Enhanced charge capacity and stability of Germanium(IV) Sulfide-Based anodes through Triton X100-Assisted synthesis and polysulfide shuttle mitigation.

Highly soluble germanium oxide,an amorphous macroreticular form of germanium oxide, was used as a precursor for the deposition of GeS2on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) through a low-temperature, wet-chemistry process. Thermal treatment of the solid provided an ultrathin rGO - supported amorphous GeS2coating. The GeS2@rGO composite was tested as a lithium ion battery (LIB) anode. Leveraging the versatility of wet chemistry processing, we employed strategies initially developed for mitigating polysulfide shuttle effects in lithium-sulfur batteries to enhance anode performance. The anode exhibited exceptional stability, surpassing 1000 cycles, with charge capacities exceeding 1220 and 870 mAh.g-1 at rates of 2 and 5 A.g-1, respectively. Performance improvements were achieved by minimizing GeS2 grain size using the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 during synthesis and preventing polysulfide shuttle effects through a negatively charged thick glass fiber separator, fluoroethylene carbonate additive (FEC) in EC:DEC (ethylene carbonate: diethyl carbonate) solvent, and a polyacrylic acid (PAA) binder. These cumulative modifications more than tripled the charge capacity of the germanium sulfide LIB anode. Feasibility was further demonstrated through full cell studies using a LiCoO2 counter electrode.

Recent trends in telerehabilitation of stroke patients: A narrative review.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is the main reason for disabilities worldwide leading to motor dysfunction, spatial neglect and cognitive problems, aphasia, and other speech-language pathologies, reducing the life quality. To overcome disabilities, telerehabilitation (TR) has been recently introduced. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to analyze current TR approaches for stroke patients' recovery. METHODS: We searched 6 online databases from January 2018 to October 2021, and included 70 research and review papers in the review. We analyzed TR of 995 individuals, which was delivered synchronously and asynchronously. RESULTS: Findings show TR is feasible improving motor function, cognition, speech, and language communication among stroke patients. However, the dose of TR sessions varied significantly. We identified the following limitations: lack of equipment, software, and space for home-based exercises, insufficient internet capacity and speed, unavailability to provide hands on guidance, low digital proficiency and education, high cognitive demand, small samples, data heterogeneity, and no economic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The review shows TR is superior or similar to conventional rehabilitation in clinical outcomes and is used as complementary therapy or as alternative treatments. More importantly, TR provides access to rehabilitation services of a large number of patients with immobility, living in remote areas, and during COVID-19 pandemic or similar events.

Enhanced Thermal Buffering of Phase Change Materials by the Intramicrocapsule Sub per Mille CNT Dopant.

Microencapsulation of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-loaded paraffin phase change material, PCM in a poly(melamine-formaldehyde) shell, and the respective CNT-PCM gypsum composites is explored. Although a very low level (0.001-0.1 wt %) of intramicrocapsule loading of CNT dopant does not change the thermal conductivity of the solid, it increases the measured effusivity and thermal buffering performance during phase transition. The observed effusivity of 0.05 wt % CNT-doped PCM reaches 4000 W s-0.5 m-2 K-1, which is higher than the reported effusivity of alumina and alumina bricks and an order of magnitude larger than the solid, CNT-free PCM powder. The CNT dopant (0.015 wt %) in a 30 wt % PCM-plaster composite improved the effusivity by 60% compared to the CNT-free composite, whereas the addition of the same amount of CNTs to the bulk of the plaster does not improve either the effusivity or the thermal buffering performance of the composite. The thermal enhancement is ascribed to a CNT network formation within the paraffin core.