Sensitive sensors based on bilayer organic field-effect transistors for detecting lithium-ion battery electrolyte leakage

The leakage of flammable and explosive lithiumion battery(LIB) electrolytes can be one of the early symptoms of battery malfunction and can even lead to spontaneous battery combustion or electric car explosion. Therefore, it is necessary to find a rapid and simple method to monitor any leakage of LIB electrolytes. However, LIB electrolytes are generally composed of volatile and redox neutral carbonate solvents. Trace amounts of electrolyte leakage are difficult to detect effectively and rapidly by existing compact sensors.Here, for the first time, we propose a strategy that cooperatively combines the sensitivity of organic field-effect transistors(OFETs) and the selectivity of biurea receptors to detect LIB electrolyte leakage. The fabricated sensors show much higher sensitivity than the pristine sensor without receptors, and the detection limit of the sensor toward diethyl carbonate was 1.4 ppm. Trace amounts of LIB electrolyte leakage could be detected effectively in seconds, with 200 n L electrolyte leakage leading to a 3% response. We also demonstrate the real-time detection of LIB electrolyte leakage by our OFET sensors. The excellent performance of the receptorcoated OFET sensor makes it a good candidate for LIB safety monitoring and provides a promising platform for the development of sensing technologies.

The ability of biostimulants and copper-containing fungicide to protect cotton against chilling stress

Background Cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.),adapted to tropical and subtropical regions of the world,is highly sensitive to low temperatures throughout its life cycle.The objective of this study was to evaluate the mitigating effects of different doses of animal-derived(0.25%,0.50%,and 1.00% Isabion■),seaweed-based(0.165%,0.330%,and 0.660% Proton■)biostimulants,as well as a copper(Cu)-containing fungicide application,on cotton cultivar Lazer seedlings at the four true leaves(V4)stage.The plants were exposed to a low temperature of 5℃for 48 h,and the changes in morphological(seedling fresh and dry weight,plant height,and stem diameter)and physiological parameters(leaf temperature,chlorophyll content,relative water content,electrolyte leakage,and relative injury)were examined.Results The results revealed that chilling stress reduced plant growth,while biostimulants helped protect the plants and overcome the adverse effects of chilling.Under chilling stress,there was a considerable reduction in seedling fresh weight(SFW),seedling dry weight(SDW),plant height(PH),stem diameter(SD),leaf temperature(LT),and relative water content(RWC).Cotton seedlings treated with the animal-derived biostimulants showed significantly enhanced SFW,SDW,PH,SD,LT,chlorophyll content(Chl),electrolyte leakage(EL),and relative injury(RI),although there were no positive changes in RWC.No significant differences in the morphological traits were observed among the doses of seaweed biostimulants.For SDW,PH,EL,and RI,the best results were obtained with the application of a fungicide containing copper.Conclusion These results show the efficiency of the biostimulant and fungicide treatments in mitigating low-temperature stress in cotton seedlings.Applying a copper-containing fungicide to cotton seedlings helped to counteract the negative effects of low-temperature stress and to protect the plants from damage by maintaining electrolyte balance.Among the biostimulant applications,all levels of animal-derived biostimulant applications,as well as the 0.660% level of the seaweed-derived biostimulant,led to increased tolerance of cotton plants to chilling stress.

Seed Priming with MgCl_(2),CaCl_(2),and ZnCl_(2) as a Biofortification Based-Approach Induces Changes in Anise Seedlings Emergence

Aromatic and medicinal plant species having small seeds havefield emergence problems due to low nutrient supply.Therefore,Pimpinella anisum seeds were hydro and osmoprimed with 100 mM MgCl_(2),CaCl_(2),and ZnCl_(2),for 2,4,and 8 h each to compare their growth attributes during germination and seedling establishment stages.Nontreated seeds were used as control.Both hydro and osmo primed seeds were dried for 48 h before,they were sown in plastic trays in growth room conditions to see the impact of treatments on seedling emergence and growth.The maximum root length(12.90 cm),fresh weight(256.30 mg plant^(-1)),and mean emergence time(MET)were recorded from 8 h MgCl_(2) primed seeds.Similarly,the maximum(97.50,and 98.00%)emergence percentage was observed using 8 h MgCl_(2) primed seeds and nontreated seeds(control treatment).The evaluation of parameters like chlorophyll contents and electrical conductivity showed the 8 h MgCl_(2) priming as the optimum treatment.The evaluation of parameters like chlorophyll contents and electrical conductivity showed the 8 h MgCl_(2) priming as the optimum treatment.The result suggests MgCl_(2) priming worked synergistically and improved seed-ling growth attributes under greenhouse conditions.The chlorophyll content ranged 25.94–35.69 SPAD unit.The highest chlorophyll content was obtained from the seedlings obtained from 4 h CaCl_(2) treatment,which were statistically similar to the chlorophyll contents of the seedlings obtained after 8 h MgCl_(2) treatment and nontreated seeds(control treatment).All other treatments showed inhibition in the chlorophyll contents and growth attributes of the seedlings.In conclusion,MgCl_(2) osmopriming treatments were significantly promotive and better compared to hydro-priming and osmopriming treatments including control treatment in terms of anise seeds germination and emergence.

Effect of salt stress on activity of superoxide dismutase （SOD） in Ulmus pumila L.

The injury tolerance of cell plasma membrane and the correlative enzymes activities of plasma-membrane protection system in the Ulmuspumila leaves treated by nine concentrations （0.3%, 0.6%, 0,9%, 1,2%, 1.5%, 1.8%, 2,1%, 2.4%, 3.0%） of Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 mixtures were studied in a greenhouse of Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China. The rate of electrolyte leakage （REL） and SOD （Superoxide dismutase） activity in leaves of different samples were determined. Results showed that the REL in leaves of U. pumila presented a slowly increasing trend at the salt concentrations less than 1.5%, which indicated that cell plasma membrane of U. pumila leaves had rather strong resistance to the injury of salt ion, and had a significant increase at the salt concentrations more than 1.5%. The SOD activities in leaves of U, pumila presented an increased trend at salt concentrations less than 1.5%, the growth of seedlings did not decline, and tress and leaves had no symptom of injury, while the salt concentrations exceeded 1.5%, SOD activities sharply decreased and REL increased promptly.

Effects of Reducing Mn^(2+),Cu^(2+) and Zn^(2+) Concentrations in Nutrient Solution on SOD Activity in Grafted Cucumber Seedling Leaves Under Cold Stress

[Objective] The research aimed to study the effects of reducing the concentrations of Mn2＋, Cu2＋ or Zn2＋ in nutrient solution on the contents of Mn, Cu and Zn of grafted cucumber leaves as well as on the SOD and isozymes activities and the rate of electrolytic leakage under cold stress. [Method] Nutrient solution containing low concentrations of Mn2＋, Cu2＋ or Zn2＋ were used for cultivating the grafted cucumber seedlings for the cold treatment. [Result] The results indicated that reducing the concentrations of Mn2＋, Cu2＋ or Zn2＋ in nutrient solution had declined the SOD activities in grafted cucumber leaves and increased the rates of electrolytic leakage. Mn2＋ had shown the maximum influences, followed by Cu2＋, and Zn2＋ had shown the minimum influences. [Conclusion] Cold resistance of cucumber can be improved by changing the contents of Mn2＋, Cu2＋ or Zn2＋ in nutrient solution.

Influence of Mycorrhizal Inoculation on the Salt Tolerance of Artichoke Hybrid Seedlings

The role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in the alleviation of salinity stress induced by sodium chloride （NaCI） was investigated. Three artichoke hybrids, Madrigal F1, Opal FI, and Concerto FI （Nunhems company）, were grown in pot in controlled environment with two different mycorrhizal treatments （with or without Glomus viscosum）. Two months after inoculation, the fungus established well on roots of the Madrigal and Opal plants with higher colonization and dependency values, instead the Concerto plants showed lower mycorrhizal dependency and colonization rate. Mycorrhizal symbiosis generally improved plant vegetative growth and sustained plant physiology increasing stomatal conductance and SPAD values. The root systems of two months old artichoke plantlets, both inoculated and non inoculated, were placed in distilled water enriched with different salt concentrations （0, 100, 150, 200, 250 mM NaCI） to study the wilting response. A visual rating system was developed defining various wilting indexes （TO, no wilting; T1, foliar damage on less than 50% of vegetal tissues of basal leaves; T2, initial wilting and foliar damage on more than 50% of vegetal tissues of basal leaves; T3, foliar damage on the apical leaves; and T4, total wilting）. Mycorrhizal plants reached later the wilting indexes than non-mycorrhizal plants. Electrolyte leakage by leaves after salinity imposition was higher in non-mycorrhizal plants and the vegetal tissues were severely damaged especially in the basal leaves. The greater tolerance observed in the mycorrhizal plants could be in agreement with the improvement in growth stimulated by mycorrhizal symbiosis, which leads to the dilution of toxic ions.

Assessing frost hardiness of Pinus bungeana shoots and needles by electrical impedance spectroscopy with and without freezing tests

Aims Nursery and forest operations require that frost hardiness results be produced faster than can be provided by controlled freezing tests.There is a great challenge to develop a rapid method for predicting frost hardiness that might not necessitate controlled freezing tests.The aim of this study was to examine the assessment of the frost hardiness of shoots and needles of Pinus bungeana by electrical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)with and without controlled exposure to freezing.Methods The frost hardiness of current-year shoots and needles of P.bungeana in an 8-year-old provenance field trial was measured at Shisanlin Nursery in Beijing,China,from September 2006 to January 2007 by means of EIS and conventional electrolyte leakage(EL).In the same plants,but without controlled freezing test,were monitored the EIS parameters in current-year shoots and needles.Important Findings The results showed that(i)after controlled freezing tests,the frost hardiness estimated by EIS parameters(extracellular resistance,re,and membrane time constant,sm)was significantly correlated with the frost hardiness assessed by EL method(r=0.95)and(ii)for the samples not exposed to controlled freezing treatment,the relaxation time s1 for shoots and b for needles had greater correlations with the frost hardiness estimated by EL after controlled freezing tests relative to the other parameters(r=
0.90 for shoots and r=0.84 for needles,respectively).The parameters re of shoots and needles and sm of needles might be applied for measuring frost hardiness of samples after exposed to controlled freezing tests.The frost hardiness results can be obtained within 48 h.The parameters s1 of shoots and b of needles could be used for estimating the frost hardiness of samples without using a controlled freezing test.The frost hardiness results can be obtained within 24 h.

Expression of multi-domain type III antifreeze proteins from the Antarctic eelpout (Lycodichths dearborni) in transgenic tobacco plants improves cold resistance

Type III antifreeze proteins(AFPIIIs)are a group of small globular proteins found in some polar fishes to protect them against freezing damage.Transgenic expression of AFPs has been shown to confer cold tolerance to commercially important plants and animals.We have previously isolated multiple AFPIII genes in the Antarctic eelpout(Lycodichthys dearborni)that encode larger AFPIII isoforms with up to 12 of the conventional domains.Here we have introduced the fish AFPIII genes that encode for the monomer(ld1),dimer(ld2),trimer(ld3)and tetramer(ld4)AFPIII isoforms in tobacco plants.Pot-grown 4-week-old transgenic tobacco plants were exposed to cold stress at 4◦C for 30 days and the results show that ld1,ld2,ld3 and ld4 transgenic plants present relatively lower electrolyte leakage and lower content of malondialdehyde(MDA),but accumulated higher content of proline when compared to control plants.This indicates considerable improved membrane integrity under low temperature stress and improvement of the plant cold resistance.The plants transformed with the AFPIII tetramer-and trimer-domains demonstrated a higher cold-tolerant levels when compared with plants transformed with the dimer-and monomer AFPIII domains.Our study further supports that fish AFPIIIs,especially the multidomain proteins,protect cells from non-freezing hypothermic stresses,apart from there well-known function as ice inhibitors molecules at freezing temperature.