Direct Observation of Dynamic Lithium Diffusion Behavior in Nickel-Rich, LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) Cathodes Using Operando Muon Spectroscopy.

Ni-rich layered oxide cathode materials such as LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) are widely tipped as the next-generation cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. The NMC class offers high capacities but suffers an irreversible first cycle capacity loss, a result of slow Li+ diffusion kinetics at a low state of charge. Understanding the origin of these kinetic hindrances to Li+ mobility inside the cathode is vital to negate the first cycle capacity loss in future materials design. Here, we report on the development of operando muon spectroscopy (µSR) to probe the Å-length scale Li+ ion diffusion in NMC811 during its first cycle and how this can be compared to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT). Volume-averaged muon implantation enables measurements that are largely unaffected by interface/surface effects, thus providing a specific characterization of the fundamental bulk properties to complement surface-dominated electrochemical methods. First cycle measurements show that the bulk Li+ mobility is less affected than the surface Li+ mobility at full depth of discharge, indicating that sluggish surface diffusion is the likely cause of first cycle irreversible capacity loss. Additionally, we demonstrate that trends in the nuclear field distribution width of the implanted muons during cycling correlate with those observed in differential capacity, suggesting the sensitivity of this µSR parameter to structural changes during cycling.

A thiol-reactive Ru(II) ion, not CO release, underlies the potent antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties of CO-releasing molecule-3.

Carbon monoxide (CO)-releasing molecules (CORMs), mostly metal carbonyl compounds, are extensively used as experimental tools to deliver CO, a biological 'gasotransmitter', in mammalian systems. CORMs are also explored as potential novel antimicrobial drugs, effectively and rapidly killing bacteria in vitro and in animal models, but are reportedly benign towards mammalian cells. Ru-carbonyl CORMs, exemplified by CORM-3 (Ru(CO)3Cl(glycinate)), exhibit the most potent antimicrobial effects against Escherichia coli. We demonstrate that CORM-3 releases little CO in buffers and cell culture media and that the active antimicrobial agent is Ru(II), which binds tightly to thiols. Thus, thiols and amino acids in complex growth media - such as histidine, methionine and oxidised glutathione, but most pertinently cysteine and reduced glutathione (GSH) - protect both bacterial and mammalian cells against CORM-3 by binding and sequestering Ru(II). No other amino acids exert significant protective effects. NMR reveals that CORM-3 binds cysteine and GSH in a 1:1 stoichiometry with dissociation constants, Kd, of about 5 µM, while histidine, GSSG and methionine are bound less tightly, with Kd values ranging between 800 and 9000 µM. There is a direct positive correlation between protection and amino acid affinity for CORM-3. Intracellular targets of CORM-3 in both bacterial and mammalian cells are therefore expected to include GSH, free Cys, His and Met residues and any molecules that contain these surface-exposed amino acids. These results necessitate a major reappraisal of the biological effects of CORM-3 and related CORMs.