The commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated microporous polyolefin separators used in lithium batteries are still vulnerable under external impact, which may cause short circuits and consequently ...severe safety threats, because the protective ceramic nanoparticle coating layers on the separators are intrinsically brittle. Here, a nacre‐inspired coating on the separator to improve the impact tolerance of lithium batteries is reported. Instead of a random structured ceramic nanoparticle layer, ion‐conductive porous multilayers consisting of highly oriented aragonite platelets are coated on the separator. The nacre‐inspired coating can sustain external impact by turning the violent localized stress into lower and more uniform stress due to the platelet sliding. A lithium‐metal pouch cell using the aragonite platelet coated separator exhibits good cycling stability under external shock, which is in sharp contrast to the fast short circuit of a lithium‐metal pouch cell using a commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated separator.
A nacre‐inspired coating is fabricated to improve the impact tolerance of the separator in a lithium battery via efficient energy dissipation. Remarkably, the pouch cell using the nacre‐inspired porous aragonite platelet coated separator performs with much lower instantaneous open‐circuit voltage change and faster voltage recovery than the cell using the commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated separator under external impaction.
Fast charging of lithium ion batteries is essential for next‐generation energy‐storage systems. However, the poor ionic and electronic transport of anodes with its rather high mass loading limits the ...practical applications of this technology. Herein, a multiscale design from niobium titanium oxide anode material to electrode structure is proposed for fast charging lithium ion batteries with a practical level of areal capacity (3 mAh cm−2). At the atomic scale, the introduction of oxygen vacancy and surface carbon coating enables niobium titanium oxide (TiNb2O7−x@C) to possess excellent ionic and electronic conductivity. For the microscopic electrode structure, 1D TiNb2O7−x@C fibers are tightly assembled to form a high‐speed transport network of ions and electrons throughout the electrode. As a result, the obtained TiNb2O7−x@C electrode shows excellent rate capability (1.83 mAh cm−2 at 1 C) and cycling stability under an areal capacity of 3 mAh cm−2 (2.35 mAh cm−2 after 100 cycles at 0.5 C) in half‐cells. Significantly, a full‐cell coupled with practical level mass loading of lithium cobalt oxide cathode is demonstrated to deliver 1.55 mAh cm−2 at 3 C for the first time.
A multiscale electrode design strategy is reported to achieve fast ionic and electronic transport for improving the electrochemical performance of TiNb2O7 electrodes at high mass loading (>11 mg cm−2). Moreover, a TiNb2O7–x@C/LiCoO2 full‐cell with practical level mass loading is fabricated, which displays excellent fast‐charging performance.
Electrolyte engineering via fluorinated additives is promising to improve cycling stability and safety of high‐energy Li‐metal batteries. Here, an electrolyte is reported in a porous lithium fluoride ...(LiF) strategy to enable efficient carbonate electrolyte engineering for stable and safe Li‐metal batteries. Unlike traditionally engineered electrolytes, the prepared electrolyte in the porous LiF nanobox exhibits nonflammability and high electrochemical performance owing to strong interactions between the electrolyte solvent molecules and numerous exposed active LiF (111) crystal planes. Via cryogenic transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth analysis, it is revealed that the electrolyte in active porous LiF nanobox involves the formation of a high‐fluorine‐content (>30%) solid electrolyte interphase layer, which enables very stable Li‐metal anode cycling over one thousand cycles under high current density (4 mA cm−2). More importantly, employing the porous LiF nanobox engineered electrolyte, a Li || LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 pouch cell is achieved with a specific energy of 380 Wh kg−1 for stable cycling over 80 cycles, representing the excellent performance of the Li‐metal pouch cell using practical carbonate electrolyte. This study provides a new electrolyte engineering strategy for stable and safe Li‐metal batteries.
Electrolyte engineering via fluorinated additives is promising to improve the cycling stability and safety of high‐energy Li‐metal batteries. The electrolyte in an active porous LiF nanobox involves the formation of a high‐fluorine‐content (>30%) solid electrolyte interphase layer to achieve a ≈3.5 Ah Li || LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 pouch cell with a specific energy of 380 Wh kg−1 under a practical carbonate electrolyte.
Quercetin, a bioflavonoid derived from vegetables and fruits, exerts anti-inflammatory effects in various diseases. Our previous study revealed that quercetin could suppress the expression of matrix ...metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) to achieve anti-inflammatory effects in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-stimulated human retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells. The present study explored whether quercetin can inhibit the interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in ARPE-19 cells. Prior to stimulation by IL-1β, ARPE-19 cells were pretreated with quercetin at various concentrations (2.5-20 µM). The results showed that quercetin could dose-dependently decrease the mRNA and protein levels of ICAM-1, IL-6, IL-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). It also attenuated the adherence of the human monocytic leukemia cell line THP-1 to IL-1β-stimulated ARPE-19 cells. We also demonstrated that quercetin inhibited signaling pathways related to the inflammatory process, including phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), inhibitor of nuclear factor κ-B kinase (IKK)α/β, c-Jun, cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65, and blocked the translocation of NF-κB p65 into the nucleus. Furthermore, MAPK inhibitors including an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 inhibitor (U0126), a p38 inhibitor (SB202190) and a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor (SP600125) decreased the expression of soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1), but not ICAM-1. U0126 and SB202190 could inhibit the expression of IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1, but SP600125 could not. An NF-κB inhibitor (Bay 11-7082) also reduced the expression of ICAM-1, sICAM-1, IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1. Taken together, these results provide evidence that quercetin protects ARPE-19 cells from the IL-1β-stimulated increase in ICAM-1, sICAM-1, IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 production by blocking the activation of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways to ameliorate the inflammatory response.
Abstract
The search for new two-dimensional monolayers with diverse electronic properties has attracted growing interest in recent years. Here, we present an approach to construct MA
2
Z
4
monolayers ...with a septuple-atomic-layer structure, that is, intercalating a MoS
2
-type monolayer MZ
2
into an InSe-type monolayer A
2
Z
2
. We illustrate this unique strategy by means of first-principles calculations, which not only reproduce the structures of MoSi
2
N
4
and MnBi
2
Te
4
that were already experimentally synthesized, but also predict 72 compounds that are thermodynamically and dynamically stable. Such an intercalated architecture significantly reconstructs the band structures of the constituents MZ
2
and A
2
Z
2
, leading to diverse electronic properties for MA
2
Z
4
, which can be classified according to the total number of valence electrons. The systems with 32 and 34 valence electrons are mostly semiconductors. Whereas, those with 33 valence electrons can be nonmagnetic metals or ferromagnetic semiconductors. In particular, we find that, among the predicted compounds, (Ca,Sr)Ga
2
Te
4
are topologically nontrivial by both the standard density functional theory and hybrid functional calculations. While VSi
2
P
4
is a ferromagnetic semiconductor and TaSi
2
N
4
is a type-I Ising superconductor. Moreover, WSi
2
P
4
is a direct gap semiconductor with peculiar spin-valley properties, which are robust against interlayer interactions. Our study thus provides an effective way of designing septuple-atomic-layer MA
2
Z
4
with unusual electronic properties to draw immediate experimental interest.
Abstract
Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide (CO
2
) may be a pathway to retard the current trend of rapid global warming. However, the current economic cost of chemical fixation remains high because ...the chemical fixation of CO
2
usually requires high temperature or high pressure. The rational design of an efficient catalyst that works at ambient conditions might substantially reduce the economic cost of fixation. Here, we report the rational design of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as efficient CO
2
fixation catalysts under ambient conditions based on the finding of “pore enrichment”, which is concluded by a detailed investigation of the 10994 COFs. The best predicted COF, Zn-Salen-COF-SDU113, is synthesized, and its efficient catalytic performance for CO
2
cycloaddition to terminal epoxide is confirmed with a yield of 98.2% and turnover number (TON) of 3068.9 under ambient conditions, which is comparable to the reported leading catalysts. Moreover, this COF achieves the cycloaddition of CO
2
to 2,3-epoxybutane under ambient conditions among all porous materials. This work provides a strategy for designing porous catalysts in the economic fixation of carbon dioxide.
Abstract
We present a generic study on the information-theoretic security of multi-setting device-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) protocols, i.e. ones that involve more than two ...measurements (or inputs) for each party to perform, and yield dichotomic results (or outputs). The approach we develop, when applied in protocols with either symmetric or asymmetric Bell experiments, yields nontrivial upper bounds on the secure key rates, along with the detection efficiencies required upon the measuring devices. The results imply that increasing the number of measurements may lower the detection efficiency required by the security criterion. The improvement, however, depends on (i) the choice of multi-setting Bell inequalities chosen to be tested in a protocol, and (ii) either a symmetric or asymmetric Bell experiment is considered. Our results serve as an advance toward the quest for evaluating security and reducing efficiency requirement of applying DIQKD in scenarios without heralding.
The low electrocatalytic activity of pristine graphite felt (GF) electrodes toward V(II)/V(III) and V(IV)/V(V) redox couples is a major concern in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). For ...overcoming this challenge, herein a novel composite electrode is proposed comprising of two components: multidimensional frame carbon (MFC) derived from edge‐rich carbon and GF that serves as the frame for the in situ growth of MFC. The high electrocatalytic activity, rapid charge migration, and reduced local current emanating from the 0D, 2D, and 3D coexistent structures of the MFC material, respectively, enhance the performance of the GF. Consequently, the battery assembled using the MFC GF electrode achieves a maximum current density of 500 mA cm−2, along with high stability and preeminent energy efficiency at a current density of 200 mA cm−2 for over 400 cycles. For the first time via density functional theory analysis on VRFBs, this study reveals that the edge‐rich carbon atoms possess higher electrocatalytic activity in both positive and negative electrolytes than the plane carbon atoms and heteroatoms. Therefore, this study is of immense significance in guiding and promoting the application of edge‐rich carbon in the battery‐based energy storage industry.
An edge‐rich multidimensional structure frame carbon originates from the in situ recrystallization and annealling of sodium citrate. With the help of density functional theory, this work reveals that the edge carbon atoms possess higher electrocatalytic activity than the plane carbon atom for V(II)/V(III) and V(IV)/V(V) redox couples in vanadium redox flow batteries.
Conclusions about human behavior are primarily based upon observations from western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) samples, especially from the United States. One consequence ...may be the promotion of assumptions that research findings from these populations are more generalizable to humankind than findings from non-WEIRD populations. We tested this with an archival study comparing the extent to which titles of over 5,000 published psychology articles specify samples’ racial/ethnic/national/cultural characteristics—a practice that implies constraints to generalizability. We observed that samples from the United States were less frequently specified in titles compared to both other WEIRD and non-WEIRD regions. Yet, samples from the United States (compared to other regions) were more frequently specified in titles if they referred to racial/ethnic/cultural minorities who may be perceived as exceptions to assumed generalizability of the White American population. These findings suggest that one consequence of a USA-centric sampling bias in psychology may be biased assumptions of (White) people from the United States as especially reflective of humankind.
Measuring speed is a critical factor to reduce motion artifacts for dynamic scene capture. Phase-shifting methods have the advantage of providing high-accuracy and dense 3D point clouds, but the ...phase unwrapping process affects the measurement speed. This paper presents an absolute phase unwrapping method capable of using only three speckle-embedded phase-shifted patterns for high-speed three-dimensional (3D) shape measurement on a single-camera, single-projector structured light system. The proposed method obtains the wrapped phase of the object from the speckle-embedded three-step phase-shifted patterns. Next, it utilizes the Semi-Global Matching (SGM) algorithm to establish the coarse correspondence between the image of the object with the embedded speckle pattern and the pre-obtained image of a flat surface with the same embedded speckle pattern. Then, a computational framework uses the coarse correspondence information to determine the fringe order pixel by pixel. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method can achieve high-speed and high-quality 3D measurements of complex scenes.
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