I Have a Research Support System

On Wednesday morning, when Xu Qiu was in class, he received a text message saying that the heating and dispensing machine borrowed from Gong Yuanjiang had been delivered to Cai Yi by courier.

So, after eating at noon, he rushed to Cai Yi in a hurry.

Because he often came to pick up the courier, he got acquainted with the porters, and after saying hello, he brought out the equipment.

The concierge is on the second floor of Caiyi, on the same floor as Mr. Wei's laboratory. There are two uncles who take turns as the gatekeepers. Their jobs are very leisurely, but the accommodation conditions are not satisfactory.

A double bed with bunk beds, surrounded by a dusty but relatively intact mosquito net.

There is no air conditioning in the room, an electric fan and a heater are used instead.

There is also an obsolete desktop computer, which uses dial-up Internet access, and can usually play chess or something online.

The specific job content of the concierge is to help receive the express delivery, take care of the keys of each room in the whole building, and be responsible for opening the door around 7:00 in the morning and locking the door around 10:00 in the evening.

The locked door here is not a real lock, but the door cannot be opened directly, and it can still be opened with the campus card that unlocks the access control.

...

Xu Qiu looked at the heating and homogenizing machine instrument sent by Gong Yuanjiang's research group, and found that it was packed in an ordinary cardboard box.

On the top of the carton was written four large characters this side up with a black marker, and several upward arrows were drawn on the side.

He tried to pick up the carton, but found that it was still a bit heavy, so he gave up the idea of ​​carrying the box back directly, but chose to pull the straps on the edge of the carton, and dragged it all the way from the gatehouse to the door of the 216 laboratory.

It is half past twelve noon.

Chen Wanqing, Wu Feifei and the other graduate students all went back to the dormitory to rest after lunch, and only Han Jiaying stayed in the laboratory.

She heard the movement outside the door, got up and opened the door, saw Xu Qiu and the cardboard box beside him, and asked curiously:

Brother, what is this?

Guess. Xu Qiu didn't explain.

The school girl pouted, thought for a moment, and said in an uncertain tone:

Could it be, is it the heating glue machine that I borrowed from Mr. Gong and the others last week?

Smart, it's the heating glue dispenser. I just arrived in the morning, but you reminded me. I want to send them a text message.

Immediately, Xu Qiu added:

By the way, help me get some scissors again. I need to find a clean pair, not the ones used in the laboratory.

Okay, no problem. Han Jiaying happily agreed.

During this period of time, she was doing thermal spin coating experiments almost every day, and the failure rate was about 10%-20%. Compared with other experimental methods, this failure rate is relatively high.

However, using a heating homogenizer for experiments can greatly reduce the failure rate of experiments in theory.

Therefore, she had been looking forward to this instrument for a long time.

Seeing her cheering, Xu Qiu edited the message and said:

Don't be too happy too early. With a new instrument, some of the previous conditions can no longer be used directly, and you need to re-explore the conditions.

That's right, the processing temperature needs to be re-adjusted, and the spin-coating method needs to be re-adapted, which is a bit troublesome.

Han Jiaying frowned, but soon relaxed, and said:

The time cost of exploring the conditions is fixed, and the improvement in experimental efficiency brought by the instrument is permanent, and it is still cost-effective in the long run.

That's natural, otherwise we wouldn't have spent time to get one back. Xu Qiu smiled, it seems that the school girl's mind is still very fast.

He sent the edited text message to Teacher Gong's contact person, The instrument has been received, thank you. This time, the other party did not reply in seconds.

Not long after, Han Jiaying returned and handed over a pair of clean scissors with black plastic handles.

Xu Qiu took it directly, cut off the straps on the outside of the box, and cut the sealing tape on the top of the box.

For the scissors handed over by the school girl, he is quite at ease in using them.

If it was handed over by a senior sister, I would be more at ease. Her experiments may often have problems, but safety-related matters have never been ambiguous.

But if Tian Qing handed it over, then you have to weigh it carefully.

Tian Qing is careless, and will take out tools such as scissors, tapes, and screwdrivers in the laboratory, and occasionally does not wear gloves.

Because the tools that have entered the laboratory, such as scissors and tape, cannot leave the laboratory in principle, and gloves must be worn before use to prevent contact with possible chemicals, so her approach has potential safety hazards .

Fortunately, the laboratory on the Handan campus is not a laboratory that is biased towards chemical experiments. Most of the reagents used are not toxic, and the main experiments are also carried out in the glove box. Nothing serious.

Unless you have the habit of biting your fingers, then...

...

Han Jiaying did not return to the desk in a hurry, but moved towards the express carton curiously.

She wanted to take a peek at what the new instrument looked like.

Xu Qiu looked at her and didn't say anything. For scientific researchers, being curious is not a bad thing.

The homogenizer consists of two parts, one part is a spin coating platform, including a spin coating cabin, console, heating plate, etc., and the other part is a mechanical pump.

Judging from the weight of the box, they should have mailed a whole set of instruments, including the mechanical pump and the spin-coating platform, because the core component of the spin-coating platform itself is relatively light, so it is impossible for them to send only a mechanical pump. .

Xu Qiu opened the box, and there was no bare metal inside.

The inner surface of the box is also covered with a layer of foam skin, which is also glued with sealing tape.

The protection is really in place, Xu Qiu complained secretly.

He then used scissors to cut through the sealing tape at the junction and remove the upper foam shell.

But I still can't see the machine, because there are many sponge-like fillers inside, which fully occupy the entire box.

Brother, they packaged it so carefully, it looks like a home appliance delivery. Han Jiaying said in surprise.

Yes, but it is much more expensive than looking for home appliances. Although I haven't asked about the price, it is estimated to be tens of thousands more. If it is damaged during transportation, it is difficult to explain. The key is that this instrument is imported, so it is not good to buy it. build.

Xu Qiu explained while trying to take out the instrument.

But the instrument was buried in the filling, and the exact location couldn't be seen. He thought for a while, and then stretched his hand in to search slowly.

It feels a bit like picking a prize from a lottery box.

In fact, you can also pour out all the fillings, which is much easier to find, but it is more troublesome to pour the fillings back later.

After some groping, Xu Qiu finally touched the two corners of the instrument. He held the two corners firmly and lifted the instrument slowly.

It is not very heavy, and from the outline of the instrument, it can also be judged that what he is holding is a spin-coating platform.

He carefully placed the spin-coating platform he took out on the ground, and threw the spilled foam filler back into the carton.

This is an all-in-one machine, which has already been installed. It is not a component type and needs to be installed manually.

Xu Qiu reached in again, and according to estimation, there should be a mechanical pump buried inside.

However, after touching it for a long time this time, what I touched was either the sponge filling, the foam shell on the edge, or the cardboard at the bottom.

Where did the mechanical pump go?

After thinking about it carefully, he realized Huadian, cardboard?

The top has a foam casing and the bottom should also be a foam casing, which doesn't make sense just a layer of cardboard.

Xu Qiu poked down hard, and sure enough, the cardboard moved.

This carton is still a double layer structure.

Since the upper layer is a spin-coating platform, the lower layer is naturally a mechanical pump. It should be to avoid collisions between the two during transportation, so they are deliberately separated.

After knowing the structure of the box, he took out the cardboard from the edge of the box without much effort, and then the mechanical pump was also taken out.

In addition, he also touched a large plastic bag, which contains air pipes and some copper metal parts, which are used to connect the mechanical pump and the spin coating platform.

Seeing Xu Qiu fumbling around in the box, Han Jiaying couldn't help asking: Senior brother, what are you still looking for?

Instructions, there is no instruction manual... Xu Qiu groped in the box for a while to confirm that there were no other items inside, so he had to give up.

Maybe they forgot to release it, why don't you send a text message to ask them? Han Jiaying suggested.

It's possible, Xu Qiu glanced at the phone, but the other party still didn't reply to the message, thought for a while and said:

It may also be that the instrument is very simple and does not require an instruction manual. Let's try to install it first.

Okay. Han Jiaying said happily.

...

The two picked up the mechanical pump and the spin-coating platform respectively and entered the laboratory.

Xu Qiu used the large transfer cabin next to the glove box to transfer the heated spin-coating platform that he just got.

The vacuum pump does not need to be conveyed into the glove box, it is left outside.

Although the large teleportation pod has always been there, Han Jiaying has never used it, so she always subconsciously ignores its existence.

She watched curiously as Xu Qiu clicked on the control screen and operated the large teleportation pod to pump and deflate air.

Xu Qiu also noticed her gaze, and took the initiative to explain:

This large cabin is indeed rarely used, but it cannot be left out. Otherwise, the glass of the glove box must be removed to operate such a large-scale instrument transmission.

And when the experiment is not done for a long time, such as during the holiday, the medicine can also be stored inside the large cabin.

Han Jiaying nodded, and then complained: It's such a big size, and it needs three pumps and three rows, which is a bit exhausting.

Compared to the small teleportation cabin, it is natural to waste some, but the absolute usage is actually not much. Using a large cabin once, the nitrogen consumption must be less than one-tenth of a bottle. Xu Qiu said:

Besides, nitrogen is not very expensive. A bottle of high-purity nitrogen costs 100 yuan. If we do experiments at full capacity, we will use more than ten bottles a month, which is more than 1,000 yuan.

That's right, it's much cheaper than the optoelectronic materials we use. By the way, why are polymer donors like PTB7-TH so expensive? Han Jiaying wondered:

Domestic products cost more than 10,000 per gram, and those imported from Europe even cost more than 30,000 per gram.

Well, it's actually normal, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer, Xu Qiu continued to explain:

Niche business, there are not many manufacturers, and only specific research institutions have purchase needs, and research institutions use research funds, not the researchers' own money, so it is not so distressing to use, unless it involves profit transfer, There is generally no supervision.

For various reasons, the price of this type of product is, in most cases, higher than its actual value. As for the specific premium, it is a game between the manufacturer and the purchaser of the research institution.

But it’s not enough to talk about huge profits, because the audience is small, and the research hotspots may change at any time, and a bunch of materials have been synthesized through hard work. If they can’t be sold, they are worthless.

That makes sense. Does the manufacturer of these optoelectronic materials also have patent restrictions? Han Jiaying asked again.

Xu Qiu has never applied for a patent, but he still has a little understanding of this aspect. He explained:

Patents are generally aimed at fields with application value. Organic photovoltaics are still in the laboratory stage, and there is still a short distance from commercialization. Basically, no one will apply for them.

Moreover, once an article is published, it is impossible to apply for a patent with the same content in our country, because anyone can retrieve the specific content, and the patent itself loses its novelty.

That's it. Han Jiaying nodded as if realizing something.

After explaining the students' doubts, Xu Qiu entered the spin-coating glove box, removed the air pipes from the original spin-coating platform, and put the old spin-coating platform into the large transfer cabin.

At this time, there was a sound of 呵呵 from around.

Did you hear something? He was the first to react and stopped what he was doing.

It sounds like an air leak? Han Jiaying asked uncertainly.

It should be. Xu Qiu looked at the barometric pressure reading on the panel next to him. Without any operation, it dropped by 0.1 bar every few seconds, which is obviously abnormal.

After a little thought, he roughly guessed the reason, so he quickly tore open a bag of disposable latex gloves, and wrapped one of the gloves around the end of the airway tube.

Sure enough, the sound of air leakage disappeared.

I understand, the air valve is installed inside the glue homogenizer, Han Jiaying analyzed:

When the brother removes the air pipe, the inside and outside of the glove box will be connected. In addition, the pressure in the cabin is greater than one atmospheric pressure, so it will cause air leakage.

That's right, so I used disposable gloves to plug the gap just now, it's a stopgap measure. Xu Qiu nodded.

Although he has done many experiments, it is also the first time for him to set up experimental equipment in the glove box.

The next main task is to connect the mechanical pump and the spin coating platform with the gas pipeline.

The glove box has high requirements on air tightness. The gas lines such as the nitrogen gun and the mechanical pump are laid in advance, and the transfer interface installed on the side of the box is used, which is troublesome to disassemble.

The best situation is to not move the original gas path in the glove box.

However, the models of the two homogenizers are different, and the air pipes may not be compatible. You need to try to know.

The air pipes used in vacuum equipment are hard pipes, because if they are hoses, they will be flattened by atmospheric pressure under low vacuum.

It is still difficult to adjust the inner diameter of this hard tube.

Either give it a huge external force to force the tube into the connection port, which tests the muscle strength of the hand, or heat it to soften the inner wall, and then make the connection.

The latter needs to use a special heating and wall expansion machine, which is not available in the laboratory now, so we can only choose the former first, and rely on brute force to force it.

After thinking it over clearly, Xu Qiu picked up the end of the air tube that had been removed before, and took off the disposable gloves on it, and the sound of 呵呵 airflow reappeared.

He aligned the gas line tube with the copper interface on the spin coating platform, and gave it a quick push.

Go in for a while, there is a show!

The sound of airflow also disappeared.

The hard tube covers approximately one-third of the length of the interface.

Not enough, in order to ensure that there will be no problems in the subsequent experiments, it is best to cover it completely.

Senior brother, come on, use your strength, I haven't eaten... Han Jiaying encouraged from the side.

Xu Qiu glared at her, this guy started joking now.

However, the encouragement of the school girl still had some effect. After adding the BUFF, he worked hard for a few minutes, and finally pushed the hard tube into the deepest part of the interface.

Then he tied the air pipe and the interface with cable ties to prevent them from falling off.

Finally finished, Xu Qiu shook his slightly sore right hand and let out a long breath.

Although it was already winter in December, sweat still dripped from his cheeks and sank into the off-white lab coat.

There is no way to wipe sweat in the glove box, but he has long been used to it. If the experiment is done in summer, it will only be more exaggerated than the current situation.

After a while, Xu Qiu began to look at the operation interface of the new spin-coating platform.

It is a little more complicated than the original glue homogenizer.

Ordinary glue dispensers only have two buttons for suction and start, and four gear-type digital setting areas for speed 1, time 1, speed 2, and time 2.

In addition to these basic functions, the heated glue dispenser in front of us also has an additional platform temperature digital display panel, program temperature control function, and supports up to eight steps.

Each step is controlled by the program, and the speed, time and temperature can be set separately.

However, there is no cooling device on the instrument, that is to say, if the program setting is unreasonable, many steps are actually impossible to achieve.

For example, the first paragraph, 3000r.p.m., 100 degrees Celsius, lasts 10 seconds.

The second stage, 2000r.p.m., 30 degrees Celsius, lasts 30 seconds.

Obviously, after the first stage of 100 degrees Celsius is over, it is impossible to jump to 30 degrees Celsius in an instant.

It is difficult to raise the temperature by 70 degrees Celsius even in a short period of time, let alone reduce the temperature by 70 degrees Celsius.

From this point of view, the function of temperature change is a bit tasteless.

However, there is no need to change the temperature now, and maintaining a constant temperature can meet most of the experimental requirements.

After figuring out how to use the instrument, Xu Qiu assigned Han Jiaying a task to turn on the mechanical pump outside.

The school girl nodded in agreement, and then said: The mechanical pump they sent over seems to be useless.

It's highly probable, Xu Qiu added conservatively, We'll have to wait until we try it to know the effect.

Han Jiaying walked around to the side of the glove box, pressed the start button of the mechanical pump, and there was a slight buzzing sound.

Brother, the pump has already started.

Okay. Xu Qiu put a piece of glass substrate on the spin-coating platform, then adjusted the parameters, and started the test with a rotating speed of 5000r.p.m.

During the 30-second high-speed rotation, the glass sheet was firmly sucked by the suction table and did not fly out.

It was tested again at a speed of 6000r.p.m., and there was still no accident.

It's 90% successful now. Xu Qiu said with satisfaction.

Then there's 10% left? Han Jiaying tilted her head and asked, Does it mean the heating function?

As for the heating function, there is no rush. We still need to confirm the airtightness. Xu Qiu ordered:

Wait a second while you're staring at the rubber gloves in the glove box for any obvious air leaks.

After finishing speaking, he left the glove box, carried the mechanical pump and the replaced spin-coating platform, and walked to the door of 216.

The spin-coating platform has been ravaged by various solutions, and it is colorful, yellow, brown, blue, black, and there are various colors.

Xu Qiu put them back into the box and began to think about their use. This one can be kept as a spare, or this set can be thrown to Zhangjiang later, because Handan Laboratory does not lack glue machines.

After thinking for a while, he decided to drag the box back to the laboratory, find a corner and put it away, and let it see the light of day again when needed.

Afterwards, Xu Qiu walked to the spin-coating glove box and asked the junior girl, How is it? Is there anything unusual?

No abnormality, it should be normal. Han Jiaying replied happily.

The next task of exploring the experimental conditions is up to you, including my 5 systems and your 2 systems.

OK.

Also, light source on Saturday night, let's go together.

Well, good. The junior girl's smile gradually disappeared.

By the way, the light source samples are also starting to be made. This time it is mainly your system. It is estimated that 30-50 will be made.

oh.

Looking at Han Jiaying's resentful eyes, Xu Qiuguo broke away.