Electrochemical energy storage devices with a high energy density are an important technology in modern society, especially for electric vehicles. The most effective approach to improve the energy ...density of batteries is to search for high‐capacity electrode materials. According to the concept of energy quality, a high‐voltage battery delivers a highly useful energy, thus providing a new insight to improve energy density. Based on this concept, a novel and successful strategy to increase the energy density and energy quality by increasing the discharge voltage of cathode materials and preserving high capacity is proposed. The proposal is realized in high‐capacity Li‐rich cathode materials. The average discharge voltage is increased from 3.5 to 3.8 V by increasing the nickel content and applying a simple after‐treatment, and the specific energy is improved from 912 to 1033 Wh kg−1. The current work provides an insightful universal principle for developing, designing, and screening electrode materials for high energy density and energy quality.
Li‐ion batteries with high energy quality require a high capacity coupled with high operating voltage. This requires the electrode materials to not only have a high specific capacity but also a high discharge voltage for cathode materials and low charge voltage for anode materials.
Grafting of C7 from the nonparalyzed to the paralyzed side in patients with arm paralysis resulted in greater improvements in power, spasticity, and function at 12 months than rehabilitation therapy ...alone, and functional connection to the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere developed.
This review summarizes syntheses, structures of the amide-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (AFMOFs) with improved gas storage and separation properties mainly based upon our recent work. ...Depending where the amide groups are implanted into organic backbones, two types of AFMOFs, dynamic and robust AFMOFs were presented. After describing their syntheses and structures, in particular, several intriguingly topological platforms, i.e., pcu-, agw-, nbo-, rht-, pbz- and txt-MOFs, several outstanding AFMOFs are chosen to elucidate their applications for energy gas storage and carbon capture as well as acetylene safe handling.
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•Amide-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (AFMOFs) and their potential applications in gas storage and carbon capture based mainly upon our recent research were summarized.•AFMOFs unveil a myriad of graceful structures/topologies in combination with enhanced gas storage and separation properties.•We first pay less attention on the synthesis and structures of dynamic AFMOFs, in which the amide groups are built between carboxymethyl and phenyl rings.•Then, we discuss the designs, syntheses and constructions of robust AFMOFs by means of several intriguingly topological platforms, i.e., pcu-, agw-, nbo-, rht-, pbz- and txt-MOFs, where the amide groups are built between phenyl and phenyl rings.•Later, several outstanding AFMOFs are chosen to elucidate their applications for energy gas storage and carbon capture as well as acetylene safe handling.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), emerging as a new type of solid state porous material, have received intensive attention in academia and industry over the last two decades. MOF materials demonstrate not only intriguing structures/topologies, but also a variety of functionalities/applications, i.e., mediating the currentdemanding energy crisis and environmental pollution. We are interested in the design and self-assembly of functional MOF materials to improve carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane and acetylene storage capabilities, as well as the separation efficiencies toward flue gas and nature gas. Therefore, significant efforts have been devoted to construct a subclass of amide-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (AFMOFs) in the last decade in our research group to target the above-mentioned applications. Due to the intrinsic nature, i.e., flexibility and polarizability of amide groups, the resultant AFMOFs unveil a myriad of graceful structures/topologies in combination with enhanced gas storage and separation properties. Depending on where the amide groups are implanted into the organic backbones, two types of AFMOFs were essentially afforded in our research group. In this review, we first pay some attention to the synthesis and structures of dynamic AFMOFs, in which the amide groups are built between carboxymethyl and phenyl rings, then we discuss the designs, syntheses and constructions of robust AFMOFs by means of several intriguingly topological platforms, i.e., pcu-, agw-, nbo-, rht-, pbz- and txt-MOFs, where the amide groups are built between two phenyl rings. Later, several outstanding AFMOFs are chosen to elucidate their applications for energy gas storage and carbon capture, as well as acetylene safe handling.
The objective of this study was to study the structure and physicochemical properties of biochar derived from apple tree branches (ATBs), whose valorization is crucial for the sustainable development ...of the apple industry. ATBs were collected from apple orchards located on the Weibei upland of the Loess Plateau and pyrolyzed at 300, 400, 500 and 600 °C (BC300, BC400, BC500 and BC600), respectively. Different analytical techniques were used for the characterization of the different biochars. In particular, proximate and element analyses were performed. Furthermore, the morphological, and textural properties were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Boehm titration and nitrogen manometry. In addition, the thermal stability of biochars was also studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The results indicated that the increasing temperature increased the content of fixed carbon (C), the C content and inorganic minerals (K, P, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg), while the yield, the content of volatile matter (VM), O and H, cation exchange capacity, and the ratios of O/C and H/C decreased. Comparison between the different samples show that highest pH and ash content were observed in BC500. The number of acidic functional groups decreased as a function of pyrolysis temperature, especially for the carboxylic functional groups. In contrast, a reverse trend was found for the basic functional groups. At a higher temperature, the brunauer–emmett–teller (BET) surface area and pore volume are higher mostly due to the increase of the micropore surface area and micropore volume. In addition, the thermal stability of biochars also increased with the increasing temperature. Hence, pyrolysis temperature has a strong effect on biochar properties, and therefore biochars can be produced by changing pyrolysis temperature in order to better meet their applications.
We review the current state of optical methods for sensing oxygen. These have become powerful alternatives to electrochemical detection and in the process of replacing the Clark electrode in many ...fields. The article (with 694 references) is divided into main sections on direct spectroscopic sensing of oxygen, on absorptiometric and luminescent probes, on polymeric matrices and supports, on additives and related materials, on spectroscopic schemes for read-out and imaging, and on sensing formats (such as waveguide sensing, sensor arrays, multiple sensors and nanosensors). We finally discuss future trends and applications and summarize the properties of the most often used indicator probes and polymers. The ESI† (with 385 references) gives a selection of specific applications of such sensors in medicine, biology, marine and geosciences, intracellular sensing, aerodynamics, industry and biotechnology, among others.
Gradient surface Na‐ion doping is realized and demonstrated as an effective strategy to enhance the kinetics of Li‐rich cathode materials. Owing to the pinning effect of Na‐doping in the Li layer, ...the resultant Li‐rich particles exhibit superior electrochemical performances in terms of specific capacity, Coulombic efficiency, and cycling stability.
Autotaxin (ATX) is the only enzyme of the ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase (ENPP2) family with lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) activity, which is mainly responsible for the hydrolysis ...of extracellular lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) into lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). LPA can induce various responses, such as cell proliferation, migration, and cytokine production, through six G protein-coupled receptors (LPA1-6). This signaling pathway is associated with metabolic and inflammatory disorder, and inhibiting this pathway has a positive effect on the treatment of related diseases, while ATX, as an important role in the production of LPA, has been shown to be associated with the occurrence and metastasis of tumors, fibrosis and cardiovascular diseases. From mimics of ATX natural lipid substrates to the rational design of small molecule inhibitors, ATX inhibitors have made rapid progress in structural diversity and design over the past 20 years, and three drugs, GLPG1690, BBT-877, and BLD-0409, have entered clinical trials. In this paper, we will review the structure of ATX inhibitors from the perspective of the transformation of design ideas, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each inhibitor type, and put forward prospects for the development of ATX inhibitors in the future.
Particle swarm optimization (PSO) has exhibited well-known feasibility in problem optimization. However, its optimization performance still encounters challenges when confronted with complicated ...optimization problems with many local areas. In PSO, the interaction among particles and utilization of the communication information play crucial roles in improving the learning effectiveness and learning diversity of particles. To promote the communication effectiveness among particles, this paper proposes a stochastic triad topology to allow each particle to communicate with two random ones in the swarm via their personal best positions. Then, unlike existing studies that employ the personal best positions of the updated particle and the neighboring best position of the topology to direct its update, this paper adopts the best one and the mean position of the three personal best positions in the associated triad topology as the two guiding exemplars to direct the update of each particle. To further promote the interaction diversity among particles, an archive is maintained to store the obsolete personal best positions of particles and is then used to interact with particles in the triad topology. To enhance the chance of escaping from local regions, a random restart strategy is probabilistically triggered to introduce initialized solutions to the archive. To alleviate sensitivity to parameters, dynamic adjustment strategies are designed to dynamically adjust the associated parameter settings during the evolution. Integrating the above mechanism, a stochastic triad topology-based PSO (STTPSO) is developed to effectively search complex solution space. With the above techniques, the learning diversity and learning effectiveness of particles are largely promoted and thus the developed STTPSO is expected to explore and exploit the solution space appropriately to find high-quality solutions. Extensive experiments conducted on the commonly used CEC 2017 benchmark problem set with different dimension sizes substantiate that the proposed STTPSO achieves highly competitive or even much better performance than state-of-the-art and representative PSO variants.
A new covert luminescent anticounterfeiting (AC) technology was developed by employing combinatorial chemistry and concentration-dependent stimulus-responsive luminescent patterns. Oxygen-sensitive ...materials are carefully tailed to be inkjet printable and to form luminescent color inks. The inks are placed in the tanks of a jet printer. The printed luminescent patterns exhibited multilevel and highly secured AC features. Unlike conventional luminescent AC technology that solely relies on luminescent molecules/nanoparticles, the new technique utilizes the following features to fight counterfeiting: (1) the combination of luminescent oxygen-sensitive probes (OSPs) and the oxygen-permeable matrix (OPM), (2) the unique nonlinear oxygen-responsive behavior, (3) the local oxygen concentration, and (4) a luminescence lifetime reading device. The virtually unlimited number of codes is mainly due to the following features: (a) an almost endless number of combinations of OSPs and OPMs and (b) the nonlinearity of the Stern–Volmer plots that describe quenching of luminescence by oxygen. This combinatorial chemistry strategy makes it very difficult for counterfeiters to find the right composition even when the chemical composition of the luminescent molecules/nanoparticles was known. Information encrypted via this new methodology exhibits extremely high security, as counterfeiters need to identify all (not part of them) the following security measures: (1) the right combination of OSPs and OPMs, (2) the right chemical stimulus (here oxygen), (3) the proper oxygen concentration, and (4) the correct luminescence lifetime values.
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