Materials R&D

"Yesterday's pre-prepared Polyimide Prepolymer Solution should be ready. Come on, let's move on to the next step."

Fei Yang New Material Technology Company.

It was another bright, sunny day. Zhou Feiyu, busy researching PI Film technology, pulled the company's only two R&D staff into the lab with him.

One was Zeng Taikun, who had previously handled both R&D and process engineering at the factory. The other was Jiang Xinyi, the newly hired Mobile Phone Glass Electronic Engineer.

Zeng Taikun had a weak foundation in materials R&D. Most of his previous responsibilities had been in process engineering, and he had never worked on materials research, much less PI Film materials.

Although Jiang Xinyi understood the importance of PI Film, as well as its role and problem areas in the production of Mobile Phone Glass, she did not come from a materials R&D background either. Her foundation was similarly limited—only slightly better than Zeng Taikun's.

But Zhou Feiyu did not care about that. He was not using them as researchers in the first place, merely as assistants. Zeng Taikun's strength lay in process engineering. He was only twenty-five or twenty-six this year, smart and quick-witted, and Zhou Feiyu intended to train him to follow up on the process side. Jiang Xinyi's strength was in applications. Once the new PI Film had been developed, she would be responsible for application validation.

Inside the company's factory building, a large area had been partitioned off as a dedicated R&D workshop.

After the three entered, they immediately went over to inspect the large experimental vat. Inside was the Polyimide Prepolymer Solution prepared the day before.

"This solution was prepared from ionic liquid, dianhydride, and diamine. The ionic liquid was made by combining 1-chloro-3-bis(2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)imidazolium and 1,3-bis(2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)imidazolium hexafluorophosphate at a one-to-one ratio. The dianhydride and diamine were also mixed at a one-to-one ratio, then combined with the ionic liquid at a ratio of three to ten and reacted at room temperature. Let's count—it has reacted for exactly twenty hours from yesterday until now..."

Zhou Feiyu had handled the initial preparation alone, while Zeng Taikun and Jiang Xinyi had been busy with other matters. Now, he immediately began explaining everything in detail.

As they listened, Zeng Taikun and Jiang Xinyi hurriedly took out notebooks and wrote things down.

The palest ink was better than the best memory!

Preparing industrial products was a complex, cumbersome process filled with details.

While introducing the raw materials, preparation process, and equipment required for his material, Zhou Feiyu also directed Zeng Taikun and Jiang Xinyi to help out.

When one was busy, time always passed quickly.

The day flew by. Since time was tight and certain procedures had to be completed within specified timeframes, the three even took turns eating.

They worked until after six in the evening before the preliminary product was finally completed. A row of flat plates had been coated with the prepared polyimide colloidal solution, uniform in thickness and extremely thin.

But it was not finished yet. Baking, shaping, imidization, and other subsequent processes still remained. It would take at least a week before usable PI Film could be produced.

"Boss, do we start baking it next?"

After a full day, everyone was somewhat exhausted, but Zeng Taikun still asked with great enthusiasm.

There was no helping it. A billionaire boss was personally leading them in technical work. If he still did not work hard, he would be utterly pathetic.

Zhou Feiyu smiled. "This batch will be put onto the drying line for baking in a moment. Little Zeng, arrange for someone to follow up on it. Starting tomorrow, we'll prepare other materials—colloidal solutions with different ratios, reaction times, and other parameters. If we're doing this, we'll do it right. Otherwise, there's no point in doing it at all."

Zeng Taikun was instantly speechless.

Jiang Xinyi was equally at a loss for words. She had finally witnessed Zhou Feiyu's meticulous side and thought, No wonder he was able to develop a material like FY-01!

After giving instructions for the follow-up work, Zhou Feiyu returned to his office.

At that moment, Wang Lei, head of the Legal Department, came to report on his work.

Well, the entire Legal Department consisted of Wang Lei alone. He managed himself, but he was still the department head.

"Boss, the confidentiality agreements have all been signed by the relevant personnel from Hua Long, Zhong Wei, Qian Jia, Di Guang, Fei Yang New Material, and Fei Yang Optics. Everyone involved in the procurement of raw materials for FY-01, production, manufacturing, Die Cutting, testing, and application processes has signed. Here is the list."

Wang Lei handed him a document.

Zhou Feiyu opened it and saw four or five pages densely packed with names, each accompanied by a handwritten signature.

"Good work."

Zhou Feiyu praised him.

"It's my duty."

Wang Lei replied with a smile.

Confidentiality work had to be done, especially while they were still weak at this stage.

Although Zhou Feiyu had taken measures to conceal certain FY-01 materials and mix in misleading information, making it basically impossible for competitors in the same industry to deduce the formula through reverse engineering in the short term, the necessary confidentiality measures still had to be put in place. The purpose was to prevent unforeseeable sabotage before it happened.

There was only ever a thief for a thousand days, never a guard for a thousand days. That was because it was difficult to guard against such things forever.

Wang Lei then reported another matter. "Boss, I received word that Tian Le Material and Tian Feng Chemical have both been looking into our company. Tian Feng Chemical has not made any moves for now, but Tian Le Material has been asking around everywhere these past few days. I think they're racking their brains trying to deal with us."

"Tian Le Material?"

Zhou Feiyu thought about it. It seemed that on the day Fei Yang Optics was established, Tian Le Material had called him, only for him to hang up without mercy.

As for Tian Feng Chemical, Zhou Feiyu knew it was a giant in the optical materials field.

It seemed the establishment of Fei Yang Optics had truly caught the attention of these giants.

"Ignore them. They're nothing but dry bones in a grave."

Zhou Feiyu merely sneered.

Seeing his confidence, Wang Lei's somewhat grave expression eased. He continued, "Boss, you previously instructed me to monitor King Material Company's movements. I followed up on it. King Material Company has not made any moves yet, but President Feng of Zhong Wei Technology revealed some information to me. He said that all Oupai K9 Series Models orders originally placed with King Material Company and scheduled for one month later had been canceled—a total order of five million pieces. I think King Material Company will sooner or later trace this back to us."

"I know about that. President Chen of Zhong Wei called me."

Zhou Feiyu nodded. "You don't need to specially follow up on this matter anymore. Just report to me if there are any developments. By the end of the month, Fei Yang Optics should be able to officially begin production. By then, FY-01 will sweep aside everything, and any move they make will be too late."

Wang Lei hurriedly nodded in acknowledgment.

Over the following week, Zhou Feiyu led Zeng Taikun and Jiang Xinyi in throwing themselves wholeheartedly into research and sample production.

During that time, with Nanjiang County's full support, Fei Yang Optics' factory buildings rose from the ground. Utilities and internet access had all been connected, staffing was nearly complete, and they only needed the equipment to arrive before assembly, commissioning, and production could begin. Fei Yang Optics' management team included personnel contributed by Hua Long, Zhong Wei, Qian Jia, and Di Guang. Xiao Weidong, Di Guang's deputy general manager, had been transferred over to serve as General Manager. First, he was more familiar with Zhou Feiyu; second, Xiao Weidong knew the industry well and had extensive connections.

Meanwhile, after days of investigation, King Material Company finally pieced things together and determined why Zhong Wei had suddenly canceled its orders.