Nanostructured Composite Foils Produced Via Accumulative Roll Bonding as Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.

In this work, we introduce a new nanostructured composite foil (NCF) alloying anode framework for high-capacity anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. These materials are manufactured with an accumulative roll-bonding process, a simple route for the generation of hierarchical nanostructures. The model Sn/Cu NCF system provides volumetric capacities between 1000 and 1720 mA h cm-3, equating to a projected 20-50% increase in cell-level volumetric energy density. The initial electrochemical cycle was associated with an efficient formation process (88-92%) that drastically increased transport kinetics, allowing for rapid lithiation (>8 mA cm-2) on subsequent cycles. The introduction of a multilayered inactive copper matrix successfully eliminated loss of the active material as a degradation mechanism, while loss of lithium-inventory limited long-term cyclability in lithium-limited environments. Further development of this framework to mitigate loss of lithium inventory may provide a promising route toward the production of high-energy battery materials.

Simple and inexpensive quantification of ammonia in whole blood.

Quantification of ammonia in whole blood has applications in the diagnosis and management of many hepatic diseases, including cirrhosis and rare urea cycle disorders, amounting to more than 5 million patients in the United States. Current techniques for ammonia measurement suffer from limited range, poor resolution, false positives or large, complex sensor set-ups. Here we demonstrate a technique utilizing inexpensive reagents and simple methods for quantifying ammonia in 100 µL of whole blood. The sensor comprises a modified form of the indophenol reaction, which resists sources of destructive interference in blood, in conjunction with a cation-exchange membrane. The presented sensing scheme is selective against other amine containing molecules such as amino acids and has a shelf life of at least 50 days. Additionally, the resulting system has high sensitivity and allows for the accurate reliable quantification of ammonia in whole human blood samples at a minimum range of 25 to 500 µM, which is clinically for rare hyperammonemic disorders and liver disease. Furthermore, concentrations of 50 and 100 µM ammonia could be reliably discerned with p = 0.0001.