This graphite has been treated at high temperatures and has properties very close to single crystal graphite. It is an excellent choice for preparing graphene.

Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite is not expensive. It can be used as a thermal conductive material or to prepare optical transmission equipment. It is also the substrate for many physics and chemistry experiments and is equipped in some middle school experiments.

In 2003, spectrometers and electron microscopes were still imported goods.

Zhang Wei inquired about the price. Hitachi's spectrometer, a relatively basic model, was quoted as high as 200,000 yuan. There are many wealthy people who can buy apartments in third-tier cities.

As for electron microscopes, they are even more ridiculously expensive. The cheapest scanning electron microscope costs more than 3 yuan, and it has no D imaging, no stereoscopic images, and no real-time analysis. It is almost a beggar!

High-end transmission electron microscopes are more expensive, ranging from several million to tens of millions, which Zhang Wei can't even imagine.

Just equipping a spectrometer and an electron microscope is enough to bankrupt Zhang Wei.

But without these two kinds of equipment, Zhang Wei could only grit his teeth and place the order.

……

The spectrometer and electron microscope were placed by Zhang Wei in the living room of the rental house, where his newly purchased computer was also located.

From now on, this will be Zhang Wei’s laboratory.

This two-bedroom apartment has been properly arranged by Zhang Wei. The living room is a place for experiments. There are two bedrooms. One is used as a warehouse and is filled with transparent tape. The other is used as a bedroom. When Zhang Wei is tired, he still Have a place to rest.

In addition, Zhang Wei also bought a DV camera and planned to record the entire process of making graphene. Even if someone questions him in the future, he can take out the video to prove his innocence.

Next, Zhang Wei became familiar with spectrometers and electron microscopes.

The operation of the spectrometer is not difficult. First, power on and preheat, set the parameters, then turn on the spectrometer, put the sample into the sample holder, then turn off the spectrometer, and then the spectrometer will work automatically.

Connect the spectrometer to the computer and printer, and the final data will be transferred directly to the computer and can also be printed. In more than ten years, spectrometers will have automatic analysis functions. The spectrometer will be able to analyze the data and generate reports by itself without connecting to a computer.

But in 2003, only high-end spectrometers had this function. The cheap spectrometer Zhang Wei bought could only export the data, and then analyze the data through a computer to get the final report.

The operation of electron microscopes is more complicated. Electron microscopes have their own operating systems. Different brands and types of electron microscopes have different operating systems.

If it is a tens-million-level projection electron microscope, it has extremely strict operating specifications, from installation and debugging to maintenance, which are no less than high-precision machinery such as nuclear magnetic resonance.

Different from the optical microscope, the electron microscope not only magnifies the sample several times and presents it to you, but also provides some data that you cannot see with the naked eye.

For example, spectral line data, which you cannot observe with the naked eye. For fields such as physics, materials, and chemistry, spectral line data are more reliable than physical images seen with the naked eye.

Zhang Wei bought the cheapest scanning electron microscope, which does not require complicated installation and debugging, and is much simpler to operate.

But this is still the most expensive experimental equipment in Zhang Wei's hands, and it must be used with caution.

With the little money Zhang Wei has left on hand, if this electron microscope breaks down, he won't have the money to repair it!
……

Early in the morning, Zhang Weizheng was walking on both sides of the Yellow River, holding secret documents in his hand.

The national anthem suddenly sounded from the far end of the corridor, and gradually, someone began to faintly sing along.

In this quiet morning, this dormitory area suddenly woke up and was filled with youthful hormones in an instant.

"What's going on outside? It's such a noisy year, why are you singing the national anthem, and it's so exciting!" Zhang Wei asked loudly.

"Yang Liwei is back! Landed smoothly at 6:30 this morning! Our manned space flight was successful!" Ye Haotian's excited voice sounded from outside.

Zhang Wei walked out of the bathroom with his pants lifted, and happened to see Ye Haotian walking to the balcony and shouting outside: "Successful! Successful!"

Then, a response like a wolf howling came from upstairs and downstairs.

"College students, they are so energetic! Youth is so good..." Zhang Wei sighed in his heart.

At this time, Zhang Wei's mobile phone received a text message notification tone.

"At three o'clock this afternoon, the series will organize a special program to watch the Shenzhou V manned spaceflight? Anyone who does not have classes must participate." Zhang Wei said while looking at his mobile phone.

"Three o'clock in the afternoon? I wonder if it will be over in an hour and a half!" Ye Haotian also took his mobile phone and walked into the room from the balcony.

"What? Do you have other plans?"

Ye Haotian nodded: "I made an appointment to play basketball at 4:30 in the afternoon and have a friendly match with the School of Social Sciences. Do you want to go?"

"I'm not going. At my level, I'm still a cheerleader. After dinner, I plan to go back to the rental house. I may not come back to stay tonight." Zhang Wei said and let out a sigh of relief.

"Shenzhou 5 has been successful, but I don't know when my graphene will come out!"

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(End of this chapter)