Conformal 3D Li/Li13Sn5 Scaffolds Anodes for High-Areal Energy Density Flexible Lithium Metal Batteries.

Achieving a high depth of discharge (DOD) in lithium metal anodes (LMAs) is crucial for developing high areal energy density batteries suitable for wearable electronics. Yet, the persistent growth of dendrites compromises battery performance, and the significant lithium consumption during pre-lithiation obstructs their broad application. Herein, A flexible 3D Li13Sn5 scaffold is designed by allowing molten lithium to infiltrate carbon cloth adorned with SnO2 nanocrystals. This design markedly curbs the troublesome dendrite growth, thanks to the uniform electric field distribution and swift Li+ diffusion dynamics. Additionally, with a minimal SnO2 nanocrystals loading (2 wt.%), only 0.6 wt.% of lithium is consumed during pre-lithiation. Insights from in situ optical microscope observations and COMSOL simulations reveal that lithium remains securely anchored within the scaffold, a result of the rapid mass/charge transfer and uniform electric field distribution. Consequently, this electrode achieves a remarkable DOD of 87.1% at 10 mA cm-2 for 40 mAh cm-2. Notably, when coupled with a polysulfide cathode, the constructed flexible Li/Li13Sn5@CC||Li2S6/SnO2@CC pouch cell delivers a high-areal capacity of 5.04 mAh cm-2 and an impressive areal-energy density of 10.6 mWh cm-2. The findings pave the way toward the development of high-performance LMAs, ideal for long-lasting wearable electronics.

Effects of dietary D-lactate levels on rumen fermentation, microflora and metabolomics of beef cattle.

Introduction: Excessive intake of lactate caused by improper use of silage in animal husbandry has adverse effects on rumen fermentation, such as rumen acidosis. The speed of absorption and metabolism of D-lactate in rumen epithelial cells was slower than that of L-lactate, making D-lactate more prone to accumulate and induce rumen acidosis. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the effects of dietary D-lactate levels on rumen fermentation of beef cattle and its mechanism in an in vitro system. Methods: This experiment was adopted in single-factor random trial design, with 5 days for adaptation and 3 days for sample collection. Three treatments (n = 8/treatment) were used: (1) D-LA (0.3%), basal fermentation substrate with 0.3% (dry matter, DM basis) D-lactate; (2) D-LA (0.75%), basal fermentation substrate with 0.75% (DM basis) D-lactate; and (3) D-LA (1.2%), basal fermentation substrate with 1.2% (DM basis) D-lactate. Results: With the dietary D-lactate levels increased, the daily production of total gas, hydrogen and methane, as well as the ruminal concentrations of acetate, propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate, valerate, isovalerate, total volatile fatty acid and D-lactate increased (p < 0.05), but the ruminal pH and acetate/propionate ratios decreased (p < 0.05). Principle coordinate analysis based on Bray-Curtis distance showed that increasing dietary D-lactate levels could significantly affect the structure of rumen bacterial community (p < 0.05), but had no significant effect on the structure of rumen eukaryotic community (p > 0.05). NK4A214_group, Ruminococcus_gauvreauii_group, Eubacterium_oxidoreducens_group, Escherichia-Shigella, Marvinbryantia and Entodinium were enriched in D-LA (1.2%) group (p < 0.05), as well as WCHB1-41, vadinBE97, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Anaeroplasma and Ruminococcus were enriched in D-LA (0.3%) group (p < 0.05). Changes in the composition of ruminal microorganisms affected rumen metabolism, mainly focus on the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycans (p < 0.05). Discussion: Overall, feeding whole-plant corn silage with high D-lactate content could not induce rumen acidosis, and the metabolization of dietary D-lactate into volatile fatty acids increased the energy supply of beef cattle. However, it also increased the ruminal CH4 emissions and the relative abundance of opportunistic pathogen Escherichia-Shigella in beef cattle. The relative abundance of Verrucomicrobiota and Escherichia-Shigella may be influenced by glycosaminoglycans, reflecting the interaction between rumen microorganisms and metabolites.

Sn modified nanoporous Ge for improved lithium storage performance.

Although high-capacity germanium (Ge) has been regarded as the promising anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), its actual performance is far from expectation because of low electrical conductivity and rapid capacity decay during cycling. In this work, Sn modified nanoporous Ge materials with different Ge/Sn atomic ratios in precursors were synthesized by a simple melt-spinning and dealloying strategy. As the anodes of LIBs, Sn modified nanoporous Ge materials display improved cycling stability compared with Sn-free nanoporous Ge, revealing a potential role of Sn in improving electrochemical properties of Ge-based anodes. In particular, Sn modified nanoporous Ge with Ge/Sn atomic ratio of 3:1 presents the best Li storage performance among measured electrodes, delivering a reversible capacity of 974 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 200 mA g-1. It is found that the introduction of appropriate amount of Sn can not only regulate the nanoporous structure of Ge to better alleviate volume expansion, but also improves the conductivity and activity of the electrode material. This improvement is demonstrated by density functional theory calculations. The study uncovers a route to improve Li storage properties by rationally modify Ge-based anodes with Sn, which may facilitate the development of high-performance LIBs.

Improving the cycling stability of three-dimensional nanoporous Ge anode by embedding Ag nanoparticles for high-performance lithium-ion battery.

Due to huge volume expansion and poor electrical conductivity, the commercial application of the promising Germanium (Ge) anode is restrained in lithium ion battery (LIB) field. Generally, conductive metals can improve the electron mobility in Ge. In that way, whether active materials or conductive metals account for a higher proportion in the anode is controversial in this field and needs to be clarified urgently. Herein, three Ge-based anodes with different ratios in conductive Ag are fabricated by a facile melt spinning and one-step dealloying method. It is found that Ag nanoparticles embedded three-dimensional nanoporous Ge (Ag/np-Ge) electrode with high active material ratio exhibits the best cycling stability among tested samples, delivering a high capacity of 953 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g-1 and an excellent reversible capacity of 522 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles even at the high current density of 1000 mA g-1. The enhanced cycling stability can be attributed to the synergistic effect of nanoporous network-like structure and embedded Ag nanoparticles. A dramatical increase in electrical conductivity and activity of Ge by doping of Ag is confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The work provides us an idea to rationally design the three-dimensional structure of active materials assisting with a proper ratio of conductive metals, which may promote the development of promising Ge anodes for LIBs with excellent cycling stability.

Stearic Acid Coated MgO Nanoplate Arrays as Effective Hydrophobic Films for Improving Corrosion Resistance of Mg-Based Metallic Glasses.

Mg-based metallic glasses (MGs) are widely studied due to their high elasticity and high strength originating from their amorphous nature. However, their further application in many potential fields is limited by poor corrosion resistance. In order to improve this property, an MgO nanoplate array layer is first constructed on the surface of Mg-based MGs by cyclic voltammetry (CV) treatments. In this situation, the corrosion resistance and hydrophilicity of the material are enhanced. Then, stearic acid (SA) can effectively adhere onto the surface of the MgO layer to form a superficial hydrophobic film with a water contact angle (WCA) of 131°. As a result, the SA coated MgO hydrophobic film improves the corrosion resistance of Mg-based MGs in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution obviously. In addition, the effects of four technological parameters (solution concentration, sweep rate, cycle number, and reaction temperature) in the CV process on the morphology and size of nano-products are investigated in detail. The work proposes a new method for the creation of nanostructures on the surface of materials and provides a new idea to increase the corrosion resistance of MGs. The related method is expected to be applied in wider fields in future.

High-Performance Electromagnetic Wave Absorbers Based on Two Kinds of Nickel-Based MOF-Derived Ni@C Microspheres.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived composites on the microwave absorption have received extensive attention. However, which kind of organic ligand corresponding MOF derivative has better electromagnetic wave absorption performance is an urgent problem to be solved. In this work, two kinds of Ni@C derived from the Ni-based MOFs with two kinds of organic ligands (dimethylimidazole as a ligand named as Ni-ZIF and trimesic acid as a ligand named as Ni-BTC) were successfully obtained. The compositions, morphologies, and electromagnetic properties of two composites were well controlled. As a result, both kinds of Ni@C exhibited the good microwave absorption properties. Comparatively speaking, the Ni@C derived from Ni-ZIF performs better. The Ni@C-ZIF microspheres with a 40% mass filling ratio exhibited a strong reflection loss of -86.8 dB at 13.2 GHz when the matching thickness was 2.7 mm, and the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth was 7.4 GHz (4-11.4 GHz) with the thickness ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 mm. The impedance matching, multiple reflection, and interfacial polarization among Ni and C were beneficial to the enhancement of microwave attenuation, which N-doping introduced by nitrogen-containing ligands leads to excellent microwave absorption properties. Therefore, this work can give insights into understanding the absorbing mechanism as well as provide a simple and flexible paradigm for the design and synthesis of the absorber with the tunable and high-efficiency performances.

[Spectral diagnosis of dielectric barrier plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure and its application to surface modification of materials].

The spectral lines of air and argon plasma emission at atmospheric pressure were recorded and analyzed. Plasma parameters such as discharge current, discharge gap and electron temperature were measured. The purpose of the study is to control the process of materials' surface modification promptly. The experimental results indicate that a critical discharge gap is an important parameter to improve the quality of materials' surface modification, and spectral diagnosis has been proved to be a workable method by choosing a suitable discharge gap.

Ascorbic acid secretion in the human stomach and the effect of gastrin.

AIM:To investigate the changes of gastric mucosal ascorbic acid secretion in patients with nonulcer dyspepsia and the effect of gastrin on it, and to relate any observed changes to H.pylori infection and mucosal histology.METHODS:Ascorbic acid secretions in patients were examined by collecting continuously gastric juice for one hour after having aspirated and discarded fasting gastric juice. Using the clearance rate (mL/min) of ascorbic acid from blood to gastric juice represented ascorbic acid secretion in the gastric mucosa.Ascorbic acid concentrations in plasma and juice were measured by ferric reduced method.RESULTS:Gastric ascorbic acid secretions in H.pylori-positive patients (1.46mL/min,range 0.27-3.78) did not significantly differ from those in H.pylori-negative patients(1.25mL/min, 0.47-3.14)(P>0.05). There were no significant differences in ascorbic acid secretions between patients with mild (1.56mL/min, 0.50-3.30), moderate (1.34mL/min, 0.27-2.93) and severe (1.36mL/min, 0.47-3.78) inflammation (P >0.05). There were no significant differences in ascorbic acid secretions between patients without activity (1.45mL/min, 0.27-3.14) and with mild (1.32mL/min, 0.61-2.93), moderate (1.49mL/min, 0.50-3.78) and severe (1.43mL/min, 0.51-3.26) activity of chronic gastritis either (P>0.05). Ascorbic acid secretions in patients with severe atrophy (0.56mL/min, 0.27-1.20) were markedly lower than those in patients without atrophy (1.51mL/min, 0.59-3.30) and with mild (1.43mL/min, 0.53-3.78) and moderate (1.31mL/min,0.47-3.16)atrophy(P<0.005). There was a significant negative correlation between ascorbic acid secretion and severity of atrophy (correlation coefficient =-0.43, P<0.005). After administration of pentagastrin, ascorbic acid secretions were markedly elevated (from 1.39mL/min, 0.36-2.96 to 3.53mL/min, 0.84-5.91) (P <0.001).CONCLUSION:Ascorbic acid secretion in gastric mucosa is not affected by H.pylori infection. Gastric ascorbic acid secretion is markedly related to the severity of atrophy, whereas not related to the severity of inflammation and activity. Gastrin may stimulate gastric ascorbic acid secretion. A decreased ascorbic acid secretion may be an important factor in the link between atrophic gastritis and gastric carcinogenesis.