Highly Efficient Aligned Ion‑Conducting Network and Interface Chemistries for Depolarized All‑Solid‑State Lithium Metal Batteries

Improving the long-term cycling stability and energy density of all-solid-state lithium(Li)-metal batteries(ASSLMBs)at room temperature is a severe challenge because of the notorious solid–solid interfacial contact loss and sluggish ion transport.Solid electrolytes are generally studied as two-dimensional(2D)structures with planar interfaces,showing limited interfacial contact and further resulting in unstable Li/electrolyte and cathode/electrolyte interfaces.Herein,three-dimensional(3D)architecturally designed composite solid electrolytes are developed with independently controlled structural factors using 3D printing processing and post-curing treatment.Multiple-type electrolyte films with vertical-aligned micro-pillar(p-3DSE)and spiral(s-3DSE)structures are rationally designed and developed,which can be employed for both Li metal anode and cathode in terms of accelerating the Li+transport within electrodes and reinforcing the interfacial adhesion.The printed p-3DSE delivers robust long-term cycle life of up to 2600 cycles and a high critical current density of 1.92 mA cm^(−2).The optimized electrolyte structure could lead to ASSLMBs with a superior full-cell areal capacity of 2.75 mAh cm^(−2)(LFP)and 3.92 mAh cm^(−2)(NCM811).This unique design provides enhancements for both anode and cathode electrodes,thereby alleviating interfacial degradation induced by dendrite growth and contact loss.The approach in this study opens a new design strategy for advanced composite solid polymer electrolytes in ASSLMBs operating under high rates/capacities and room temperature.

Realizing Highly Reversible Zinc Anode via Controlled-current Pre-deposition

Aqueous zinc ion batteries have been considered as the prominent candidate in the next-generation batteries for its low cost,safety and high theoretical capacity.Nonetheless,formation of zinc dendrites and side reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface during the zinc plating/stripping process affect the cycling reversibility of the zinc anode.Regulation of the zinc plating/stripping process and realizing a highly reversible zinc anode is a great challenge.Herein,we applied a simple and effective approach of controlled-current zinc pre-deposition at copper mesh.At the current density of 40 mA cm^(-2),where the electron/ion transfers are both continuous and balanced,the Zn@CM-40 electrode with the(002)crystal plane orientation and the compactly aligned platelet morphology was successfully obtained.Compared with the zinc foil,the Zn@CM-40 exhibits greatly enhanced reversibility in the repeated plating/stripping(850 h at 1 mA cm^(-2))for the symmetric battery test.A series of characterization techniques including electrochemical analyses,XRD,SEM and optical microscopy observation,were used to demonstrate the correlation between the structure of pre-deposited zinc layer and the cycling stability.The COSMOL Multiphysics modeling demonstrates a more uniform electric field distribution in the Zn@CM than the zinc foil due to the aligned platelet morphology.Furthermore,the significant improvement is also achieved in a Zn||MnO_(2)full battery with a high capacity-retention(87%vs 47.8%).This study demonstrates that controlled-current electrodeposition represents an important strategy to regulate the crystal plane orientation and the morphology of the pre-deposited zinc layer,hence leading to the highly reversible and dendrite-free zinc anode for high-performance zinc ion batteries.

Preparation and Properties of Chinese Lacquer Modified by Methylolureas

In this study,different molar of methylolureas(MMU)were used to improve the properties and drying speed of the raw lacquer(RL).The drying time,gloss,pencil hardness and impact resistance of the lacquer film were tested.The thermal behaviors and chemical structures of the lacquer membrane were also discussed by thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA),fourier infrared spectrometer(FT-IR)and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)analysis,respectively.The results demonstrated that lower molar ratio MMU can significantly improve the properties of lacquer.The TGA analysis showed that the modified lacquer had high thermal stability than that of the control.The FT-IR and 13C NMR analysis revealed that the structures of the modified lacquer were significantly improved by cross-linking with the hydroxymethyl groups and methylene methyl ethers of MMU.In addition,through scanning electron microscopy(SEM)characterization,it was found that the introduction of MMU can effectively improve the surface smoothness of the lacquer film.

Preliminary evaluation of liquefaction behavior of Eucalyptus grandis bark in glycerol

Eucalyptus grandis W.Hill ex Maiden bark was liquefied in glycerol with two types of catalysts.The chemical components of the residues with respect to temperature were examined to investigate the liquefaction behavior of bark.The results reveal that sulfuric acid was more efficient in converting bark into fragments in glycerol at low temperatures B 433.15 K,equivalent to 160C than phosphoric acid.The liquefaction order of chemical components was lignin,hemicelluloses,and cellulose.The decrease of liquefaction yields at high temperatures(≤453.15 K)catalyzed by sulfuric acid was possibly a result of the recondensation of lignin and/or hemicelluloses.

Comparisons and optimization of two absorption chiller types by considering heat transfer area,exergy and economy as single-objective functions

Absorption cooling technology is an environmentally friendly method to generate continuous chilled water making use of multiple thermal sources,such as waste heat and renewable thermal energy.In this study,two absorption chillers(nominal capacity of 400 kW)with series and parallel connections are evaluated.To research the ideal configuration of chillers after thermodynamic analysis,the structures of the chillers are optimized using the particle swarm optimization algorithm by considering the heat transfer area(HTA),exergy efficiency and total annual cost as single-objective functions.The impact of temperature differences between external and internal flows,heat exchanger efficiencies and the solution allocation ratio is estimated.The optimized HTA,coefficient of perform-ance,exergy efficiency and total annual cost are 149.0 m^(2),1.56,29.44%and$229119 for the series-connected chiller,and 146.7 m^(2),1.59,31.45%and$234562 for the parallel-connected type,respectively.Under the lowest HTA condition,compared with the reference simulation results,the energy and exergy performances are improved,while the annual total cost is higher.The annual total cost is highest when maximizing the exergy efficiency,which is attributed to the increase in the HTA.The operating cost accounts for 27.42%(series type)and 26.54%(parallel type)when the annual cost is the lowest.

Small auxin upregulated RNA (SAUR) gene family in maize: Identification, evolution, and its phylogenetic comparison with Arabidopsis, rice, and sorghum

Small auxin-up RNAs （.SAURs） are the early auxin- responsive genes represented by a large multigene family in plants. Here, we identified 79 SAUR gene family members from maize （Zea mays subsp, mays） by a reiterative database search and manual annotation. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the SAUR proteins from Arabidopsis, rice, sorghum, and maize had divided into 16 groups. These genes were non-randomly distributed across the maize chromosomes, and segmental duplication and tandem duplication contributed to the expansion of the maize .SAUR gene family. Synteny analysis established ortholos^J relationships and functional linkages between SAUR genes in maize and sorghum genomes. We also found that the auxin-responsive elements were conserved in the upstream sequences of maize SAUR members. Selection analyses identified some significant site-specific constraints acted on most SAUR paralogs. Expression profiles based on microarray data have provided insights into the possible functional divergence among members of the .SAUR gene family. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that some of the 10 randomly selected ZmSAUR genes could be induced at least in maize shoot or root tissue tested. The results reveal a comprehensive overview of the maize .SAUR gene family and may pave the way for deciphering their function during pJant development.

Ag@Au core/shell triangular nanoplates with dual enzyme-like properties for the colorimetric sensing of glucose

Due to the serious harm of diabetes to human health,development of sensitive assays for glucose level is of high significance for early prevention and treatment of diabetes.Currently,most conventional enzyme-based glucose sensors suffer from high cost and low stability due to the inherent defects of natural enzymes.Herein,we develop a pure nanozyme-based glucose detection method using Ag@Au core/shell triangular nanoplates(TNPs),which combines glucose oxidase(GOD)-and horseradish peroxidase(HRP)-like activities of the Au shell and inherent plasmonic properties of Ag TNPs.The sensing mechanism is based on the fact that the Au shell possessed GOD-like activity,enabling the oxidation of glucose to produce H2O2,which can further etch the silver core,leading to the decrease of absorbance at 800 nm and the color change from blue to colorless.Compared with the previous nanozymes-based glucose sensors,our method avoids the use of enzymes and organic chromogenic agent.Moreover,the stability of the Ag@Au core/shell TNPs is much better than that of Ag TNPs due to the protection by the coating of the Au shell.This method was successfully applied to the detection of urine samples from patients with diabetes,indicating its practical applicability for real sample analysis.

Comprehensive understanding to the public health risk of environmental microbes via a microbiome-based index

Bacteria are ubiquitous in built environments(BE)and different human body sites.Among the myriad of microbes,the pathogenic bacteria are of great interest to public health and safety,which were the cause of many public health emergency outbreak.

Permittivity and permeability of pentagon configuration molecules with different symmetry breaking and their applications

In nature, some molecules have broken conjugate symmetry configurations, which might result in a special optical phenomenon called negative refraction. Under such circumstances, both permittivity and permeability are negative simultaneously. When light at certain frequency is transmitted through a transparent medium(e.g., slide glass) in which a psychoactive drug with negative indexes has been deposited, the refracted light is detected at different locations in the transparent medium. This is because the refracted light travels in a direction opposite to the expected path when it passes through material with a negative index. Using this method, it is possible to distinguish synthetic cannabinoids from other abusive psychoactive drugs in the UV-vis region. In this study, we use a tight-binding model to calculate the permittivity and permeability of pentagonal configurations with different broken symmetries. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis of the negative refraction with respect to heptagonal models is discussed.

Effect of Fertilization on Anatomical and Physical-mechanical Properties of Neosinocalamus Affinis Bamboo

In order to maintain soil fertility of Neosinocalamus affinis plantations,fertilizers of N,P,and K were applied.The anatomical and physical-mechanical properties of N.affinis bamboo wood from different fertilization treatments were measured.The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of fertilization practice on the properties of N.affinis bamboo wood.The results revealed that the fertilization of P and K resulted in a slight reduction in fiber length.The application of P,K,and low level(0.3 kg/clump)of N fertilizers had no significant effect on the fiber morphology,while high level(0.9 kg/clump)of N fertilizer contributed to short fibers.The specific gravity was significantly decreased by fertilization,while the volume shrinkage was increased.Since the effect of various fertilization treatments had different influence patterns on the properties of N.affinis,specific evaluations on the quality of the fertilized bamboo wood should be performed prior to its utilization.