Comparison of Nanofibrillated Cellulose and Hydroxyethyl Cellulose in Improving the Storage Stability of Waterborne Coatings

Waterborne coatings often delaminate and settle during long-term storage,requiring the addition of thickeners.The effects of nanofibrillated cellulose(NFC)and the commonly used thickener,hydroxyethyl cellulose(HEC),on the storage stability of waterborne coatings were compared in this study.The morphology of NFC was characterized using infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The rotational viscosity and rheological properties of the waterborne coatings with NFC and HEC were tested.Stationary settling experiments were also conducted at different temperatures to compare the difference of NFC and HEC on improving the storage stability of the waterborne coatings.The results showed that the waterborne coating with NFC exhibited pseudoplastic fluid characteristics;a small addition of NFC can achieve the same improvement effect on the storage stability of waterborne coatings as HEC.Further,the improvement effect of NFC was not affected by temperature.The waterborne coating with NFC still exhibited good storage stability at high temperatures,which was significantly superior to that of HEC.Therefore,NFC is a feasible agent for improving the prolonged storage stability and warming-induced delamination of waterborne coatings.

Effect of storage conditions on long-term stability of Ag nanoparticles formed via green synthesis

Spherical Ag nanoparticles(AgNPs) with a diameter of 20 nm or smaller were biologically synthesized using algae Parachlorella kessleri. The effect of storage conditions on the long-term stability of AgNPs was investigated. UV/Vis spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering measurements revealed that the long-term stability of AgNPs was influenced by light and temperature conditions. The most significant loss of stability was observed for the AgNPs stored in daylight at room temperature. The AgNPs stored under these conditions began to lose their stability after approximately 30 d; after 100 d, a substantial amount of agglomerated particles settled to the bottom of the Erlenmeyer flask. The AgNPs stored in the dark at room temperature exhibited better long-term stability. Weak particle agglomeration began at approximately the 100 th day. The AgNPs stored in the dark at about 5℃ exhibited the best long-term stability; the AgNPs stored under such conditions remained spherical, with a narrow size distribution, and stable(no agglomeration) even after 6 months. Zeta-potential measurements confirmed better dispersity and stability of AgNPs stored under these conditions.

Studies on Ultra-dry Storage and Genetic Stability of Vegetable Seeds

[Objective] To study the long-term ultra-dry storage method and genetic stability of vegetable seeds.[Method] Seeds of Lycopersicum esculentum,Raphanus satuvus and Apium graveolen.were chosen as material.The changes of seed vigor,viability and genetic stability after ultra-storage were discussed by studying the seed potentiality,shoot length,germination percentage and the chromosome aberration rate of root tip cells.[Results] Maintaining the low moisture content,different vegetable species had different storage effects of the long-term storage seeds under normal temperature.The Lycopersicum esculentum and Raphanus satuvus seeds were more suitable to ultra-dry storage at normal temperature,and could keep good genetic stability,while the seeds of Apium graveolen had bad performance.[Conclusion] This study established the foundation of studying ultra-dry storage of vegetable seeds.

Particle Size Optimization of Thermochemical Salt Hydrates for High Energy Density Thermal Storage

Thermal energy storage(TES)solutions offer opportunities to reduce energy consumption,greenhouse gas emissions,and cost.Specifically,they can help reduce the peak load and address the intermittency of renewable energy sources by time shifting the load,which are critical toward zero energy buildings.Thermochemical materials(TCMs)as a class of TES undergo a solid-gas reversible chemical reaction with water vapor to store and release energy with high storage capacities(600 kWh m^(-3))and negligible self-discharge that makes them uniquely suited as compact,stand-alone units for daily or seasonal storage.However,TCMs suffer from instabilities at the material(salt particles)and reactor level(packed beds of salt),resulting in poor multi-cycle efficiency and high-levelized cost of storage.In this study,a model is developed to predict the pulverization limit or Rcrit of various salt hydrates during thermal cycling.This is critical as it provides design rules to make mechanically stable TCM composites as well as enables the use of more energy-efficient manufacturing process(solid-state mixing)to make the composites.The model is experimentally validated on multiple TCM salt hydrates with different water content,and effect of Rcrit on hydration and dehydration kinetics is also investigated.

Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells with cesium-doped graphene oxide interlayer

Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)have made great advances in terms of power conversion efficiency(PCE),yet their subpar stability continues to hinder their commercialization.The interface between the perovskite layer and the charge-carrier transporting layers plays a crucial role in undermining the stability of PSCs.In this work,we propose a strategy to stabilize high-performance PSCs with PCE over 23%by introducing a cesium-doped graphene oxide(GO-Cs)as an interlayer between the perovskite and hole-transporting material.The GO-Cs treated PSCs exhibit excellent operational stability with a projected T80(the time where the device PCE reduces to 80%of its initial value)of 2143 h of operation at the maximum powering point under one sun illumination.

Storage stability of SBS modified bitumen based on mixed-level orthogonal array design

The styrene-butadiene-styrene（SBS） modified bitumens with different contents of SBS modifiers are stored in different conditions to study the storage stability of SBS modified bitumen.Mixed-level orthogonal array design（OAD） is used and factors such as SBS modifier content,storage time,storage temperature and container size are chosen in a mixed-level OAD with an OA16（31×44） matrix.Parameters like the separation softening point difference（the separation difference of the ring and ball softening point of the top and bottom samples） and the average softening point（the arithmetic mean of the softening points of the top and bottom samples） are proposed to evaluate the separation and the ageing of modified bitumen during storage in this experiment,respectively.The results reveal that the separation and the ageing during storage exhibit a complicated variation for storage temperature and time.The separation softening point difference decreases with the storage temperature rising from 20 to 120 ℃ and increases with the temperature exceeding 120 ℃,and the average softening point drops with the storage time being prolonged.Different storage conditions have various effects on the storage stability of SBS modified bitumen.

Retrospective Case Series on The Enduring Rotational Stability of The AcrySof IQ Toric Intraocular Lens in Cataract Patients Suffering from Myopia

Objective:To analyze the enduring rotational steadiness of AcrySof IQ Toric intraocular lens(IOL)in cataract patients suffering from myopia in a long-term study.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on a case series involving 78 patients.A total of 120 eyes with an axial length(AL)ranging from 24-30 mm and corneal astigmatism≥1.50 D underwent implantation of AcrySof IQ Toric IOL guided by the version navigation system.The eyes were divided into two groups based on AL.Group A included 60 eyes with high myopia(AL≥26 mm),while Group B consisted of eyes with low to moderate myopia(24 mm≤AL<26 mm).Data on the preoperative AL were collected.Measurements were taken for residual astigmatism,the best corrected visual acuity(BCDVA),corneal astigmatism,and IOL rotation occurring between 24-and 48-months post-surgery.The percentage of eyes with an IOL rotation of under 5°and 10°was analyzed.Results:The mean length of follow-up times was recorded as 34.27±4.98,and the average rotation was 2.73±1.29°.Group A exhibited a slightly higher average rotation of 2.87±1.31°,compared to the rotation of 2.59±1.27°observed in Group B.At both the 24-36 month and 26-48 month post-operation marks,the degree of IOL rotation did not show a statistically significant difference between the two groups,with none of the patients experiencing a rotation exceeding 10°(P>0.05).The percentage of rotation degrees under 5°was recorded as 98.22%.After the procedure,the BCDVA was 0.1322±0.03 LogMAR.There was a substantial increase in theχvalue after the operation as compared to the pre-operativeχ^(2) value(χ^(2)=76.79).The standard deviation of preoperative corneal astigmatism was statistically significant(P<0.05)at 2.17±1.08 D.Following the surgical procedure,the remaining astigmatism was measured at 0.41±0.26 D.The data showed a notable gap in statistical significance(t=4.281,P<0.05).Conclusion:The AcrySof Toric IOL was a reliable solution for managing corneal astigmatism in cataract patients with myopia,demonstrating excellent long-term rotational stability.

Spatiotemporal phase change materials for thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release

Phase change materials(PCMs)have attracted much attention in the field of solar thermal utilization recently,due to their outstanding thermal energy storage performance.However,PCMs usually release their stored latent heat spontaneously as the temperature below the phase transition temperature,rendering thermal energy storage and release uncontrollable,thus hindering their practical application in time and space.Herein,we developed erythritol/sodium carboxymethylcellulose/tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate(ERY/CMC/EDTA-4Na)composite PCMs with novel spatiotemporal thermal energy storage properties,defined as spatiotemporal PCMs(STPCMs),which exhibit the capacity of thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release.Our results show that the composite PCMs are unable to lose latent heat due to spontaneous crystallization during cooling,but can controllably release thermal energy through cold crystallization during reheating.The cold-crystallization temperature and enthalpy of composite PCMs can be adjusted by proportional addition of EDTA-4Na to the composite.When the mass fractions of CMC and EDTA-4Na are both 10%,the composite PCMs can exhibit the optical coldcrystallization temperature of 51.7℃ and enthalpy of 178.1 J/g.The supercooled composite PCMs without latent heat release can be maintained at room temperature(10-25℃)for up to more than two months,and subsequently the stored latent heat can be controllably released by means of thermal triggering or heterogeneous nucleation.Our findings provide novel insights into the design and construction of new PCMs with spatiotemporal performance of thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release,and consequently open a new door for the development of advanced solar thermal utilization techniques on the basis of STPCMs.

Application of an amphipathic molecule at the NiO_(x)/perovskite interface for improving the efficiency and long-term stability of the inverted perovskite solar cells

The presence of defects and detrimental reactions at NiO_(x)/perovskite interface extremely limit the efficiency performance and long-term stability of the perovskite solar cells(PSCs) based on NiO_(x).Herein,an amphipathic molecule Triton X100(Triton) is modified on the NiO_(x)surface.The hydrophilic chain of Triton as a Lewis base additive can coordinate with the Ni3+on the NiO_(x)surface which can passivate the interfacial defects and hinder the detrimental reactions at the NiO_(x)/perovskite interface.Additionally,the hydrophobic chain of Triton protrudes from the NiO_(x)surface to prevent moisture from penetrating into the NiO_(x)/perovskite interface.Consequently,the NiO_(x)/Triton-based devices(MAPbI3as absorbing layer) show superior moisture and thermal stability,retaining 88.4% and 64.3% of the initial power conversion efficiency after storage in air(40%-50% relative humidity(RH)) at 25 ℃ for 1070 h and in N2at 85℃ for 800 h,respectively.Moreover,the efficiency increases from 17.59% to 19.89% because of the passivation defect and enhanced hole-extraction capability.Besides,the NiO_(x)/Triton-based PSCs with Cs_(0.05)(MA_(0.15)FA_(0.85))_(0.95)Pb(I_(0.85)Br_(0.15))3perovskite as the light-absorbing layer also exhibits better moisture and thermal stability compared to the control devices,indicating the viability of our strategies.Of particular note,a champion PCE of 22.35% and 20.46% was achieved for small-area(0.1 cm^(2)) and large-area(1.2 cm^(2)) NiO_(x)/Triton-based devices,respectively.

Non-Fullerene-Based Inverted Organic Photovoltaic Device with Long-Term Stability

In this work,we developed the PM6:Y6-based inverted structure organic photovoltaic(i-OPV)with improved power conversion efficiency(PCE)and long-term stability by resolving the origins of the performance deterioration.The deep defects between the metal oxide-based electron transport layer and bulk-heterojunction photoactive layer interface were responsible for suboptimal PCE and facilitated degradation of devices.While the density of deep traps is increased during the storage of i-OPV,the penetrative oxygen-containing defects additionally generated shallow traps below the band-edge of Y6,causing an additional loss in the open-circuit voltage.The suppression of interfacial defects by chemical modification effectively improved the PCE and long-term stability of i-OPV.The modified i-OPV(mi-OPV)achieved a PCE of 17.42%,which is the highest value among the reported PM6:Y6-based i-OPV devices.Moreover,long-term stability was significantly improved:~90%and~80%retention of its initial PCE after 1200 h of air storage and illumination,respectively.

Could Long-Term Stability Last Forever?

The subject of the present paper is to prove that the recently introduced conjecture of boundedness puts a ban over the view of stability as asymptotic property. This result comes in sharp contrast with the prescription of the traditional thermodynamics and statistical physics which consider the existence of equilibrium as asymptotic property of all systems. The difference commences from the use of infinitesimal calculus as the basic implement for modelling by the latter while the primary premise of the conjecture of boundedness is sustaining the energy/matter/information permanently bounded and finite. The latter property overrules the infinitesimal calculus as the major implement of modelling because, among all, it is proven that the traditional one suffers unsoluble difficulties.

Storage Stability in Reversion Mutation of a Rice Line Devoid of LOX-1, 2 Acquired by Ion Beam Irradiation

The effect of absence of lipoxygenase isoenzyme （LOX） on storage stability was investigated. Rice mutant 1297 without lipoxygenase isoenzyme-1 （LOX-1） or lipoxygenase isoenzyme-2 （LOX-2） generated by ion beam irradiation from Wanjian2090 and reversion mutant RM1297 with LOX-1 and LOX-2 were subjected to an accelerated-aging experiment. Shanyou63 （with LOX-1 and LOX-2 ） served as control. Results showed that the germination and dehydrogenase activity decreased while the electrical conductivity and free fatty acid content increased in all varieties with accelerated aging. In 1297 that lacked LOX-1 and 2, there were slight changes in germination, dehydrogenase activity, membrane permeability and free fatty acid content during the thirty-day accelerated-aging experiment. But in varieties with LOX-1 and LOX-2, significant changes were observed, suggesting that LOX-1, 2 might be a definite factor which influenced seed lifespan. This study also indicates that ion beam irradiation may be used as mutagen to generate mutant and reversion mutants for biological study and could become a new direction in ion beam application.

Stability and changes in astaxanthin ester composition from Haematococcus pluvialis during storage

In this paper,we investigated the effects of temperature,oxygen,antioxidants,and corn germ oil on the stability of astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis under different storage conditions,and changes in the composition of astaxanthin esters during storage using high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry.Oxygen and high temperatures(22–25°C) significantly reduced the stability of astaxanthin esters.Corn germ oil and antioxidants(ascorbic acid and vitamin E)failed to protect astaxanthin from oxidation,and actually significantly increased the instability of astaxanthin.A change in the relative composition of astaxanthin esters was observed after 96 weeks of long-term storage.During storage,the relative amounts of free astaxanthin and astaxanthin monoesters declined,while the relative amount of astaxanthin diesters increased.Thus,the ratio of astaxanthin diester to monoester increased,and this ratio could be used to indicate if astaxanthin esters have been properly preserved.If the ratio is greater than 0.2,it suggests that the decrease in astaxanthin content could be higher than 20%.Our results show that storing algal powder from H.pluvialis or other natural astaxanthin products under vacuum and in the dark below 4°C is the most economical and applicable storage method for the large-scale production of astaxanthin from H.pluvialis.This storage method can produce an astaxanthin preservation rate of at least 80%after 96 weeks of storage.

Effects of rapid quenching on structure and cycle stability of La-Mg-Ni-Co type hydrogen storage alloy

In order to improve the cycle stability of La-Mg-Ni-Co type alloy electrode, rapid quenching technology was employed. The effects of rapid quenching on the microstructure and cycle stability of the alloy were investigated. The obtained results show that the La2Mg(Ni0.85Co0.15)9M0.1 (M=B, Cr) alloy electrodes are composed of (La, Mg)Ni3 phase, LaNi5 phase and a small amount of the LaNi2 phase. A trace of the Ni2B phase exists in the as-cast MB alloy, and the Ni2B phase in the alloy nearly disappears after rapid quenching. Rapid quenching technology can slightly improve the cycling life of the alloy. When the quenching rate increases from 0 m·s-1 (As-cast is defined as quenching rate of 0 m·s-1) to 30 m·s-1, the cycle lives of the MB, MCr alloys enhance from 86 and 87 cycles to 106 and 119 cycles, respectively. On the other hand, the average capacity decay rates of the MB, MCr alloys decrease from 1.7172 and 1.7178 mAh·g-1·cycle-1 to 1.5751 and 1.3060 mAh·g-1·cycle-1 after 86 charge-discharges cycling, respectively.

Relationship of chemical properties of different peanut varieties to peanut butter storage stability

This study examined the effect of peanut quality on the storage stability of peanut butter. The quality of 17 varieties of peanuts was analyzed, and each was used to prepare peanut butter. For different storage temperatures and durations, stability of the peanut butter was measured according to three indicators： peroxide value, acid value, and centrifugal rate. The correlation between peanut components and peanut butter storage stability was also investigated. The results indicated significant differences in fatty acid composition between different varieties of peanut. Peanut butter prepared with high oleic peanuts（Kainong 17-15） had a significantly longer shelf life than that of other varieties. The significant correlation between the stability of peanut butter and peanut quality suggests that oleic acid and linoleic acid were the main influencing factors on stability. This study finds that the high oleic peanuts（HOP） is the most suitable variety for making peanut butter, which can allow farmers and processors to choose the specific variety for better product and shelf life.

Effect of microwave pre-treatment on physical quality,bioactive compounds,safety risk factor,and storage stability of peanut butter

Microwave,as a new heat treatment technology,has the characteristics of uniform and fast heating speed.It is an energy-saving technology known for improving oilseed product quality.Its efficiency mainly depends on the roasting power and time.However,the production of high-quality peanut butter using short-time roasting con-ditions are limited.Herein,we determined an appropriate microwave roasting power and time for peanuts and evaluated its impacts on the quality of peanut butter.Different roasting powers(400 W,800 W and 1200 W)and times(4,4.5,5,and 5.5 min)were preliminarily tested.Among them,800 W at 5 min was the most suitable.The roasting efficiency was further evaluated using color,sensory,bioactive compounds,storage stability,and safety risk factors of peanut butter produced from four peanut cultivars(Silihong,Baisha-1016,Yuanza-9102,and Yuhua-9414).The pre-treated butter obtained from three cultivars(Silihong,Yuanza-9102,and Yuhua-9414)with moisture content between 5%and 7.2%had a similar sensory score(6-7)as the commercial on a 9-point hedonic scale compare to the other.The color of the pre-treated peanut butter varies statistically with the commercial but remained in the recommended range of Hunter L*values of 51-52,respectively,for high initial moisture peanut cultivars.The total polyphenol(35.20-31.59±0.59μmol GAE/g)and tocopherol(19.05±0.35 mg/100 g)content in the butter obtained from three cultivars(Yuahua-9102,Yuhua,and Baisha-1016)and Silihong respectively,were significantly(P<0.05)higher than those in the commercial butter.The induction times of all pre-treated butter(19.80±0.99-7.84±0.07 h)were significantly(P<0.05)longer during storage at accelerated temperature than commercial samples.In addition,no benzo[a]pyrene was found in the pre-treated samples.Collectively,the microwave pretreated peanut butter was superior to the commercial one.These findings provided data support and a reference basis to promote microwave use for peanut butter production.

The thermal and storage stability of bovine haemoglobin by ultraviolet-visible and circular dichroism spectroscopies

The effects of temperature,pH and long-term storage on the secondary structure and conformation changes of bovine haemoglobin（bHb） were studied using circular dichroism（CD） and ultraviolet-visible（UV-vis） spectroscopies.Neural network software was used to deconvolute the CD data to obtain the fractional content of the five secondary structures.The storage stability of bHb solutions in pH 6,7 and8 buffers was significantly higher at 4 ℃ than at 23 ℃ for the first 3 days.A complete denaturation of bHb was observed after 40 days irrespective of storage temperature or pH.The bHb solutions were also exposed to heating and cooling cycles between 25 and 65 ℃ and structural changes were followed by UVvis and CD spectroscopies.These experiments demonstrated that α-helix content of bHb decreased steadily with the increasing temperature above 35 ℃ at all pH values.The loss in a-helicity and gain in random coil conformations was pH-dependent and the greatest under alkaline conditions.Furthermore,there was minimal recovery of the secondary structure content upon cooling to 25 ℃.The use of bHb as a model drug is very common and this study elucidates the significance of storage and processing conditions on its stability.

Structural stability of single-layered LaNi_4.25Al_0.75 film and its electro-chemical hydrogen-storage properties

AB5-based hydrogen storage thin fdms （LaNi4.25Al0.75）, deposited on Cu substrate by dc magnetron sputtering were investigated in this study. X-ray diffraction （XRD） revealed that the microstructure of the layer was in crystal form. SEM and AFM analyses proved that the film appeared to be rather rough with numerous randomly sized pores of approximately 15-40 in nm diameter. Structural stability of the film was examined by the combined analyses of DSC, XRD, and SEM, which indicated that this film maintained its structural stability below 500 K or so, and a network structure was observed on the film after being heated at 700 K for 30 min. Electrochemical hydrogen-storage properties of the films were investigated by simulated battery tests. It was found that single-layered LaNi4.25A10.75 film exhibited electrochemical hydrogen-storage properties similar to typical AB5 alloys in bulk, and the maximum discharge capacity of the film was about 220 mAh/g. After 20 charge/discharge cycles, small needle-shaped aluminium oxide was formed on some fractions of the film surface.

Storage Stability of Alpha-Lipoic Acid-loaded Lipid Nanoparticles

Alpha-lipoic acid-loaded lipid nanoparticles(ALA-LNs) were prepared by high pressure homogenization method.The influences of storage conditions such as time and temperature on the physical and chemical storage stability of ALA-LNs were studied in details.The stability was evaluated by particle size and polydispersity index,morphology of ALA-LNs,and capacity of ALA loading.The dilution and pH stability of ALA-LNs suspensions were also studied.After three months storage,the mean size of ALA-LNs at 4 and 40 ℃ was increased by 2.68% and 3.62% compared with the original size,respectively.ALA-LNs stored at 40 ℃ had ellipsoid shape and the mean size was about 152 nm(SD=23.6).The loading capacity of ALA at 40 ℃ was much higher than those stored at other two temperatures.The good dilution and pH stability were also demonstrated.The sample had good fluidity even at 4 ℃.

Effect of Synergistic Anticorrosion Treatments on Cycling Stability of Mg-Based Hydrogen Storage Electrode

In this paper, any two of the three anticorrosion agents, that is emulsifier (OP-10), soluble glass (Na2O·nSiO2) and glycerin (C3H8O3), were treated simultaneously on the surface of amorphous (a- ) MgNi + 5% Ml2Mg17(MI denotes the lanthanum-rich mish metal) electrode and the electrolyte. Effect of the synergistic anticorrosion treatment on charging/discharging cycle stability of the electrode was investigated. Contrasted with single treatment method, the cycling stability of the electrodes was further improved. The desirable synergistic anticorrosion method was that the electrode was treated by the soluble glass, and that OP-10 was added into the electrolyte. The cyclic voltammogram (CV) results of the electrode show clearly that the anticorrosion agent can change the electrochemical activity and mechanism of the electrode. The concentration of the anticorrosion agent in the electrolyte treated by the synergistic anticorrosion method was also investigated. The appropriate concentration of the anticorrosion agents in the electrolyte is 0.143% .