Chapter 428 The Wonderful Use of Crystal Powder (Please vote and subscribe)

"It's just melting the crystal, not refining glass. The leader means that this time we will burn the crystal and then cast it into a transparent plate?!" Dazui quickly grasped the key point from the information given by Luo Chong.

"Yes, it's what you think." Luo Chong nodded in affirmation.

"Then the leader said it was a tool, but what can it be used for?" Dazui looked at the crystal cluster and couldn't figure out the purpose of this tool.

"It's not easy to find out. You will know when you make it. Hurry up and work. First smash these crystals, then grind them into powder, and then melt them in a crucible, just like mixing bronze. You have done this before, so I don't need to say more." Luo Chong looked at Dazui's silly look and urged.

"Ah?! Such a good thing, smashed, isn't it a pity." Dazui said distressedly holding the crystal cluster in his hand.

"Why, do you like this? If this thing is just like this, it is useless except for being placed there for viewing or as a decoration. We can only use it if it is turned into a tool. If you like it, you can keep a piece for yourself when we start large-scale mining in the future." Luo Chong smiled and looked at Da Zui.

"Chief, I didn't say that I just think it looks good. It's a pity to smash it."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. It will be more useful to us if we make it into a tool. Hurry up and do it." Luo Chong patted his shoulder and said.

Seeing Luo Chong's persistence, Da Zui didn't know what to say. He immediately took the crystals, smashed them first, and then ground them into powder. He did the same with the iron ore before. It was not the first time he did it, and he was very familiar with the process.

Luo Chong also understood Da Zui's feelings. Everyone loves beauty. When they had nothing before, they used bones to grind jewelry, not to mention seeing such a magical transparent stone now.

Luo Chong himself did not take crystal seriously. In his previous life, it was not a valuable thing. Crystal bracelets were common goods on the street, not to mention that he had discovered a crystal mine in this life. He could get as much of it as he wanted. It was just a matter of a word and an order.

The crushing and grinding process was very fast. After all, the quantity was small, just a few. In less than an hour, Dazui had already arrived at the ironmaking workshop with a porcelain basin. Luo Chong had been waiting here for a long time.

The ground crystal powder was not very fine, probably like gravel, and had not reached the level of flour. The color was no longer transparent as at the beginning, but turned white.

Seeing this thing, Luo Chong had an idea. If this thing was ground a little finer, couldn't it be used as silica powder?

You know, this thing can not only be used to make crystal glass, but also as a special coating.

There is a kind of cultural and educational tool with black technology in modern times, which is known as the fifth treasure of the study. It is the universal water writing cloth. The surface is grayish white. If you write on it with a brush dipped in water, it will show a black effect like ink. The invention of this calligraphy artifact can be said to have greatly saved paper. It has played a great role in both environmental protection and money saving.

When Luo Chong first came into contact with this thing, he also felt it was magical. In order to understand its principle, he also consulted some information at that time.

In fact, the working principle of the water writing cloth is not complicated. It is just a layer of white paint on a black base cloth. The main component of this paint is silica powder. What is silica? It is transparent glass. What are the characteristics of glass? It can refract light.

The principle of water writing cloth is to use the glass refraction property of silicon dioxide. When the coating on the surface of the water writing cloth dries, because other white substances are mixed in the coating, and the powdered silicon dioxide is also light white, it looks like white paper.

However, when the white coating contacts the water of the brush, the contacted area will change the refraction angle of light because the gaps in the coating are filled with water, making the coating partially transparent for a period of time. After the white coating on the top becomes transparent, the black base cloth underneath is naturally exposed. Its principle is so simple.

Now suddenly thinking of this, Luo Chong had the idea of ​​making water writing cloth. If there is this thing, how much paper will be saved for the Han tribe? It can also play a considerable role in promoting the popularization of education in the future. After all, paper is not cheap. After the full privatization, it is naturally impossible for everyone to afford a large amount of paper. But if there is a water writing cloth, then only one piece is needed for daily calligraphy practice. Even if the quality of Luo Chong's research is not as good as the modern one, it is worth it if it can be used repeatedly for a thousand times.

However, it takes more than one or two days to make this thing. The key technology is the formula of the white paint on the surface, but Luo Chong is not clear about it. He did check the information at that time, but the information was not very detailed. He took a look and didn't remember it. However, he can guess some things based on the characteristics of the water-writing cloth.

The most important thing is silica powder, which accounts for the largest proportion. The rest should be glue and other things. After all, this is a paint. It must be brushed on the black cloth and it must not fall off. Therefore, this glue must be waterproof and absorbent. In other words, it can get wet, but it will not fall off from the attached object when it is wet.

Another thing is the powder with water-locking function. When the brush is dipped in water and contacts the paint, the water cannot be spread all at once, but can only be locked in a local area. Otherwise, it will not be fun to make a large area black with one stroke.

Then there is a white substance that can make the water evaporate quickly. The purpose is quick drying. It can't be left for several hours to dry after writing, otherwise it will lose its use value.

From this, we can infer that this formula must contain at least four things, silicon dioxide, waterproof glue, water-locking powder, and quick-drying powder. Luo Chong only has one silicon dioxide now, and there is no trace of the remaining three. It seems that he can only study it slowly in the future. The current thing is to make the convex lens first.

"Well, that's about it. Start melting. By the way, bring some alkali over. It will be used as a catalyst later. You don't need to add anything else." Luo Chong grabbed a handful of crystal gravel, took a look at it in his hand, and threw it back into the basin.

"Yes, chief." Big Mouth responded quickly, and then he and his assistants started to refine it themselves. Some pulled the bellows and some added charcoal. It didn't take long for the crystal gravel in the crucible to turn red.

(End of this chapter)