Enhancement of leaching of cobalt and lithium from spent lithium-ion batteries by mechanochemical process

A mechanochemical method with SiO_(2)as the grinding aid was used to enhance the leaching efficiencies of Co and Li from spent lithium batteries(LIBs).Experiment results show that the optimal leaching efficiencies of 94.91%for Co and 97.22%for Li were obtained under the parameters of SiO_(2)/LiCoO_(2)mass ratio of 1:1,grinding speed of 500 r/min and grinding time of 30 min in citric acid.Characterization results indicate that the surficial properties of LiCoO_(2)were changed after mechanochemical grinding treatment due to the newly generated surfaces on LiCoO_(2).Meanwhile,the incompletely coordinated atomic structure and defective lattice structure lead to the activation of LiCoO_(2).The reduction effect of carbon black on Co^(3+)under the action of mechanical forces increases its leaching efficiencies in the citric acid solution.The proposed process was found efficiently to recover Co and Li from LiCoO_(2).

Oxidation and interdiffusion behavior of a germanium-modified silicide coating on an Nb–Si-based alloy

To investigate the interdiffusion behavior of Ge-modified silicide coatings on an Nb–Si-based alloy substrate,the coating was oxidized at 1250°C for 5,10,20,50,or 100 h.The interfacial diffusion between the(Nb,X)(Si,Ge)_2(X = Ti,Cr,Hf) coating and the Nb–Si based alloy was also examined.The transitional layer is composed of(Ti,Nb)_5(Si,Ge)_4 and a small amount of(Nb,X)_5(Si,Ge)_3.With increasing oxidation time,the thickness of the transitional layer increases because of the diffusion of Si from the outer layer to the substrate,which obeys a parabolic rate law.The parabolic growth rate constant of the transitional layer under oxidation conditions is 2.018 μm×h^(-1/2).Moreover,the interdiffusion coefficients of Si in the transitional layer were determined from the interdiffusion fluxes calculated directly from experimental concentration profiles.

Surgical mortality in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice: a multivariate discriminant analysis

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the operative mortality in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice. METHODS: Twelve risk factors were analyzed using multivariate discriminant analysis in 90 patients who had been operated on. RESULTS: Operative mortality was significantly related to the following factors: age, duration of jaundice, packed RBC volume, white blood cell count and concentration of blood urine nitrogen; it was not significantly related to diseases and types of operation. The following formula was obtained: packed RBC volume×0.09954-age×0. 04018-blood urine nitrogen×0. 23693-duration of jaundice× 2. 07388-WBC count×0. 21118+5. 26593. With this formula, an operative mortality of 77. 8% was predicted. CONCLUSION: With a positive value from the formula, the patient should be operated on; otherwise non-operative treatment is advocated.

Breakdown voltage enhancement in GaN channel and AlGaN channel HEMTs using large gate metal height

A large gate metal height technique is proposed to enhance breakdown voltage in GaN channel and AlGaN channel high-electron-mobility-transistors(HEMTs).For GaN channel HEMTs with gate-drain spacing LGD=2.5μm,the breakdown voltage VBR increases from 518 V to 582 V by increasing gate metal height h from 0.2μm to 0.4μm.For GaN channel HEMTs with LGD=7μm,VBR increases from 953 V to 1310 V by increasing h from 0.8μm to 1.6μm.The breakdown voltage enhancement results from the increase of the gate sidewall capacitance and depletion region extension.For Al0.4Ga0.6N channel HEMT with LGD=7μm,VBR increases from 1535 V to 1763 V by increasing h from 0.8μm to 1.6μm,resulting in a high average breakdown electric field of 2.51 MV/cm.Simulation and analysis indicate that the high gate metal height is an effective method to enhance breakdown voltage in GaN-based HEMTs,and this method can be utilized in all the lateral semiconductor devices.

Structural and magnetic properties of ZnFe_2O_4 films deposited by low sputtering power

To validate the correctness of the Hartman-Perdok Theory （HPT）, which indicates that the { 111 } planes have the lowest surface energy in spinel ferrites, the {111} plane orientated ZnFe204 thin films on Si（100）, Si（111）, and SIO2（500 nm）/Si（111） substrates were obtained through a radio frequency （RF） magnetron sputtering method with a low sputtering power of 80 W. All of the experiments prove that the atom energy determined by sputtering power plays an important role in the orientated growth of the ZnFe204 thin films, and it matches well with HPT. The ZnFe2O4 thin films exhibit ferromagnetism with a magnetization of 84.25 ld/mol at room temperature, which is different from the bulk counterpart （antiferromagnetic as usual）. The ZnFe204 thin films can be used as high-quality oriented inducing buffer layers for other spinel （Ni, Mn）Zn ferrite thin films and may have high potential in magnetic thin films-based devices.

Essential oils improve nursery pigs'performance and appetite via modulation of intestinal health and microbiota

Optimal intestinal health and functionality are essential for animal health and performance,and simultaneously intestinal nutrient transporters and intestinal peptides are also involved in appetite and feed intake control mechanisms.Given the potential of essential oil(EO)in improving animal performance and improving feed palatability,we hypothesized that dietary supplementation of cinnamaldehyde and carvacrol could improve performance and appetite of nursery pigs by modulating intestinal health and microbiota.Cinnamaldehyde(100 mg/kg),carvacrol(100 mg/kg),and their mixtures(including 50 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde and 50 mg/kg carvacrol)were supplemented into the diets of 240 nursery pigs for 42 d,and data related to performance were measured.Thereafter,the influence of EO on intestinal health,appetite and gut microbiota and their correlations were explored.EO supplementation increased(P<0.05)the body weight,average daily gain(ADG)and average daily feed intake(ADFI)of piglets,and reduced(P<0.05)diarrhea rates in nursery pigs.Furthermore,EO increased(P<0.05)the intestinal absorption area and the abundance of tight junction proteins,and decreased(P<0.05)intestinal permeability and local inflammation.In terms of intestinal development and the mucus barrier,EO promoted intestinal development and increased(P<0.05)the number of goblet cells.Additionally,we found that piglets in the EO-supplemented group had upregulated(P<0.05)levels of transporters and digestive enzymes in the intestine,which were significantly associated with daily gain and feed utilization.In addition,EO supplementation somewhat improved appetite in nursery pigs,increased the diversity of the gut microbiome and the abundance of beneficial bacteria,and there was a correlation between altered bacterial structure and appetite-related hormones.These findings indicate that EO is effective in promoting growth performance and nutrient absorption as well as in regulating appetite by improving intestinal health and bacterial structure.

Methanol-induced luminescence vapochromism based on a Sb^(3+)-doped organic indium halide hybrid

Ion doping has been demonstrated as a practical approach to achieving highly efficient luminescence in both inorganic phosphors and organic-inorganic hybrids.The asformed doping species show great potential in optoelectronic applications due to their high photoluminescence quantum yield(PLQY)and excellent stability.Herein,we report highly emissive Sb^(3+)-doped indium halides(C_(6)H_(18)N_(2))InCl_(5)·H_(2)O:Sb(C_(6)H_(18)N_(2)^(2+)=N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethane-1,2-diammonium)prepared by solution evaporation methods with an emission that peaked at 565 nm and a PLQY of 74.6%.Photophysical characterizations and density functional theory computational studies verify the broadband emission originating from a self-trapped exciton.Interestingly,a drastic red shift of the emission peak from 565 to 663 nm with yellow luminescence turning to red is observed once the(C_(6)H_(18)N_(2))InCl_(5)·H_(2)O:Sb hybrid is exposed to methanol vapor.Moreover,when the methanol-exposed hybrid is put in air,the emission reverts to 565 nm in several minutes.Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies show a subsequent structure distortion upon the coordination of methanol to the Sb(III)center,which is responsible for the drastic red shift of the emission.Encouragingly,we found that(C_(6)H_(18)N_(2))InCl_(5)·H_(2)O:Sb exhibits a specific response to methanol vapor after screening a series of volatile organic compounds with different polarities.Besides,a negligible change of the emission intensity is observed after several cycles of uptaking and releasing methanol.The high fatigue resistance and specific solvent response of the Sb^(3+)-doped indium halide make it a very promising methanol detector.

Tribological properties in seawater for Ti/TiCN coatings on Ti6Al4V alloy by arc ion plating with different carbon contents

TiCN coatings incorporated with Ti buffer layer were deposited on Ti6A14V alloy by arc ion plating. The carbon content in TiCN coatings was varied by controlling flow rates of C2H2 in reactive gas. The Ti/TiCN coatings have a typical structure of columnar crystal with a total thickness of about 2 pro. The elements of Ti, C and N are present as TiN and TiC in TiCN coatings. A little free carbon appears with carbon content increasing in TiCN coatings. For the TiCN coatings, the hardness, friction coefficient and wear rate decrease with the increase in carbon content. In seawater, both friction coefficient and wear rate have an obvious decrease at lower carbon content compared with those in atmosphere. However, the friction coefficient and wear rate only have a slight decrease, while the carbon content reaches or exceeds 10 at% in Ti/TiCN coatings.

Nano-selenium alleviates cadmium-induced cerebellar injury by activating metal regulatory transcription factor 1 mediated metal response

This study aims to investigate the role of metal regulatory transcription factor 1(MTF1)-mediated metal response in cadmium(Cd)-induced cerebellar injury,and to evaluate the antagonistic effects of nanoselenium(Nano-Se)against Cd toxicity.A total of 80 chicks(1 d old,male,Hy-Line Variety White)were randomly allocated to 4 treatment groups for 3 months:the control group(fed with a basic diet,n=20),the Nano-Se group(basic diet with 1 mg/kg nano-Se 1 mg/kg Nano-Se in basic diet,n=20),the NanoSe+Cd group(basic diet with 1 mg/kg Nano-Se and 140 mg/kg Cd Cl_(2),n=20)and the Cd group(basic diet with 140 mg/kg Cd Cl_(2),n=20).The results of the experiment showed that the Purkinje cells were significantly decreased with their degradation and indistinct nucleoli after Cd exposure.Moreover,exposure to Cd caused a significant accumulation of Cd and cupper.However,the contents of Se,iron,and zinc were decreased,thereby disturbing the metal homeostasis in the cerebellum.The Cd exposure also resulted in high levels of malondialdehyde(MDA)and down regulation of selenoprotein transcriptome.Furthermore,the expressions of MTF1,metallothionein 1(MT1),MT2,zinc transporter 3(ZNT3),ZNT5,ZNT10,zrt,irt-like protein 8(ZIP8),ZIP10,transferrin(TF),ferroportin 1(FPN1),ATPase copper transporting beta(ATP7B),and copper uptake protein 1(CTR1)were inhibited by Cd exposure.However,all these changes were significantly alleviated by the supplementation of Nano-Se.This study proved that Cd could disorder metal homeostasis and induce oxidative stress,whereas Nano-Se could relieve all these negative effects caused by Cd via activating the MTF1-mediated metal response in the cerebellum of chicken.