Calcareous sands are known as problematic soils in nature and challenge geotechnical engineers in many practical projects. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is an innovative soil ...improvement technique that uses biomineralisation processes to induce cementation in-situ. The work described in this paper investigates the strength, deformation, and microstructure characteristics of biocemented calcareous sand under different cementation solution to sample volume ratios. A series of laboratory experiments was conducted, including unconfined compressive strength tests, splitting, tensile (i.e., Brazilian) strength tests, and consolidated drained triaxial tests. The results indicate that an exponential function reasonably describes the unconfined compressive strength and splitting tensile strength with increasing cementation solution to sample volume ratios. The tangent modulus at 50% peak strength increases exponentially with an increase in cementation solution to sample volume ratio, whereas it increases linearly with an increase in strength. The strength parameters for this MICP-improved soil, including the peak cohesion and friction angle, are derived to facilitate engineering design. Microstructure analyses are used to illustrate the physical basis for the increase in strength and stiffness with increases in the calcite content, as demonstrated using the cementation solution to sample volume ratio.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) enables fast installation with minimal management and maintenance costs, and is a very robust protocol for the best effort service in wireless ...medium. However, the current DCF is unsuitable for real-time applications. This paper studies backoff-based priority schemes for IEEE 802.11 and the emerging IEEE 802.11e standard by differentiating the minimum backoff window size, the backoff window-increasing factor, and the retransmission limit. An analytical model is proposed to derive saturation throughputs, saturation delays, and frame-dropping probabilities of different priority classes for all proposed priority schemes. Simulations are conducted to validate analytical results. The proposed priority schemes can be easily implemented, and the results from this paper are beneficial in designing good priority parameters.
Iron fluoride, an intercalation-conversion cathode for lithium ion batteries, promises a high theoretical energy density of 1922 Wh kg
However, poor electrochemical reversibility due to repeated ...breaking/reformation of metal fluoride bonds poses a grand challenge for its practical application. Here we report that both a high reversibility over 1000 cycles and a high capacity of 420 mAh g
can be realized by concerted doping of cobalt and oxygen into iron fluoride. In the doped nanorods, an energy density of ~1000 Wh kg
with a decay rate of 0.03% per cycle is achieved. The anion's and cation's co-substitutions thermodynamically reduce conversion reaction potential and shift the reaction from less-reversible intercalation-conversion reaction in iron fluoride to a highly reversible intercalation-extrusion reaction in doped material. The co-substitution strategy to tune the thermodynamic features of the reactions could be extended to other high energy conversion materials for improved performance.
LiNixCoyMnzO2 (x+y+z=1)||graphite lithium‐ion battery (LIB) chemistry promises practical applications. However, its low‐temperature (≤ −20 °C) performance is poor because the increased resistance ...encountered by Li+ transport in and across the bulk electrolytes and the electrolyte/electrode interphases induces capacity loss and battery failures. Though tremendous efforts have been made, there is still no effective way to reduce the charge transfer resistance (Rct) which dominates low‐temperature LIBs performance. Herein, we propose a strategy of using low‐polarity‐solvent electrolytes which have weak interactions between the solvents and the Li+ to reduce Rct, achieving facile Li+ transport at sub‐zero temperatures. The exemplary electrolyte enables LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2||graphite cells to deliver a capacity of ≈113 mAh g−1 (98 % full‐cell capacity) at 25 °C and to remain 82 % of their room‐temperature capacity at −20 °C without lithium plating at 1/3C. They also retain 84 % of their capacity at −30 °C and 78 % of their capacity at −40 °C and show stable cycling at 50 °C.
Low‐polarity‐solvent electrolytes (LPSEs) 1) enable the formation of the anion‐derived interphases on both electrodes and 2) have weak interactions between the solvent molecules and Li+, which provide fast Li+ transport kinetics and reduced resistance in both charge transfer process and Li+ transport in electrode/electrolyte interphases, achieving excellent battery performance under both fast‐charge and low‐temperature conditions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Since the inception of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology have attracted an increasing interest from both academia and industry. Among various core components, ...consensus protocol is the defining technology behind the security and performance of blockchain. From incremental modifications of Nakamoto consensus protocol to innovative alternative consensus mechanisms, many consensus protocols have been proposed to improve the performance of the blockchain network itself or to accommodate other specific application needs. In this survey, we present a comprehensive review and analysis on the state-of-the-art blockchain consensus protocols. To facilitate the discussion of our analysis, we first introduce the key definitions and relevant results in the classic theory of fault tolerance which help to lay the foundation for further discussion. We identify five core components of a blockchain consensus protocol, namely, block proposal, block validation, information propagation, block finalization, and incentive mechanism. A wide spectrum of blockchain consensus protocols are then carefully reviewed accompanied by algorithmic abstractions and vulnerability analyses. The surveyed consensus protocols are analyzed using the five-component framework and compared with respect to different performance metrics. These analyses and comparisons provide us new insights in the fundamental differences of various proposals in terms of their suitable application scenarios, key assumptions, expected fault tolerance, scalability, drawbacks and trade-offs. We believe this survey will provide blockchain developers and researchers a comprehensive view on the state-of-the-art consensus protocols and facilitate the process of designing future protocols.
Quantum computers promise to perform certain tasks that are believed to be intractable to classical computers. Boson sampling is such a task and is considered a strong candidate to demonstrate the ...quantum computational advantage. We performed Gaussian boson sampling by sending 50 indistinguishable single-mode squeezed states into a 100-mode ultralow-loss interferometer with full connectivity and random matrix-the whole optical setup is phase-locked-and sampling the output using 100 high-efficiency single-photon detectors. The obtained samples were validated against plausible hypotheses exploiting thermal states, distinguishable photons, and uniform distribution. The photonic quantum computer,
, generates up to 76 output photon clicks, which yields an output state-space dimension of 10
and a sampling rate that is faster than using the state-of-the-art simulation strategy and supercomputers by a factor of ~10
.
In contrast to the wealth of asymmetric transformations for generating central chirality from alkyl radicals, the enantiocontrol over the allenyl radicals for forging axial chirality represents an ...uncharted domain. The challenge arises from the unique elongated linear configuration of the allenyl radicals that necessitates the stereo‐differentiation of remote motifs away from the radical reaction site. We herein describe a copper‐catalyzed asymmetric radical 1,4‐carboalkynylation of 1,3‐enynes via the coupling of allenyl radicals with terminal alkynes, providing diverse synthetically challenging tetrasubstituted chiral allenes. A chiral N,N,P‐ligand is crucial for both the reaction initiation and the enantiocontrol over the highly reactive allenyl radicals. The reaction features a broad substrate scope, covering a variety of (hetero)aryl and alkyl alkynes and 1,3‐enynes as well as radical precursors with excellent functional group tolerance.
A copper‐catalyzed asymmetric radical 1,4‐carboalkynylation of 1,3‐enynes is realized, providing diverse tetrasubstituted chiral allenes. The utilization of the copper/chiral N,N,P‐ligand is crucial for the enantiocontrol over the allenyl radicals, which is difficult due to their elongated linear configuration that necessitates the stereo‐differentiation of remote motifs away from the reaction site.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Aqueous Zn batteries are promising energy storage devices for large-scale energy-storage due to low cost and high energy density. However, their lifespan is limited by the water decomposition and Zn ...dendrite growth. Here, we suppress water reduction and Zn dendrite growth in dilute aqueous electrolyte by adding dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) into ZnCl2–H2O, in which DMSO replaces the H2O in Zn2+ solvation sheath due to a higher Gutmann donor number (29.8) of DMSO than that (18) of H2O. The preferential solvation of DMSO with Zn2+ and strong H2O–DMSO interaction inhibit the decomposition of solvated H2O. In addition, the decomposition of solvated DMSO forms Zn12(SO4)3Cl3(OH)15·5H2O, ZnSO3, and ZnS enriched-solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) preventing Zn dendrite and further suppressing water decomposition. The ZnCl2–H2O–DMSO electrolyte enables Zn anodes in Zn||Ti half-cell to achieve a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.5% for 400 cycles (400 h), and the Zn||MnO2 full cell with a low capacity ratio of Zn:MnO2 at 2:1 to deliver a high energy density of 212 Wh/kg (based on both cathode and anode) and maitain 95.3% of the capacity over 500 cycles at 8 C.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Aqueous Zn batteries promise high energy density but suffer from Zn dendritic growth and poor low‐temperature performance. Here, we overcome both challenges by using an eutectic 7.6 m ZnCl2 aqueous ...electrolyte with 0.05 m SnCl2 additive, which in situ forms a zincophilic/zincophobic Sn/Zn5(OH)8Cl2⋅H2O bilayer interphase and enables low temperature operation. Zincophilic Sn decreases Zn plating/stripping overpotential and promotes uniform Zn plating, while zincophobic Zn5(OH)8Cl2⋅H2O top‐layer suppresses Zn dendrite growth. The eutectic electrolyte has a high ionic conductivity of ≈0.8 mS cm−1 even at −70 °C due to the distortion of hydrogen bond network by solvated Zn2+ and Cl−. The eutectic electrolyte enables Zn∥Ti half‐cell a high Coulombic efficiency (CE) of >99.7 % for 200 cycles and Zn∥Zn cell steady charge/discharge for 500 h with a low overpotential of 8 mV at 3 mA cm−2. Practically, Zn∥VOPO4 batteries maintain >95 % capacity with a CE of >99.9 % for 200 cycles at −50 °C, and retain ≈30 % capacity at −70 °C of that at 20 °C.
A highly reversible Zn anode working at low temperature is achieved by introducing SnCl2 into eutectic ZnCl2 aqueous electrolyte to form a zincophilic–zincophobic interfacial layer on the Zn anode in situ. The bottom layer of Sn facilitates uniform Zn deposition, while the top layer of zincophobic Zn5(OH)8Cl2 H2O facilitates Zn2+ diffusion and avoids Zn dendrites. The eutectic composition enhances the low temperature conductivity.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
In response to ecosystem degradation from rapid economic development, China began investing heavily in protecting and restoring natural capital starting in 2000. We report on China's first national ...ecosystem assessment (2000–2010), designed to quantify and help manage change in ecosystem services, including food production, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, water retention, flood mitigation, and provision of habitat for biodiversity. Overall, ecosystem services improved from 2000 to 2010, apart from habitat provision. China's national conservation policies contributed significantly to the increases in those ecosystem services.
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