Geostructures, dynamics and risk mitigation of high-altitude and long- runout rockslides

Long-runout rockslides at high altitude could cause disaster chain in river basins and destroy towns and major infrasturctures.This paper firstly explores the initiation mechanism of high-altitude and long-runout rockslides.Two types of sliding-prone geostructure models,i.e.the fault control type in orogenic belt and the fold control type in platform area,are proposed.Then,large-scale experimental apparatus and associated numerical simulations are conducted to understanding the chain-style dynamics of rockslide-debris avalanche-debris flow.The results reveal the fragmentation effects,the rheological behaviors and the boundary layer effect of long-runout avalanche-debris flow.The dynamic character-istics of quasi-static-transition-inertia state and solid-liquid coupling in rapid movement of rockslide-debris avalanche-debris flow are investigated.Finally,the risk mitigation strategy of the non-structure and structure for resilient energy dissipation are illustrated for initiation,transition and deposition zones.The structural prevention and mitigation methods have been successfully applied to the high-altitude and long-runout rockslides in Zhouqu and Maoxian of the Wenchuan earthquake zone,as well as the other major geohazards in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its adjacent areas.

Addressing cation mixing in layered structured cathodes for lithium-ion batteries:A critical review

High-performance lithium-ion batteries(LIB)are important in powering emerging technologies.Cathodes are regarded as the bottleneck of increasing battery energy density,among which layered oxides are the most promising candidates for LIB.However,a limitation with layered oxides cathodes is the transition metal and Li site mixing,which significantly impacts battery capacity and cycling stability.Despite recent research on Li/Ni mixing,there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the origin of cation mixing between the transition metal and Li;therefore,practical means to address it.Here,a critical review of cation mixing in layered cathodes has been provided,emphasising the understanding of cation mixing mechanisms and their impact on cathode material design.We list and compare advanced characterisation techniques to detect cation mixing in the material structure;examine methods to regulate the degree of cation mixing in layered oxides to boost battery capacity and cycling performance,and critically assess how these can be applied practically.An appraisal of future research directions,including superexchange interaction to stabilise structures and boost capacity retention has also been concluded.Findings will be of immediate benefit in the design of layered cathodes for high-performance rechargeable LIB and,therefore,of interest to researchers and manufacturers.

火星探测和天体矿物手性

从地球到月球到火星,人类一直没有停下探矿寻宝的脚步。从冰洲石到水晶到紫水晶,这些晶莹剔透矿石所呈现的光学现象给科学家带来“光是什么”和“手性起源”的百折不挠探究,贯穿整个科学发展史,促进科学、技术和现代社会进步,并将持续为未来科技发展带来不可估量的影响。

Clinical assessment and genomic landscape of a consanguineous family with three Kallmann syndrome descendants

Although some genes that cause Kallmann syndrome （KS） have been identified by traditional linkage analysis and candidate gene techniques, the syndrome＇s molecular etiology in the majority of patients remains poorly understood. In this paper, we present the clinical assessments of a consanguineous Hart Chinese family with three KS descendants. To understand the molecular etiology of KS from a genome-wide perspective, we investigated the genome-wide profile of structural variation in this family using the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 platform. The results revealed that the three affected individuals had common copy number variants （microdeletions） on chromosomes lp21.1, 2q32.2, 8q21.13, 14q21.2 and Xp22.31. Moreover, the copy number variants on Xp22.31 were located in the intron of KAL 1, which causes X-linked KS. Two PCR assays were performed on these regions to validate the results obtained using the chips. In addition, genomic microdeletions in this region were verified in one of 29 Han Chinese sporadic KS cases and one of four other family cases, but not in 26 Han Chinese sporadic normosmic idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism cases and 100 unrelated Han Chinese normal controls. Our results provide a novel insight into the relative contributions of certain copy number variants to KS＇s molecular etiology and generate a list of interesting candidate regions for further studies.

Boosting lifespan of conversion-reaction anodes for full/half potassium-ion batteries via multi-dimensional carbon nano-architectures confinement effect

Transition metal selenides are regarded as prospective conversion-reaction anodes for potassium-ion batteries(PIBs)because of their relatively high electrical conductivity,large theoretical specific capacity,abundant resources and low cost.The challenge of the metal selenides originates from a serious volume change during cycling,which induces serious structural collapse and fast capacity degradation.In the present work,the multi-dimensional carbon nano-architectures confined bimetallic selenides(ZnSe/CoSe_(2)@N-CNTs/rGO)were constructed by a facile MOF-assisted strategy.In such special nanoarchitectures,N-doped CNTs protect the metal selenides centers from serious volume expansion/electrode pulverization,as well as improve the sluggish kinetics.ZnSe/CoSe_(2)@N-CNTs/rGO electrode boosts the lifespan of half PIBs with a large discharge specific capacity of 200 m Ah g^(-1)at 2 A g^(-1)after 3800 cycles.The full PIBs battery with ZnSe/CoSe_(2)@N-CNTs/rGO electrode as anode and Prussian blue as cathode exhibits well electrochemical performance(151 m Ah g^(-1)at 100 m A g^(-1)after 100 cycles).DFT calculation suggests that the CNTs could change the K+adsorption energy and decrease K+diffusion energy barrier,which dramatically enhances K+storage kinetics.This work offers an effective material engineering approach for designing hierarchical“all-in-one”electrodes with high excellent cycling stability for PIBs.

Roadmap for rechargeable batteries:present and beyond

Rechargeable batteries currently hold the largest share of the electrochemical energy storage market,and they play a major role in the sustainable energy transition and industrial decarbonization to respond to global climate change.Due to the increased popularity of consumer electronics and electric vehicles,lithium-ion batteries have quickly become the most successful rechargeable batteries in the past three decades,yet growing demands in diversified application scenarios call for new types of rechargeable batteries.Tremendous efforts are made to developing the next-generation post-Li-ion rechargeable batteries,which include,but are not limited to solid-state batteries,lithium–sulfur batteries,sodium-/potassium-ion batteries,organic batteries,magnesium-/zinc-ion batteries,aqueous batteries and flow batteries.Despite the great achievements,challenges persist in precise understandings about the electrochemical reaction and charge transfer process,and optimal design of key materials and interfaces in a battery.This roadmap tends to provide an overview about the current research progress,key challenges and future prospects of various types of rechargeable batteries.New computational methods for materials development,and characterization techniques will also be discussed as they play an important role in battery research.

Practical assessment of the energy density of potassium-ion batteries

1 Introduction The evolution of modern human society closely depends on affordable,efficient,and safe energy storage systems.Today,lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)are the dominant energy storage systems to power portable electronics and a global push toward electric transportation and smart grids.

Unlocking the potential of silicon anodes in lithium-ion batteries:A claw-inspired binder with synergistic interface bonding

Binders play a crucial role in enhancing the cycling stability of silicon anodes in next-generation Li-ion batteries.However,traditional linear polymer binders have difficulty withstanding the volume expansion of silicon during cycling.Herein,inspired by the fact that animals’claws can grasp objects firmly,a claw-like taurine-grafted-poly(acrylic acid)binder(Tau-g-PAA)is designed to improve the electrochemical performance of silicon anodes.The synergistic effects of different polar groups(sulfo and carboxyl)in Tau-g-PAA facilitate the formation of multidimensional interactions with silicon nanoparticles and the diffusion of Li ions,thereby greatly improving the stability and rate performance of silicon anodes,which aligns with results from density functional theory(DFT)simulations.As expected,a Tau-g-PAA/Si electrode exhibits excellent cycling performance with a high specific capacity of 1003mAhg−1at 1C(1C=4200mAhg−1)after 300 cycles,and a high rate performance.The design strategy of using polar small molecule-grafted polymers to create claw-like structures could inspire the development of better binders for silicon-based anodes.

Recent progress in electrolyte design for advanced lithium metal batteries

Lithium metal batteries(LMBs)have attracted considerable interest for use in electric vehicles and as next-generation energy storage devices because of their high energy density.However,a significant practical drawback with LMBs is the instability of the Li metal/electrolyte interface,with concurrent parasitic reactions and dendrite growth,that leads to low Coulombic efficiency and poor cycle life.Owing to the significant role of electrolytes in batteries,rationally designed electrolytes can improve the electrochemical performance of LMBs and possibly achieve fast charge and a wide range of working temperatures to meet various requirements of the market in the future.Although there are some review papers about electrolytes for LMBs,the focus has been on a single parameter or single performance separately and,therefore,not sufficient for the design of electrolytes for advanced LMBs for a wide range of working environments.This review presents a systematic summary of recent progress made in terms of electrolytes,covering the fundamental understanding of the mechanism,scientific challenges,and strategies to address drawbacks of electrolytes for high-performance LMBs.The advantages and disadvantages of various electrolyte strategies are also analyzed,yielding suggestions for optimum properties of electrolytes for advanced LMBs applications.Finally,the most promising research directions for electrolytes are discussed briefly.

Understanding voltage hysteresis and decay during anionic redox reaction in layered transition metal oxide cathodes:A critical review

The emergence of anionic redox reactions in layered transition metal oxide cathodes provides practical opportunity to boost the energy density of rechargeable batteries.However,the activation of anionic redox reaction in layered oxides has significant voltage hysteresis and decay that reduce battery performance and limit commercialization.Here,we critically review the up-todate development of anionic redox reaction in layered oxide cathodes,summarize the proposed reaction mechanism,and unveil their connection to voltage hysteresis and decay based on the state-of-the-art progress.In addition,advances associated with various modification approaches to mitigate the voltage hysteresis/decay in layered transition metal oxide cathodes are also included.Finally,we conclude with an appraisal of further research directions including rational design of high-performance layered oxide cathodes with reversible anionic redox reactions and suppressed voltage hysteresis/decay.Findings will be of immediate benefit to the development of layered oxide cathodes for high performance rechargeable batteries.

Simulation and test on separating cleaning process of flax threshing material based on gas-solid coupling theory

In order to further clarify and improve the working performance of separating cleaning device of flax threshing material,and study the motion law and characteristics of components of flax threshing material,in this paper,numerical simulation was carried out on the separating cleaning process of flax threshing material based on CFD-DEM method.Simulation results showed that the components of flax threshing material were separated and cleaned under the influence of airflow field,meanwhile,variation curves of quantity and mean velocity of flax seeds in the separating cleaning system were obtained.By referring to streamline distribution of gas-solid coupling,the quantity variation law of components of flax threshing material with time was explored and their motion curves and variation tendency of average velocity were studied.Verification test results showed that the cleaning rate of separating cleaning device for flax threshing material was 92.66%with 1.58%of total separation loss.Compared with simulation results,the test results were 1.34%and 0.93%lower,showing that it is feasible to apply the gas-solid coupling theory and method to simulate the separating and cleaning operation of flax threshing material.

Motion simulation and test on threshed grains in tapered threshing and transmission device for plot wheat breeding based on CFD-DEM

Mechanization of field experiments is the only way to improve crop breeding and seed propagation effects.In order to further clarify and improve the working performance of tapered threshing device for plot breeding,and reduce the remaining seeds in the device,the numerical simulation was carried out on the motion process of materials in the longitudinal-axial tapered cylinder threshing and transmission device of the plot wheat breeding combine harvester based on CFD-DEM method.Simulation results showed that,threshing and transmission of particles and short stalks at axial direction could be realized under the influence of air flow.Meanwhile,the material transference and distribution rule and stream field distribution rule of air flow in the threshing and transmission device were obtained,the variations of velocity and displacement of particles and short stalks with time were obtained;the motion trajectories and forms of particles in different types of retention were also studied.At rotating speed of 1300-1600 r/min for the tapered threshing cylinder in the verification test,the particle retention rate in the enclosure was 0-0.13%,while in the simulation the particle retention rate in the enclosure was 0-0.11%,only a 0.02%difference between them.The results proved a favorable feasibility to simulate the working performance of the tapered threshing and transmission device for plot breeding through gas-solid coupling method.

Temperature-gradient induced microstructure evolution in heat-affected zone of electron beam welded Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy

The heat-affected zone(HAZ) of electron beam welded(EBW) joint normally undergoes a unique heat-treating process consisting of rapid temperature rising and dropping stages, resulting in temperature-gradient in HAZ as a function of the distance to fusion zone(FZ). In the current work,microstructure, elements distribution and crystallographic orientation of three parts(near base material(BM) zone, mid-HAZ and near-FZ) in the HAZ of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were systematically investigated. The microstructure observation revealed that the microstructural variation from near-BM to near-FZ included the reduction of primary α(αp) grains, the increase of transformed β structure(βt) and the formation of various α structures. The rim-α, dendritic α and abnormal secondary α(αs) colonies formed in the mid-HAZ, while the "ghost" structures grew in the near-FZ respectively. The electron probe microanalyzer(EPMA) and electron back-scattered diffraction(EBSD) technologies were employed to evaluate the elements diffusion and texture evolution during the unique thermal process of welding. The formation of the various α structures in the HAZ were discussed based on the EPMA and EBSD results. Finally, the nanoindentation hardness of "ghost" structures was presented and compared with nearby βt regions.

Metal chalcogenides for potassium storage

Potassium-based energy storage technologies,especially potassium ion batteries(PIBs),have received great interest over the past decade.A pivotal challenge facing high-performance PIBs is to identify advanced electrode materials that can store the large-radius K+ions,as well as to tailor the various thermodynamic parameters.Metal chalcogenides are one of the most promising anode materials,having a high theoretical specific capacity,high in-plane electrical conductivity,and relatively small volume change on charge/discharge.However,the development of metal chalcogenides for PIBs is still in its infancy because of the limited choice of high-performance electrode materials.However,numerous efforts have been made to conquer this challenge.In this article,we overview potassium storage mechanisms,the technical hurdles,and the optimization strategies for metal chalcogenides and highlight how the adjustment of the crystalline structure and choice of the electrolyte affect the electrochemical performance of metal-chalcogenide-based electrode materials.Other potential potassium-based energy storage systems to which metal chalcogenides can be applied are also discussed.Finally,future research directions focusing on metal chalcogenides for potassium storage are proposed.

Biomass‑Derived Carbon Materials for High‑Performance Supercapacitors:Current Status and Perspective

Supercapacitors are electrochemical energy storage systems that depend on high-surface-area electrodes and can play a dominant role in areas that require high power delivery or uptake.And of various electrodes,biomass-derived carbonaceous electrodes have recently shown impressive promise in high-performance supercapacitors because of their widespread availability,renewable nature and low-cost electricity storage.Based on this,this review will discuss the current status of biomass-derived carbon materials in supercapacitors and highlight current research with a specific emphasis on the influences of structure and elemental doping on the electrochemical performance of corresponding carbon electrodes.This review will also discuss the gap between laboratory achievements and practical utilization in terms of these biomass-derived carbon materials and outline practical strategies for future improvement.

Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of lotus-rootlike Au-ZnO nanostructures

Unique lotus-rootlike Au-Zn O hybrid structures were obtained by controlling the deposition of pre-synthesized Au nano- crystals onto the surfaces of as-obtained Zn O structures. Zn O with lotus-rootlike structures was first prepared through a hydrothermal process. We also investigated the effects of various Au contents on the photocatalytic activities in detail. Notably, compared to the pure Zn O component, these resulting lotus-root-like Au-Zn O nanostructures with the appropriate amounts of Au content exhibited better photocatalytic efficiency.

Challenges and prospects of lithium-CO_(2) batteries

The key role played by carbon dioxide in global temperature cycles has stimulated constant research attention on carbon capture and storage.Among the various options,lithium-carbon dioxide batteries are intriguing,not only for the transformation of waste carbon dioxide to value-added products,but also for the storage of electricity from renewable power resources and balancing the carbon cycle.The development of this system is still in its early stages and faces tremendous hurdles caused by the introduction of carbon dioxide.In this review,detailed discussion on the critical problems faced by the electrode,the interface,and the electrolyte is provided,along with the rational strategies required to address these problematic issues for efficient carbon dioxide fixation and conversion.We hope that this review will provide a resource for a comprehensive understanding of lithium-carbon dioxide batteries and will serve as guidance for exploring reversible and rechargeable alkali metal-based carbon dioxide battery systems in the future.

A novel lambda negative-resistance transistor in the 0.5 μm standard CMOS process

A novel negative-resistance transistor (NRT) with a Lambda shaped I-V characteristic is demonstrated in the 0.5 μm standard CMOS process. To save on the number of component devices, this device does not use standard device models provided by CMOS processes, but changes a MOSFET and a BJT into a single device by fabricating them in the same n-well, with a p-type base layer as the MOSFET's substrate. The NRT has a low valley current of -6.82 nA and a very high peak-to-valley current ratio of 3591. The peak current of the device is -24.49 μA which is low enough to reduce the power consumption of the deivce, and the average value of its negative resistance is about 32 kΩ. Unlike most negative-resistance devices which have been fabricated on compound semiconductor substrates in recent years, this novel NRT is based on a silicon substrate, compatible with mainstream CMOS technology. Our NRT dramatically reduces the number of devices, minimizing the area of the chip, has a low power consumption and thus a further reduction in cost.

Design,fabrication and characterization of dual-channel real space transfer transistor

In this paper,using aδ-doping dual-channel structure and GaAs substrate,a real space transfer transistor(RSTT)is designed and fabricated successfully.It has the standardΛ-shaped negative resistance I-V characteristics as well as a level and smooth valley region that the conventional RSTT has.The negative resistance parameters can be varied by changing gate voltage(VGS).For example,the PVCR varies from 2.1 to 10.6 while VGS changes from 0.6 V to 1.0 V.The transconductance for IP(ΔIP=ΔVGS)is 0.3 mS.The parameters of VP,VV and threshold gate voltage(VT)for negative resistance characteristics arising are all smaller than the value reported in the literature.Therefore,this device is suitable for low dissipation power application.

The design and fabrication on gate type resonant tunneling transistor

In light of fabricating resonant tunneling diode(RTD),in this paper a GaAs-based resonant tunneling transistor with gate structure(GRTT)has been designed and fabricated successfully.A systematic depiction centers on the designs of material structure,device structure,photo-lithography mask,fabrication of device and the measurement and analysis of parameters.The fabricated GRTT has a maximum PVCR of 46 and a maximum transconductance of 8 mS.The work lays the foundation for further improve-ment on the performance and parameters of RTT.