Impact of wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions on the soil aggregate stability of yellow‒brown soil

Soil aggregate is the basic structural unit of soil,which is the foundation for supporting ecosystem functions,while its composition and stability is significantly affected by the external environment.This study was conducted to explore the effect of external environment(wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions)on the soil aggregate distribution and stability and identify the key soil physicochemical factors that affect the soil aggregate stability.The yellow‒brown soil from the Three Gorges Reservoir area(TGRA)was used,and 8 wetting-drying conditions(0,1,2,3,4,5,10 and 15 cycles)were simulated under 4 acidic conditions(pH=3,4,5 and 7).The particle size distribution and soil aggregate stability were determined by wet sieving method,the contribution of environmental factors(acid condition,wetting-drying cycle and their combined action)to the soil aggregate stability was clarified and the key soil physicochemical factors that affect the soil aggregate stability under wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions were determined by using the Pearson’s correlation analysis,Partial least squares path modeling(PLS‒PM)and multiple linear regression analysis.The results indicate that wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions have significant effects on the stability of soil aggregates,the soil aggregate stability gradually decreases with increasing number of wetting-drying cycles and it obviously decreases with the increase of acidity.Moreover,the combination of wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions aggravate the reduction in the soil aggregate stability.The wetting-drying cycles,acidic conditions and their combined effect imposes significant impact on the soil aggregate stability,and the wetting-drying cycles exert the greatest influence.The soil aggregate stability is significantly correlated with the pH,Ca^(2+),Mg^(2+),maximum disintegration index(MDI)and soil bulk density(SBD).The PLS‒PM and multiple linear regression analysis further reveal that the soil aggregate stability is primarily influenced by SBD,Ca^(2+),and MDI.These results offer a scientific basis for understanding the soil aggregate breakdown mechanism and are helpful for clarifying the coupled effect of wetting-drying cycles and acid rain on terrestrial ecosystems in the TGRA.

Giant reversible barocaloric effects with high thermal cycle stability in epoxybonded(MnCoGe)_(0.96)(CuCoSn)_(0.04) composite

Hexagonal MnMX-based(M=Co or Ni,X=Si or Ge)alloys exhibit giant reversible barocaloric effects.However,giant volume expansion would result in the as-cast MnMX ingots fragmenting into powders,and inevitably bring the deterioration of mechanical properties and formability.Grain fragmentation can bring degradation of structural transformation entropy change during cyclic application and removal of pressure.In this paper,giant reversible barocaloric effects with high thermal cycle stability can be achieved in the epoxy bonded(MnCoGe)0.96(CuCoSn)0.04 composite.Giant reversible isothermal entropy change of 43.0 J·kg^(−1)·K^(−1) and adiabatic temperature change from barocaloric effects(ΔT_(BCE))of 15.6 K can be obtained within a wide temperature span of 30 K at 360 MPa,which is mainly attributed to the integration of the change in the transition temperature driven by pressure of−101 K·GPa^(−1) and suitable thermal hysteresis of 11.1 K.Further,the variation of reversibleΔ_(TBCE) against the applied hydrostatic pressure reaches up to 43 K·GPa^(−1),which is at the highest level among the other reported giant barocaloric compounds.More importantly,after 60 thermal cycles,the composite does not break and the calorimetric curves coincide well,demonstrating good thermal cycle stability.

Enhanced High-Temperature Cycling Stability of Garnet-Based All Solid-State Lithium Battery Using a Multi-Functional Catholyte Buffer Layer

The pursuit of safer and high-performance lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)has triggered extensive research activities on solid-state batteries,while challenges related to the unstable electrode-electrolyte interface hinder their practical implementation.Polymer has been used extensively to improve the cathode-electrolyte interface in garnet-based all-solid-state LIBs(ASSLBs),while it introduces new concerns about thermal stability.In this study,we propose the incorporation of a multi-functional flame-retardant triphenyl phos-phate additive into poly(ethylene oxide),acting as a thin buffer layer between LiNi_(0.8)Co_(0.1)Mn_(0.1)O_(2)(NCM811)cathode and garnet electro-lyte.Through electrochemical stability tests,cycling performance evaluations,interfacial thermal stability analysis and flammability tests,improved thermal stability(capacity retention of 98.5%after 100 cycles at 60℃,and 89.6%after 50 cycles at 80℃)and safety characteristics(safe and stable cycling up to 100℃)are demonstrated.Based on various materials characterizations,the mechanism for the improved thermal stability of the interface is proposed.The results highlight the potential of multi-functional flame-retardant additives to address the challenges associated with the electrode-electrolyte interface in ASSLBs at high temperature.Efficient thermal modification in ASSLBs operating at elevated temperatures is also essential for enabling large-scale energy storage with safety being the primary concern.

Stability analysis of gravity anchor foundation of layered argillaceous sandstone under dry-wet cycles

To investigate the stability of gravity anchors of suspension bridges,in-situ tests of the vertical bearing capacity of the bedrock,shear resistance of the anchor-rock interface,shear resistance of the bedrock were conducted in a suspension bridge project.Under dry-wet cycles,the deterioration law of the mechanical properties of argillaceous sandstone was identified in laboratory tests:the elastic modulus,cohesion and friction of the argillaceous sandstone deteriorated significantly at first few dry-wet cycles and then declined slowly after 10 cycles,ultimately these three mechanical parameters were reduced to about 1/3,1/3,2/3 of the initial value respectively.Moreover,numerical simulation was used to restore in-situ shear tests and a good agreement was obtained.Base on the results of in-situ and laboratory tests,the stability of the gravity anchor foundation under natural conditions and drywet cycles was calculated and its failure modes were analyzed.The results demonstrated that the dry-wet cycles caused uneven settlement of the anchor foundation,resulting in more serious stress concentration in the substrate.The dry-wet cycles remarkably reduced the stability coefficient of the anchor foundation,whose failure mode shifted from overturning failure under natural conditions to sliding failure.When there was weak interlayer in the rock layer,the anti-sliding stability of the anchor foundation was affected drastically.

Durable K-ion batteries with 100% capacity retention up to 40,000 cycles

Currently,the major challenge in terms of research on K-ion batteries is to ensure that they possess satisfactory cycle stability and specific capacity,especially in terms of the intrinsically sluggish kinetics induced by the large radius of K+ions.Here,we explore high-performance K-ion half/full batteries with high rate capability,high specific capacity,and extremely durable cycle stability based on carbon nanosheets with tailored N dopants,which can alleviate the change of volume,increase electronic conductivity,and enhance the K+ion adsorption.The as-assembled K-ion half-batteries show an excellent rate capability of 468 mA h g^(−1) at 100 mA g^(−1),which is superior to those of most carbon materials reported to date.Moreover,the as-assembled half-cells have an outstanding life span,running 40,000 cycles over 8 months with a specific capacity retention of 100%at a high current density of 2000 mA g^(−1),and the target full cells deliver a high reversible specific capacity of 146 mA h g^(−1) after 2000 cycles over 2 months,with a specific capacity retention of 113%at a high current density of 500 mA g^(−1),both of which are state of the art in the field of K-ion batteries.This study might provide some insights into and potential avenues for exploration of advanced K-ion batteries with durable stability for practical applications.

High-modulus solid electrolyte interphase layer with gradient composition enables long-cycle all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries

All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries(ASSLSBs) have become one of the most potential candidates for the next-generation high-energy systems due to their intrinsic safety and high theoretical energy density.However, PEO-based ASSLSBs face the dilemma of insufficient Coulombic efficiency and long-term stability caused by the coupling problems of dendrite growth of anode and polysulfide shuttle of cathode. In this work, 1,3,5-trioxane(TOX) is used as a functional additive to design a PEO-based composite solidstate electrolyte(denoted as TOX-CSE), which realizes the stable long-term cycle of an ASSLSB. The results show that TOX can in-situ decompose on the anode to form a composite solid electrolyte interphase(SEI) layer with rich-organic component. It yields a high average modulus of 5.0 GPa, greatly improving the mechanical stability of the SEI layer and thus inhibiting the growth of dendrites. Also,the robust SEI layer can act as a barrier to block the side reaction between polysulfides and lithium metal.As a result, a Li-Li symmetric cell assembled with a TOX-CSE exhibits prolonged cycling stability over 2000 h at 0.2 m A cm^(-2). The ASSLSB also shows a stable cycling performance of 500 cycles at 0.5 C.This work reveals the structure–activity relationship between the mechanical property of interface layer and the battery's cycling stability.

Interconnected and high cycling stability polypyrrole supercapacitors using cellulose nanocrystals and commonly used inorganic salts as dopants

Polypyrrole(PPy)is wildly used as electrode material in supercapacitors due to its high conductivity,low cost,ease of handling,and ease of fabrication.However,limited capacitance and poor cycling stability hinder its practical application.After developing carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals(CNC-COO^(-))as immobile dopants for PPy to improve its cycling stability,we investigated the effect of different commonly used salts(KCl,NaCl,KBr,and NaClO_(4))as dopants during electrode fabrication by electropolymerization.The film’s capacitance increased from 160.6 to 183.4 F g^(-1)after adding a combination of KCl and NaClO_(4) into the electrodeposition electrolyte.More importantly,the porous and interconnected PPy/CNC-COO^(-)-Cl-(Cl O_(4)^(-))_0.5 electrode film exhibited an excellent capacitance of 125.0 F g^(-1)(0.78 F cm^(-2))at a high current density of 2.0 Ag^(-1)(20 m A cm^(-2),allowing charging in less than 1 min),increasing almost 204%over PPy/CNC-COO-films.A symmetric PPy/CNC-COO^(-)-Cl-(ClO_(4)^(-))_0.5 supercapacitor retained its full capacitance after 5000 cycles,and displayed a high energy density of 5.2 Wh kg^(-1)at a power density of 25.4 W kg^(-1)(34.5μWh cm^(-2) at 1752.3μW cm^(-2)).These results reveal that the porous structure formed by doping with CNC-COO-and inorganic salts opens up more active reaction areas to store charges in PPy-based films as the stiff and ribbon-like CNC-COO-as permanent dopants improve the strength and stability of PPy-based films.Our demonstration provides a simple and practical way to deposit PPy based supercapacitors with high capacitance,fast charging,and excellent cycling stability.

Effects of Al and Co doping on the structural stability and high temperature cycling performance of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) spinel cathode materials

The poor structural stability and capacity retention of the high-voltage spinel-type LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNMO)limits their further application.Herein,Al and Co were doped in LNMO materials for a more stable structure and capacity.The LNMO,LiNi_(0.45)Al_(0.05)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNAMO)and LiNi_(0.45)Co_(0.05)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNCMO)were synthesized by calcination at 900℃ for 8 h,which was called as solid-phase method and applied universally in industry.XRD,FT-IR and CV test results showed the synthesized samples have cation disordering Fd-3m space group structures.Moreover,the incorporation of Al and Co increased the cation disordering of LNMO,thereby increasing the transfer rate of Li+.The SEM results showed that the doped samples performed more regular and ortho-octahedral.The EDS elemental analysis confirmed the uniform distribution of each metal element in the samples.Moreover,the doped samples showed better electrochemical properties than undoped LNMO.The LNAMO and LNCMO samples were discharged with specific capacities of 116.3 mA·h·g^(-1)and 122.8 mA·h·g^(-1)at 1 C charge/discharge rate with good capacity retention of 95.8% and 94.8% after 200 cycles at room temperature,respectively.The capacity fading phenomenon of the doped samples at 50℃ and 1 C rate was significantly improved.Further,cations doping also enhanced the rate performance,especially for the LNCMO,the discharge specific capacity of 117.9 mA·h·g^(-1)can be obtained at a rate of 5 C.

Copper Indium Sulfide Enables Li-CO_(2)Batteries with Boosted Reaction Kinetics and Cycling Stability

High energy density Li-CO_(2)batteries have attracted much attention owing to the"two birds with one stone"feature in fixing greenhouse gas CO_(2)and providing renewable energy.However,poor reversibility of the discharge product Li_(2)CO_(3)is one of the main problems that limit its application,resulting in poor cycling stability and severe polarization.Herein,copper indium sulfide(CIS),a semiconducting non-precious metal sulfide,is fabricated as cathode catalysts for high-performance Li-CO_(2)batteries.Combined with the synergistic effect of bimetallic valence bonding and coordinated electron transfer,Li-CO_(2)batteries using CIS cathodes exhibit high full specific discharge capacity,excellent rate capability and cycle stability,namely it delivers a high specific full discharge capacity of 8878μAh cm^(-2),runs steadily from 10 to 100μA cm^(-2),and performs a stable long-term cycling behavior(>1050 h)under a high energy efficiency of 84%and a low charge voltage of approximately 3.4 V at 20μA cm^(-2)within 100μAh cm^(-2).In addition,a flexible Li-CO_(2)pouch cell is constructed to reveal the potential of employing CIS to fabricate flexible high energy storage devices in practical applications.This work shows a promising development pathway toward next-generation sustainable energy storage devices.

Limit Cycles in the Stability Analysis of a Chemical System

Aris and Amundson studied a chemical reactor and obtained the two equationsDaoud showed that at most one limit cycle may exist in the region of interest. Itis showed in this paper that other singular points exist and that a stable limitt cycle existsaround the singularity (1/2, 2) when K∈(9-δ, 9).

Improving Cyclic Stability and Rate Performance of Lithium Ion Batteries Using La^(3+)Modified LiNi_(0.6)Co_(0.2)Mn_(0.2)O_(2)Cathode Materials

La_(4)NiLiO_(8)-coated NCM622 samples were prepared through a sol-gel method,and the electrochemical performance as cathode materials was investigated.It is revealed that part of the introduced La^(3+)ions produce a coating layer on the surface of NCM622 particles,while the rest occupy the 3b position of the lattice.The optimized sample exhibits a capacity retention of 96.54%after 100 cycles under 1C rate with a discharge specific capacity of 117.54 mAh·g^(-1)under 5C rate,much higher than those of the unmodified sample.The results show that the addition of La^(3+)ion can greatly improve the cyclic stability and the rate performance of NCM622.

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.

Effects of Composition and Thermal Cycle on Transformation Behaviors,Thermal Stability and Mechanical Properties of CuAlAg Alloy

The phase transformation behavior, mechanical properties, and the thermal stability of CuAlAg alloy were studied and minor rare earth (0.1 wt pct La+Ce) was added to improve the mechanical property of the studied alloy. It was found that Ag addition in the CuAl binary alloy can improve the stability of martensitic transformation and high Al content leads to the disappearing of martensitic transformation. The tensile strength and strain of the Cu-10.6AI-5.8Ag (wt pct) alloy were measured to be 383.5 MPa and 0.86%, respectively. With rare earth addition, the tensile strain increased from 0.86% to 1.47%. The CuAlAg alloy did not exhibit martensitic transformation on the second heating process. Its poor thermal stability still needs to be improved.

Rearrangement on surface structures by boride to enhanced cycle stability for LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathode in lithium ion batteries

The side reaction between the active material and liquid-electrolyte cause structural damage and particle pulverization is one of the important factors leading to the capacity decay of LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2(NCA)materials in Li ion batteries(LIBs).Surface modification is an effective strategy for NCA cathodes,which could alleviate the degradation associated with surface processes.Herein,a surface structure rearrangement of NCA cathode secondary particles was reported by in-situ forming a solid electrolyte LiBO2.The LiBO2 is beneficial for alleviating the stress during charge/discharge process,thereby slowing down the rate of cracks formation in the secondary particles,which facilitates the Li+de-intercalation as well as prevents penetration of the liquid-electrolyte into the interior of the particles.As a result,the surface structure rearrangement NCA(RS-NCA)delivers a high discharge capacity of 202.5 m Ah g^-1 at 0.1 C,and exhibits excellent cycle stability with discharge capacity retaining 148 m Ah g^-1 after 200 cycles at 2 C.This surface structure rearrangement approach provides a new viewpoint in designing high-performance high-voltage LIBs.

Corrigendum to“Rearrangement on surface structures by boride to enhanced cycle stability for LiNi_(0.80)Co_(0.15)Al_(0.0)5O_(2) cathode in lithium ion batteries”[J.Energy.Chem.45(2020)110-118]

The authors regret that the printed version of the above article contained some errors.The funding number in acknowledgments of this paper was incorrectly marked,and we hope to correct it.We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51764048,51703118 and 51474191),Yunnan Province Thousand Youth Talents Plan,the Application Basis Research Project of Yunnan Province Science and Technology Department(2017FD144)and Key Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province China(2018FA28)for providing the financial support.

Cycle stability of La_(0.7)Mg_(0.3)Ni_(2.55-x)Co_(0.45)Cu_x(x=0-0.4) electrode alloys

The La0.7Mg0.3Ni2.55-xCo0.45Cux (x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) electrode alloys were prepared by casting and rapid quenching. Ni in the alloy was partially substituted by Cu in order to improve the cycle stability of La-Mg-Ni system (PuNi3-type) hydrogen storage alloy. The effects of substituting Ni with Cu on the microstructures and cycle stability of the alloys were investigated in detail. The results obtained by XRD, SEM and TEM show that the substitution of Cu for Ni is favourable for the formation of an amorphous in the as-quenched alloy, and this leads to an obvious refinement of the as-quenched alloy grains and a growth of the lattice constants and cell volumes of the as-cast and quenched alloys. The results obtained by the electrochemical measurement indicate that the cycle stability of the alloys significantly rises with the incremental variety of Cu content. When Cu content changes from 0 to 0.4, the cycle lives of the as-cast and quenched (30 m/s) alloys are enhanced from 72 to 88 cycles and from 100 to 121 cycles, respectively.

Microstructure instability of fully lamellar TiAl alloy containing high content of Nb after long-term thermal cycling

Microstructure instabilities of the fully lamellar Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-（W,B,Y） alloy were investigated by SEM and TEM after long-term thermal cycling（500 and 1000 thermal cycles） at 900 °C. Two major categories of microstructure instability were produced in the alloy after the thermal cycling： 1） The discontinuous coarsening implies that grain boundary migrations are inclined to occur in the Al-segregation region after the long-term thermal cycling, especially after 1000 thermal cycles. Al-segregation can be reduced during the process of long-term thermal cycling as a result of element diffusion; 2） The α2 lamellae become thinner and are broken after 1000 thermal cycles caused by the dissolution of α2 lamellae through phase transformation of α2→γ. The γ grains nucleate within the α2 lamellae or（α2＋γ） lamellae in a random direction.

Graphene quantum dots as sulfiphilic and lithiophilic mediator toward high stability and durable life lithium-sulfur batteries

The development of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) battery as one of the most attractive energy storage systems among lithium metal batteries is seriously hindered by low sulfur utilization, poor cycle stability and uneven redeposition of Li anode. It is necessary to propose strategies to address the problems as well as improve the electrochemical performance. One of the effective solutions is to improve the sulfiphilicity of sulfur cathode and the lithiophilicity of the Li anode. Herein, we reported that a synergistic functional separator(graphene quantum dots(GQDs)-polyacrylonitrile(PAN) @polypropylene(PP) separator)improved the electrochemical activity of sulfur cathode as well as the stability of Li anode. GQDs induced uniform Li^(+)nucleation and deposition, which slowed down the passivation of Li anode and avoided shortcircuit. Further, three-dimensional network constructed by electrospinning nanofibers and the polar functional groups of GQDs could both effectively inhibit the shuttle of LiPSs and improve the sulfur utilization. The stability of Li-S battery was improved by the synergistic effect. In addition, GQDs and electrospinning nanofibers protector increased lifetime of separators. Benefiting from the unique design strategy, Li//Li symmetric battery with GQDs-PAN@PP separators exhibited stably cycling for over 600 h. More importantly, the Li-S full batteries based GQDs-PAN@PP separators enabled high stability and desirable sulfur electrochemistry, including high reversibility of 558.09 mA h g^(-1)for 200 cycles and durable life with a low fading rate of 0.075% per cycle after 500 cycles at 0.5 C. Moreover, an impressive areal capacity of 3.23 mA h cm^(-2)was maintained under high sulfur loading of 5.10 mg cm^(-2). This work provides a new insight for modification separator to improve the electrochemical performance of Li-S/Li metal batteries.

Theoretical study on stability evolution of soft and hard interbedded bedding reservoir slopes

Soft and hard interbedded bedding rock slopes,which is prone to failure,are widely distributed in the Three Gorges Reservoir,China.Limit equilibrium method(LEM)is commonly used to analyze the stability of bedding rock slopes that have a single failure plane.However,this method cannot accurately estimate the stability of soft and hard interbedded bedding reservoir slopes because the strength parameters of a soft and hard interbedded rock mass vary spatially along the bedding plane and deteriorate with time due to periodic fluctuations of reservoir level.A modified LEM is proposed to evaluate the stability evolution of soft and hard interbedded bedding reservoir slopes considering the spatial variation and temporal deterioration of shear strength parameters of rock masses and bedding planes.In the modified LEM,the S-curve model is used to define the spatial variation of shear strength parameters,and general deterioration equations of shear strength parameters with the increasing number of wettingdrying cycles(WDC)are proposed to describe the temporal deterioration.Also,this method is applied to evaluate the stability evolution of a soft and hard interbedded bedding reservoir slope,located at the Three Gorges Reservoir.The results show that neglecting the spatial variation and temporal deterioration of shear strength parameters may overestimate slope stability.Finally,the modified LEM provides useful guidance to reasonably evaluate the long-term stability of soft and hard interbedded bedding reservoir slopes in reservoir area.

Research Progress in Improving the Cycling Stability of High-Voltage LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 Cathode in Lithium-Ion Battery

High-voltage lithium-ion batteries(HVLIBs) are considered as promising devices of energy storage for electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, and other high-power equipment. HVLIBs require their own platform voltages to be higher than 4.5 V on charge. Lithium nickel manganese spinel LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4(LNMO) cathode is the most promising candidate among the 5 V cathode materials for HVLIBs due to its flat plateau at 4.7 V. However, the degradation of cyclic performance is very serious when LNMO cathode operates over 4.2 V. In this review, we summarize some methods for enhancing the cycling stability of LNMO cathodes in lithium-ion batteries, including doping, cathode surface coating,electrolyte modifying, and other methods. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different methods.