Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen

July 16.

Huang Xiuyuan arrived at the Materials Laboratory early in the morning.

Ever since he had traveled north to Bingcheng, Lu Xuedong, He Wen, and the others had not ceased their research into polygonal silicon oxide.

However, considering safety, they had been quite cautious during their research; after all, Nitrogen-20, which they had worked with previously, was a high-energy material.

If a mistake were made, the consequences would be terrifying.

He reviewed the various reports from the laboratory, noting that current work was concentrated on "polygonal silicon oxide," "Nitrogen-16," and "Nitrogen-20."

Among the four subtypes of polygonal silicon oxide, the one they had studied the most was the first one discovered, Hexagonal Silicon Oxide.

During the research process, He Wen and the others had also discovered quite a few things.

For instance, the elements that could pass through Hexagonal Silicon Oxide were not limited to nitrogen atoms. Elements in the same nitrogen group—namely nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth—could all pass through the pores in the center of Hexagonal Silicon Oxide under specific voltage and vacuum negative pressure.

Meanwhile, Pentagonal Silicon Oxide had a particular affinity for carbon group elements; Heptagonal Silicon Oxide, in addition to allowing water molecules (dihydrogen monoxide) to pass through, could also allow other oxygen group elements; Octagonal Silicon Oxide corresponded to specific halogen elements.

The ambitious He Wen and his team hoped to draw on Huang Xiuyuan's experience to develop entirely new materials.

He was very supportive of this, only requesting that they maintain proper safety measures to avoid experimental accidents.

For the time being, Huang Xiuyuan still needed to further solidify the foundation of Suiren Company, so he intended to introduce a material that would become popular in the future to this world ahead of schedule.

"Old He, make the arrangements; I want to conduct an experiment."

"Please give your orders, Mr. Huang."

Over an hour later, the experimental equipment and materials were ready, and before him stood a device fitted with a "Heptagonal Silicon Oxide-Graphene Film."

He started by testing it with pure oxygen over a dozen times, but none were successful.

"Mr. Huang, should we try pure ozone?"

Huang Xiuyuan shook his head: "I've read your previous experimental reports; ozone likely won't have any effect either."

After pretending to think for a moment, he immediately ordered: "Old He, prepare liquid oxygen as the raw material."

"Liquid oxygen?" He Wen was stunned, then immediately reacted.

Among the common allotropes of oxygen, there are generally oxygen (O2) and ozone (O3), but oxygen also has two other less common allotropes: O4 molecules, which exist briefly in liquid oxygen, and red oxygen (O8), which exists in solid oxygen.

After switching to liquid oxygen, the experiment restarted. After more than fifty trials, a strange red solid substance appeared at the bottom of the reaction vessel. Although there was only a tiny amount, that blood-like bright red color made everyone incredibly excited.

"Could it be red oxygen molecules?"

"It doesn't look like it. Red oxygen requires low temperature and high pressure, but the reaction vessel is in a semi-vacuum state."

"It seems to be another new substance."

With impatient excitement, the group carefully extracted the tiny bit of red powder and sent it to the testing area.

After more than half an hour of preliminary testing, He Wen ran over excitedly: "It's a new molecule, a brand-new allotrope of the oxygen element, composed of 14 oxygen atoms."

In truth, Huang Xiuyuan knew exactly what it was, but he could not make it too obvious. He arranged the tasks again: "Old He, you lead the team to continue studying the physical and chemical properties of this new molecule, and I will continue to study the synthesis process. Let's keep in touch."

"No problem."

The two of them led their respective teams and began working busily in the laboratory.

With incremental improvements, the production volume of the new molecule steadily increased.

As for He Wen's side, after more than a week of research, they had quickly grasped the general physical and chemical properties of the new molecule.

The new molecule was an Oxygen-14 molecule. The three-dimensional structure of the molecule was a "quasi-spherical structure," which could actually be viewed as a cube with a protruding oxygen atom in the center of each of the six faces.

After discussion, this new molecule was named Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen.

Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen was relatively stable at room temperature and pressure, soluble in water, and possessed weak magnetism, allowing it to be attracted by neodymium magnets and thus separated from water.

These properties were ordinary, but He Wen discovered that Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen possessed a very peculiar characteristic.

That was, when electrified, Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen exhibited a super-strong, temporary oxidizing function. Just how strong was it?

During the experiment, even the very unreactive gold element could not resist the "forceful seizure" of the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen; it would be forcibly combined by the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen to form a Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen-digold molecule (O16Au2).

In a series of tests, except for failing to react with argon atoms among the noble gases and radioactive heavy elements not available in the laboratory, Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen could perform this "forceful seizure" reaction with all remaining elements.

Furthermore, this characteristic would disappear directly once the electricity was cut off. When the seizure characteristic vanished, the atoms previously acquired would immediately break their bonds with the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen.

After delving deeper into this characteristic, He Wen discovered that the seizure property was controllable.

This controllability was primarily manifested through the temperature of the solution and the voltage applied. At specific water temperatures and voltages, Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen would produce a "selective" seizure reaction toward specific elements.

If it were just a blanket seizure reaction, its value might be lower, but a seizure reaction that could target specific elements was an entirely different matter.

Even without much knowledge of technical commercialization, He Wen could already think of six or seven applications.

As someone who knew the ins and outs, Huang Xiuyuan understood even more. He instructed Du Jinhua's engineering team to modify some equipment.

July 28.

Inside the organic fertilizer desalination workshop at the Guizhuling Industrial Park.

Huang Xiuyuan, He Wen, Du Jinhua, and the factory manager, Huang Guotong, were standing outside the workshop.

Six or seven technicians and engineers from the engineering team were busy inside the workshop, modifying the previous desalination equipment.

The desalination technology they used previously was not only complex to operate and relatively high in cost, but the sodium chloride residue in the organic fertilizer only met the initial standards.

Furthermore, the use of certain chemicals could potentially cause secondary pollution, further increasing the production costs of the organic fertilizer.

Once the renovation of the desalination workshop was completed.

Du Jinhua led his team to spend over two hours on adjustments before they began the trial run.

From the liquefied gas refining workshop, a large quantity of gas-refining slag and liquid flowed along the channels, being continuously transported to the desalination workshop.

Heated circulating purified water was injected into the slag and liquid until the temperature of the liquid in the desalination tank rose to 35–37 degrees Celsius.

The gate on the upper side of the workshop opened, and the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen powder stored in the gate was poured entirely into the liquid, after which the electrical system installed in the desalination tank was activated.

Under the stimulation of a specific voltage, the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen molecules exhibited an ultra-strong seizing reaction toward the sodium chloride molecules, forcibly binding the sodium chloride within the liquid to themselves in just over a minute.

Then, a mechanical arm extended down from inside the gate, carrying an electromagnet that hovered close to the surface of the liquid below.

As soon as the electromagnet approached the liquid, a large amount of Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen-sodium chloride separated from the liquid and adhered to the surface of the electromagnet.

Finally, the electromagnet was retracted and moved to the adjacent workshop, where the power was cut; instantly, the red crystals on the surface of the electromagnet disintegrated into powder and drifted downward.

When the electromagnet was powered on again, the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen molecules within the red powder were magnetically attracted back up, while only a layer of pure white powder remained at the bottom of the workshop's recovery tank—that was the sodium chloride powder.

The electromagnet, carrying the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen, returned to the upper side of the gate, and after the power was cut, the Hexa-conical Spherical Oxygen powder settled back into the gate, waiting for the next cycle.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀), and thanks to book friends Shui Zai Paopao Li De Yu, Mantian Fengshuang De Lutu, Leng Bu Jiangjiu 9406, and Yuming Daoren for their tips!