Chapter 281 Mural (Fifth Update)
On his first day back at HKUST, Wu Bin was quickly called to the office by Director Jiang and asked to start preparing for graduation.
"Ah, so soon?" Wu Bin thought there would be a buffer period or something, but he didn't expect Director Jiang to tell him about graduation just after he came back.
"What's the point of procrastinating this matter? Besides, I mean you can start writing your graduation thesis. Do you think it will be soon?" Director Jiang asked Wu Bin.
"That's not true." Wu Bin shook his head.
"Then you should start preparing quickly." After speaking, Director Jiang added: "But don't think that just because you can graduate, you can just write an assignment."
"Of course not." Wu Bin shook his head quickly.
"Well, I believe you are not the type to do such a thing. Then go and do your business."
Walking all the way back to the laboratory with the question of what topic to choose as his graduation thesis, Wu Bin was about to change his clothes when he heard Feng Jinhui calling him out and saying, "Someone from the Science and Technology Department came to see you two days ago. When he wasn’t there, he left me a phone number.”
"Someone from the Science and Technology Department is looking for me?" Wu Bin asked in surprise.
The Department of Scientific Research and Archeology is a very distinctive department of HKUST. It uses modern technology to analyze ancient remains to obtain rich potential information, and then combines archaeological methods to explore human history.
'But I don't seem to have had any interactions with anyone in this department...'
But since people came to us, maybe they were looking for him in an emergency, so Wu Bin picked up his cell phone and called the other person.
On his first day back at HKUST, Wu Bin was quickly called to the office by Director Jiang and asked to start preparing for graduation.
"Ah, so soon?" Wu Bin thought there would be a buffer period or something, but he didn't expect Director Jiang to tell him about graduation just after he came back.
"What's the point of procrastinating this matter? Besides, I mean you can start writing your graduation thesis. Do you think it will be soon?" Director Jiang asked Wu Bin.
"That's not true." Wu Bin shook his head.
"Then you should start preparing quickly." After speaking, Director Jiang added: "But don't think that just because you can graduate, you can just write an assignment."
"Of course not." Wu Bin shook his head quickly.
"Well, I believe you are not the type to do such a thing. Then go and do your business."
Walking all the way back to the laboratory with the question of what topic to choose as his graduation thesis, Wu Bin was about to change his clothes when he heard Feng Jinhui calling him out and saying, "Someone from the Science and Technology Department came to see you two days ago. When he wasn’t there, he left me a phone number.”
"Someone from the Science and Technology Department is looking for me?" Wu Bin asked in surprise.
The full name of the Department of Scientific Research is the Department of Science and Technology Archeology. It is a very distinctive department of the University of Science and Technology. It uses modern technology to analyze ancient remains to obtain rich potential information, and then combines archaeological methods to explore human history.
'But I don't seem to have had any interactions with anyone in this department...'
But since people came to us, maybe they were looking for him in an emergency, so Wu Bin picked up his cell phone and called the other party.
"Hello, who is this?" A man's voice came to mind on the other end of the phone.
"Hello, I'm Wu Bin. I heard from Teacher Feng that you came to see me?"
"Oh! Wu Bin, yes, I have looked for you, but it is not convenient to talk about this on the phone. How about we go to the volute to talk?"
"Oh... ok."
So Wu Bin got on his bicycle with some confusion, and soon arrived at the door of the Volute Time Restaurant.
"This way, classmate Wu Bin."
As soon as Wu Bin parked his car, he saw a boy with glasses waving to him at the door of the restaurant.
"Hello, are you looking for me?" Wu Bin walked over and asked.
"Yes, let me introduce myself first. My name is Xie Hui. I am a doctoral student in the Department of Science and Technology Archeology. The way I approached you this time was a bit reckless. Please forgive me."
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay, so you're looking for me to...?"
"Let's go in and talk."
After entering the restaurant, Xie Hui ordered a Coke for Wu Bin and sat across from him with a cup of milk tea.
"Then I'll get straight to the point." Xie Hui put down the milk tea and looked at Wu Bin and asked, "I wonder if you know anything about the murals?"
"What kind of mural?" Wu Bin asked.
"Architectural murals, cave murals, tomb murals, etc."
"Oh ~ I've heard of it, what next?"
"You should know that there is a lot of information recorded in the murals, which are precious treasures in the history of human society. From the murals at the Shimao site 4,200 years ago to the tomb murals found in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties."
"Especially the Tang Dynasty! Both quantity and quality are excellent!" Xie Hui's tone suddenly became impassioned.
Wu Bin, on the other hand, drank Coke and continued to listen patiently.
"But now we are facing a very troublesome problem, that is, a large number of tomb murals have a lot of diseases and are in urgent need of repair. Our recent research has found that graphene plays an important role in the protection of murals!"
'Oh~'
Speaking of which, Wu Bin finally understood why Dr. Xie came to see him.
Seeing Wu Bin's understanding expression, Xie Hui continued: "Because the structure of a mural mainly includes a paint layer, a white ash layer, a grass mud layer and a brick wall layer from the outside to the inside."
"The main component of the white ash layer is calcium carbonate. Therefore, over time, the white ash layer will easily fail, resulting in damage to the surface of the mural, so it is in urgent need of protection."
"Does it mean that no protective measures were taken before?" Wu Bin asked curiously.
"Of course there are protection measures. At present, the protective materials for murals are mainly divided into two categories: organic and inorganic materials. However, the compatibility of organic protective materials with the mural itself is too poor, and it is easy to age and even become brittle and yellow after long-term use. This is not what we want to see.”
"At the same time, because the film formed by organic materials is not breathable, the murals will eventually swell and pulverize. You must know that this is irreparable and fatal damage to the murals!"
"Oh~" Wu Bin continued to nod, and took out a booklet from his pocket and started taking notes.
Seeing Wu Bin taking notes, Xie Hui seemed a little surprised, but he admired it more, so he slowed down slightly and said: "Compared to organic materials, inorganic protective materials like calcium hydroxide have better compatibility. , the advantage of aging resistance.”
Watching Wu Bin write a few lines quickly, Xie Huicai continued: "After being applied to the surface of the mural, calcium hydroxide will react with carbon dioxide in the air to generate calcium carbonate and blend with the white ash layer, thereby further improving the The strength of the white ash layer provides better protection.”
"Huh? Doesn't that mean the problem has been solved?" Wu Bin raised his head and asked.
"If it were really that simple, I wouldn't have to come to you in such a hurry. What I just mentioned was just a paper published by Keplan in 2000. In the paper, he wrote that if nanometer calcium hydroxide is used to protect murals. Because Due to the nanometer size effect, the chemical and physical properties of calcium hydroxide will change, the surface activity and stability will be greatly increased, and the protective effect will naturally be significantly improved."
"However, it is actually difficult to put this idea into practice...oh no, it is very difficult."
After coughing slightly, Xie Hui took a sip of milk tea and continued: "Since the publication of this paper, inorganic nanomaterials have been a new research direction for mural protection materials. However, we have tried the aqueous solution method, alcohol solution method, and microemulsion method. And calcium metal method and other methods to synthesize nano-calcium hydroxide, unfortunately they are not feasible."
Xie Hui sighed as he spoke, "These synthesized calcium hydroxides are not only too large in size, but also have shortcomings such as poor permeability, poor stability, difficulty in purification, complex operation, and high cost."
When Wu Bin heard this, he couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. Isn't this the legendary uselessness...
Looking at Wu Bin's speechless expression, Xie Hui laughed awkwardly and continued: "But our research has not yielded anything."
"We found that the fundamental reason why problems such as slow carbonization and low reinforcement strength of calcium hydroxide have not been effectively solved is that the kinetic rules of calcium hydroxide nucleation and growth have not been clarified, so it is difficult to realize that nanometer calcium hydroxide can Effective breakthroughs in key technologies such as control and preparation.”
Hearing this, Wu Bin nodded with some understanding and began to calculate the information in his mind.
"and after?"
"Oh, now our research team has come up with a new idea and wants to introduce graphene quantum dots to solve this problem."
Hearing this, Wu Bin suddenly snapped his fingers and said, "Do you want to use the confinement effect of graphene quantum dot surfactant to regulate the nucleation and growth kinetic rate of calcium hydroxide?"
Xie Hui was stunned after hearing the whole thing. He opened his mouth and didn't know what to say. After a long time, he swallowed hard and said, "I knew I was right to find you!"
"We just want to realize the controllable synthesis of calcium hydroxide nanomaterials!"
"So you want to cooperate with me on this project?" Wu Bin asked.
"Yes, I have read the two papers you published on the preparation of graphene and found that your idea is completely possible to solve our current difficulties, so I very much hope to get your help."
"Okay, I'll join your group!" Wu Bin nodded.