In Situ Constructing of Rigid-Soft Coupling Solid-Electrolyte Interphase on Silicon Electrode toward High-Performance Lithium Ion Batteries.

The application of Si anodes is hindered by some critical issues such as large volume changes of bare Si and fragile solid-electrolyte interface (SEI), resulting in low coulombic efficiency and rapid capacity decay. Herein, a multifunctional SEI film with high content of LiF is in situ constructed via the surface grafting of carbon-fluorine functionalized groups on silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) during cycling. Mechanical study demonstrates that the incorporation of LiF with high modulus and unbroken carbon-fluorine groups with highly elastic guarantee the rigid-soft coupling SEI film on Si electrode. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the rigid-soft coupling SEI film can effectively accommodate the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles during lithiation process, with the electrode expanding rate of only 114.16% after 100 cycles (263.87% for bare Si without surface modification). Afterward, with the aid of well-designed rigid-soft coupling SEI, the initial Coulomb efficiency of 89.8% is achieved, showing a reversible capacity of 1477 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 1.2 A g-1 . This work provides a simple and efficient solution that can potentially facilitate the practical application of Si anodes.

Preferential and efficient extraction of lithium under the combined action of reduction of herb-medicine residue and leaching of oxalic acid.

With the increasing demand for lithium resources, the efficient recovery of lithium from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has become the focus of social attention. Herein, a combined process of reduction roasting of herb-medicine residue (HMR) and oxalic acid (OA) leaching is proposed to improve the recovery efficiency of lithium. Due to the large amount of reducing gas produced by the pyrolysis of herb-medicine residue, the layered structure of LiNixCoyMnzO2 cathode powder can be destroyed at 650℃ for 10 min, and the cathode powder is converted into Li2CO3, Ni, Co, MnO. Moreover, about 99.6 % of Li in the roasting residue can be selectively extracted by 0.5 mol L-1 oxalic acid for 20 min. Under the combined action of HMR and OA, the extraction efficiency and kinetics of lithium are improved simultaneously. This work achieves synergistic treatment of two types of waste from the perspective of waste management for waste. Meanwhile, it provides an alternative and innovative approach for the difficult problem of low efficiency of lithium recovery from spent LIBs.

Recovery of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries via zinc powder reduction roasting and cysteine leaching.

With the annual increase in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) disposal, valuable resources are being generated with worrying waste, so it is strategically important to recover the critical metals from them. Individual high temperature or leaching processes do not apparently achieve very satisfactory results. In the present work, the reduction with zinc powder was able to convert the lithium in LiNixCoyMnzO2 (NCM) to soluble LiOH, while the reduction and ammonia complexation environment generated by the decomposition of cysteine (Cys) achieved an efficient leaching of transition metals without additional additives. The leaching efficiency of Li can reach more than 92 %, while that of Ni/Co/Mn reaches more than 97 % through the regulation of the parameters of each process. In particular, an in-situ redox mechanism is proposed to explain the efficient leaching of transition metals, which further enriches the theory of spent LIBs recycling and provides a promising idea for various hydrometallurgical extraction systems.

Bacterial memory in antibiotic resistance evolution and nanotechnology in evolutionary biology.

Bacterial memory refers to the phenomenon in which past experiences influence current behaviors in response to changing environments. It serves as a crucial process that enables adaptation and evolution. We first summarize the state-of-art approaches regarding history-dependent behaviors that impact growth dynamics and underlying mechanisms. Then, the phenotypic and genotypic origins of memory and how encoded memory modulates drug tolerance/resistance are reviewed. We also provide a summary of possible memory effects induced by antimicrobial nanoparticles. The regulatory networks and genetic underpinnings responsible for memory building partially overlap with nanoparticle and drug exposures, which may raise concerns about the impact of nanotechnology on adaptation. Finally, we provide a perspective on the use of nanotechnology to harness bacterial memory based on its unique mode of actions on information processing and transmission in bacteria. Exploring bacterial memory mechanisms provides valuable insights into acclimation, evolution, and the potential applications of nanotechnology in harnessing memory.

Polyphosphazene nanodrugs for targeting delivery and inflammation responsive release of curcumin to treat acute lung injury by effectively inhibiting cytokine storms.

An excessive inflammatory response induced by cytokine storms is the primary reason for the deterioration of patients with acute lung injury (ALI). Though natural polyphenols such as curcumin (CUR) have anti-inflammation activity for ALI treatment, they often have limited efficacy due to their poor solubility in water and oxidising tendency. This study investigates a highly cross-linked polyphosphazene nano-drug (PHCH) developed by copolymerisation of CUR and acid-sensitive units (4-hydroxy-benzoic acid (4-hydroxy-benzylidene)-hydrazide, D-HBD) with hexachlorotripolyphosphonitrile (HCCP) for improved treatment of ALI. PHCH can prolong the blood circulation time and targeted delivery into lung inflammation sites by enhancing CUR's water dispersion and anti-oxidant properties. PHCH also demonstrates the inflammation-responsive release of CUR in an inflammation environment due to the acid-responsive degradation of hydrazine bonds and triphosphonitrile rings in PHCH. Therefore, PHCH has a substantial anti-inflammation activity for ALI treatment by synergistically improving CUR's water-solubility, bioavailability and biocompatibility. As expected, PHCH attenuates the cytokine storm syndrome and alleviates inflammation in the infected cells and tissues by down-regulating several critical inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-8). PHCH also decreases the expression of p-p65 and C-Caspase-1, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasomes and suppressing NF-κB signalling pathways. The administrated mice experiments confirmed that PHCH accumulation was enhanced in lung tissue and showed the efficient scavenging ability of reactive oxygen species (ROS), effectively blocking the cytokine storm and alleviating inflammatory damage in ALI. This smart polyphosphazene nano-drug with targeting delivery property and inflammation-responsive release of curcumin has excellent potential for the clinical treatment of various inflammatory diseases, including ALI.

Silicon Cutting Waste Derived Silicon Nanosheets with Adjustable Native SiO2 Shell for Highly-Stable Lithiation/Delithiation.

Silicon is an excellent candidate for the next generation of ultra-high performance anode materials, with the rapid iteration of the lithium-ion battery industry. High-quality silicon sources are the cornerstone of the development of silicon anodes, and silicon cutting waste (SCW) is one of them while still faces the problems of poor performance and unclear structure-activity relationship. Herein, a simple, efficient, and inexpensive purification method is implemented to reduce impurities in SCW and expose the morphology of nanosheets therein. Furthermore, HF is used to modulate the abundant native O in SCW after thermodynamic and kinetic considerations, realizing the mechanical support for the internal Si in the form of an amorphous SiO2 shell. Afterward, SCNS@SiO2 -2.5 with a 1.0 nm thick SiO2 shell exhibits a reversible capacity of 1583.3 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 0.8 A g-1 . Ultimately, the molecular dynamics simulations profoundly reveal that the amorphous SiO2 shell is transformed into the extremely ductile Lix SiOy shell to ditch stress and relieve strain during the lithiation/delithiation process.

Recovery of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries by complexation-assisted ammonia leaching from reductive roasting residue.

Recycling valuable metals in spent LIBs is not only in line with the purpose of resource recycling but also an important measure for environmental protection. In this article, a process using biomass reduction roasting followed by a unique complexation-assisted ammonia leaching is proposed. Using waste areca powder (WAP) as a biomass reducing agent, the roasted residue is leached in an aqueous solution for the carbonate. The leaching efficiencies of Ni, Co, and Mn reach over 99% under ammonia leaching conditions of 1.5 M ammonium citrate (AC), 3 M ethylenediamine (EDA). The kinetics of ammonia leaching indicates the activation energies of Ni, Co, and Mn are 51.8 kJ mol-1, 47.7 kJ mol-1, and 40.8 kJ mol-1, respectively, which shows the whole duration is controlled by chemical reactions. Most importantly, this study systematically explores the mechanism of ammonia leaching and provided a useful recommendation for selecting the right ammonium salt.

One-step selective separation and efficient recovery of valuable metals from mixed spent lithium batteries in the phosphoric acid system.

The recovery of valuable elements in spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has attracted more and more attention. Efficient recovery of valuable elements from spent LIBs with lower consumption and shorter process is the target that people have been pursuing. In this study, the valuable metals (Ni, Co, Mn and Li) and FePO4 products are simultaneously recovered from mixed spent LiNixCoyMnzO2 and LiFePO4 in one step under the optimized condition of 0.88 M H3PO4, a mass ratio of LFP/NCM of 2:1, a L/S ratio of 33:1 and 80 ℃ for 120 min without additional auxiliary reagents. Over 60 % of acid consumption is reduced and the process of adjusting pH is avoidable. The leaching efficiencies of the valuable elements reach up to 99.1 % for Ni, 98.9 % for Co, 99.6 % for Li and 97.3 % for Mn. Almost all of Fe is precipitated as FePO4·2H2O. By means of the empirical model, the research on leaching kinetics demonstrates that the leaching reaction is internal diffusion-controlled with the apparent activation energy of valuable metals less than 30 kJ/mol. Furthermore, the redox reaction mechanism between spent LiBs has been explored. And the intrinsic driving force in the phosphoric acid system is found out. This finding may provide an innovative and selective recycling method for valuable elements from mixed spent LIBs with high economic benefit and fewer environmental footprints.

Reaction mechanism of antibiotic bacteria residues as a green reductant for highly efficient recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries.

In this study, antibiotic bacteria residues (ABRs) is proposed as a novel green reducing agent and it is found that the reducing agent can realize the efficient recovery of the valuable metals in spent cathode powder (SCP), reduce the environmental pollution and realize the high-value utilization of the biomass waste. The leaching efficiency of Ni, Co, Mn and Li can reach 99.57%, 98.50%, 98.99% and 99.90% respectively under the optimal conditions of 3 mol L-1 H2SO4, mass ratio of ABRs to SCP of 0.8:1, liquid/solid ratio of 30:1 mL g-1, the temperature of 363 K and time of 2.5 h. Leaching kinetics results shows that the reaction process is controlled by the chemical reaction with apparent activation energy exceeding than 40 kJ/mol. More importantly, the detailed ABRs leaching mechanism is proposed that the metabolite of CaC2O4 and reducing sugar in ABRs provide a synergistic reduction effect on the recovery of valuable metals. Furthermore, acid leaching residue can be regenerated to obtain lithium-ion anode materials with excellent electrochemical properties. The entire process is a sustainable green recycling strategy by using waste ABRs waste to treat spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), recovering valuable metals efficiently and minimizing environmental pollution.

A promising selective recovery process of valuable metals from spent lithium ion batteries via reduction roasting and ammonia leaching.

In this study, a promising process has been developed for selective recovery of valuable metals from spent lithium ion batteries (LIBs). First, reduction roasting which used spent anode powder as reduction agent and water immersion are applied to preferentially recover lithium. Subsequently, an ammonia leaching method is adopted to eff ;ectively separate nickel and cobalt from water immersion residue. Results indicate that Li2CO3, (NiO)m·(MnO)n, Ni, Co are the ultimate reduction products at 650 °C for 1 h with 5% anode powder. 82.2 % Li is preferentially leached via water immersion after reduction roasting and Li2CO3 products are obtained by evaporation crystallization. Thermodynamics shows that reducing ammonia leaching is feasible for water immersion residue. Amounts of 97.7 % Ni and 99.1 % Co can be selectively leached by NH3·H2O and (NH4)2SO3 while Mn remain in the residue as (NH4)2Mn(SO3)2·H2O, (NH4)2Mn(SO4)2·6H2O and (NH4)2Mn2(SO3)3 under the optimized conditions. Ammonia leaching kinetic show the activation energy of Ni and Co is 84.44 kJ/mol and 91.73 kJ/mol, which indicate the controlling steps are the chemical reaction. Summarily, the whole process achieves the maximum degree of selective recovery and reduces the environmental pollution caused by the multistep purification.

A new three-dimensional nonscanning laser imaging system based on the illumination pattern of a point-light-source array.

One of the most important goals of research on three-dimensional nonscanning laser imaging systems is the improvement of the illumination system. In this paper, a new three-dimensional nonscanning laser imaging system based on the illumination pattern of a point-light-source array is proposed. This array is obtained using a fiber array connected to a laser array with each unit laser having independent control circuits. This system uses a point-to-point imaging process, which is realized using the exact corresponding optical relationship between the point-light-source array and a linear-mode avalanche photodiode array detector. The complete working process of this system is explained in detail, and the mathematical model of this system containing four equations is established. A simulated contrast experiment and two real contrast experiments which use the simplified setup without a laser array are performed. The final results demonstrate that unlike a conventional three-dimensional nonscanning laser imaging system, the proposed system meets all the requirements of an eligible illumination system. Finally, the imaging performance of this system is analyzed under defocusing situations, and analytical results show that the system has good defocusing robustness and can be easily adjusted in real applications.

Influence of energy-transfer upconversion and excited-state absorption on a high power Nd:YVO4 laser at 1.34 µm.

A self-consistent theoretical model considering both energy-transfer upconversion (ETU) and excited-state absorption (ESA) effects, as well as the couplings among the temperature distribution in the laser crystal, the thermal fractional loading, the upper state population involved in the ETU and ESA effects, the laser output and other temperature-dependent parameters, was developed to simulate the behaviors of diode-end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) single-transverse-mode (TEM00) lasers. Based on the theoretical and experimental investigations of the influences of ETU and ESA effects on laser performance, a high power CW TEM00 Nd:YVO4 1.34 µm laser dual-end pumped at 880 nm was achieved with a maximum output power of 16 W. The measured laser beam quality was M2x = M2y = 1.17 and the stability of the laser output was better than ± 0.9% in a given four hours. The theoretical predictions considering both ETU and ESA effects are in good agreement with experimental results.

High-power stable continuous-wave single-longitudinal-mode Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm.

A universal model about the sufficient condition of stable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) operation is established and applied to the theoretical analysis of a high power unidirectional ring Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm with energy transfer upconversion and excited stimulated absorption taken into account. A stable continuous-wave SLM laser with 1342 nm power of 11.3 W and 671 nm power of 0.3 W is fabricated by optimizing the transmission of output coupler and the temperature of LiB3O5 crystal. Mode-hopping-free laser operation with a power stability better than ± 0.5% and a frequency fluctuation less than ± 88 MHz is achieved during a given three hours.

5000 h Multi-Factor Accelerated Aging Test of FRP Made Transmission Tower: Characterization, Thermal Decomposition and Reaction Kinetics Study.

Three kinds of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites, including modified polyurethane resin (LGD), epoxy resin (E44) and modified unsaturated polyester resin (D33) glass-fiber reinforced plastics, were subjected to a 5000 h multi-factor accelerated aging test according to the power industry standard. To examine aging resistance and thermal stability of transmission towers made by these three composites, relevant bending properties, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), activation energy, as well as microscopic morphology were revealed. The results showed that for these composites, bending modulus retention rates were higher than 94% under the aging test and that of the LGD was highest. Additionally, the onset degradation temperature, temperature at maximum rate of weight loss and T5% reduced at 5000 h, with D33 having highest value and lowest decline rate. The activation energy was calculated with the Bagchi, Coats-Redfern and Broido method, respectively. Although the activation energy of all composites decreased after test, the D33, LGD materials had the highest activation energy which enjoys slight decline. Analysis of the whole experimental results suggested that D33 and LGD composites have good aging resistance, whose basic performance could still perform well after 5000 h aging test, so they can be used to composite towers and applied to engineering practice.