A Review on Engineering Transition Metal Compound Catalysts to Accelerate the Redox Kinetics of Sulfur Cathodes for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Engineering transition metal compounds(TMCs)catalysts with excellent adsorption-catalytic ability has been one of the most effec-tive strategies to accelerate the redox kinetics of sulfur cathodes.Herein,this review focuses on engineering TMCs catalysts by cation doping/anion doping/dual doping,bimetallic/bi-anionic TMCs,and TMCs-based heterostructure composites.It is obvious that introducing cations/anions to TMCs or constructing heterostructure can boost adsorption-catalytic capacity by regulating the electronic structure including energy band,d/p-band center,electron filling,and valence state.Moreover,the elec-tronic structure of doped/dual-ionic TMCs are adjusted by inducing ions with different electronegativity,electron filling,and ion radius,resulting in electron redistribution,bonds reconstruction,induced vacancies due to the electronic interaction and changed crystal structure such as lat-tice spacing and lattice distortion.Different from the aforementioned two strategies,heterostructures are constructed by two types of TMCs with different Fermi energy levels,which causes built-in electric field and electrons transfer through the interface,and induces electron redistribution and arranged local atoms to regulate the electronic structure.Additionally,the lacking studies of the three strategies to comprehensively regulate electronic structure for improving catalytic performance are pointed out.It is believed that this review can guide the design of advanced TMCs catalysts for boosting redox of lithium sulfur batteries.

Investigation of multiple metal nanoparticles near-field coupling on the surface by discrete dipole approximation method

We use the method of discrete dipole approximation with surface interaction to construct a model in which a plurality of nanoparticles is arranged on the surface of BK7 glass. Nanoparticles are in air medium illuminated by evanescent wave generated from total internal reflection. The effects of the wavelength, the polarization of the incident wave, the number of nanoparticles and the spacing of multiple nanoparticles on the field enhancement and extinction efficiency are calculated by our model. Our work could pave the way to improve the field enhancement of multiple nanoparticles systems.

Multiple transition metals modulated hierarchical networks for high performance of metal-ion batteries

Searching anodes with excellent electrochemical performance has been in great demand for rechargeable metal ion batteries. In this contribution, Fe/Co co-doped Ni S with N-based carbon(Fe Co-NiS@NC) derived from trimetallic Prussian blue analogue is designed and synthesized. The composition can be easily adjusted and modulated by multi-metals. In addition, the well-designed carbon nanocubes effectively promote electronic conductivity and buffer the volume change upon charge and discharge cycling, resulting in good capacity and long-term cycle life for both lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries, with capacities of 1018 m Ah g^(-1)(vs. Li/Li^(+)) and 454 m Ah g^(-1)(vs. Na/Na^(+)), respectively, after 100 cycles.Kinetics studies indicate that the electrochemical behaviors are manipulated by both diffusion and pseudocapacitance processes. These strategies would open new opportunities and potention for novel energy storage.

Effects of cadium, zinc and lead on soil enzyme activities

Heavy metal （HM） is a major hazard to the soil-plant system. This study investigated the combined effects of cadium （Cd）, zinc （Zn） and lead （Pb） on activities of four enzymes in soil, including calatase, urease, invertase and alkalin phosphatase. HM content in tops of canola and four enzymes activities in soil were analyzed at two months after the metal additions to the soil. Pb was not significantly inhibitory than the other heavy metals for the four enzyme activities and was shown to have a protective role on calatase activity in the combined presence of Cd, Zn and Pb; whereas Cd significantly inhibited the four enzyme activities, and Zn only inhibited urease and calatase activities. The inhibiting effect of Cd and Zn on urease and calatase activities can be intensified significantly by the additions of Zn and Cd. There was a negative synergistic inhibitory effect of Cd and Zn on the two enzymes in the presence of Cd, Zn and Pb. The urease activity was inhibited more by the HM combinations than by the metals alone and reduced approximately 20%--40% of urease activity. The intertase and alkaline phosphatase activities significantly decreased only with the increase of Cd concentration in the soil. It was shown that urease was much more sensitive to HM than the other enzymes. There was a obvious negative correlation between the ionic impulsion of HM in soil, the ionic impulsion of HM in canola plants tops and urease activity. It is concluded that the soil urease activity may be a sensitive tool for assessing additive toxic combination effect on soil biochemical parameters.

Multiple directional enhanced light source through a periodic metal grating structure

In recent years, semiconductor quantum dots （QDs） have been widely used as photon sources in quantum optics due to their special properties, such as high quantum effi- ciency, narrow and tunable emission spectrum, easy manipulation, and so on. The spontaneous emission of QDs also depends on the surrounding environment.

A new level-shifting structure with multiply metal rings by divided RESURF technique

A new structure of a lateral n-MOST and a new level-shifting structure with multiply metal rings （MMRs） by divided RESURF technique have been proposed. The device and electrical performances of the structure are analyzed and simulated by MEDICI. In comparison to the level-shifting structure with multiply floating field plates （MFFPs） used before, the structure stated here improves the reliability and diminishes the voltage difference between the voltage of the power supply of the high-side gate driver and the voltage of the output terminal of the level-shifting structure, which is also that of the input terminal of the high-side gate driver. The maximal voltage difference of the level-shifting structure in this paper is 30% lower than that used before. Therefore, good voltage isolation and current isolation are obtained. The structure can be used in the level-shifting circuit of various applications.

Dynamic compressive behavior and constitutive relations of lanthanum metal

The dynamic compressive behavior and constitutive relations of Lanthanum（La） metal was determined by using the first compression in split Hopkinson pressure bar（SHPB） tests at different strain rates and temperatures.The constitutive relation of La metal determined in a certain range of strains was employed and adjusted in numerically simulating large deformations of La metal specimens generated by multi-compression in SHPB tests and recorded by a high-speed camera.The dynamic compressive behavior and constitutive relations of La metal under multiple SHPB tests loading was also revealed.The results of scanning electron microscope（SEM） investigation of the recovered La metal specimens for typical tests showed that there was a variety of deformation microstructures depending on strain rate,temperature and stress state.