Health diagnosis and recuperation of aged Li-ion batteries with data analytics and equivalent circuit modeling.

Battery health assessment and recuperation play crucial roles in the utilization of second-life Li-ion batteries. However, due to ambiguous aging mechanisms, it is challenging to estimate battery health and devise an effective strategy for cell rejuvenation. This paper presents aging and reconditioning experiments of 62 commercial lithium iron phosphate cells, which allow us to use machine learning models to predict cycle life and identify important indicators of recoverable capacity. An average test error of 16.84% ± 1.87% (mean absolute percentage error) for cycle life prediction is achieved by gradient boosting regressor. Some of the recoverable lost capacity is found to be attributed to the non-uniformity in electrodes. An experimentally validated equivalent circuit model is built to demonstrate how such non-uniformity can be accumulated, and how it can give rise to recoverable capacity loss. Furthermore, Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) analysis also reveals that battery operation history significantly affects the capacity recovery.

Control Release Coating for Urinary Catheters with Enhanced Released Profile for Sustained Antimicrobial Protection.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are common and pose significant costs to healthcare systems. To date, this problem is largely unsolved as commercially available antimicrobial catheters are still lacking in functionality and performance. A prior study by Lim et al. ( Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2018, 115 (8), 2000-2012) reported the development of a novel anhydrous polycaprolactone (PCL) polymer formulation with controlled-release functionality for antimicrobial peptides. In this follow-up study, we developed an improved antimicrobial peptide (AMP)-impregnated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-polycaprolactone (PCL) anhydrous polymer coating for enhanced sustained controlled-release functionality to provide catheters with effective antimicrobial properties. Varying the ratio of PEG and PEG-PCL copolymers resulted in polymers with different morphologies, consequently affecting the AMP release profiles. The optimal coating, formulated with 10% (w/w) PEG-PCL in PCL, achieved a controlled AMP release rate of 31.65 ± 6.85 µg/mL daily for up to 19 days, with a moderate initial burst release. Such profile is desired for antimicrobial coating as the initial burst release acts as a sterilizer to kill the bacteria present in the urinary tract upon insertion, and the subsequent linear release functions as a prophylaxis to deter opportunistic microbial infections. As a proof-of-concept application, our optimized coating was then applied to a commercial silicone catheter for further antibacterial tests. Preliminary results revealed that our coated catheters outperformed commercial silver-based antimicrobial catheters in terms of antimicrobial performance and sustainability, lasting for 4 days. Application of the controlled-release coating also aids in retarding biofilm formation, showing a lower extent of biofilm formation at the end of seven inoculation cycles.

Anion Exchange Membranes: Enhancement by Addition of Unfunctionalized Triptycene Poly(Ether Sulfone)s.

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells are a clean and efficient promising future energy source. However, the development of stable high-performance membranes remains a major challenge. Herein we demonstrate that the addition of unfunctionalized triptycene poly(ether sulfones) into 1-methylimidazolium poly(ether sulfone) enhances membrane's conductivity (up to 0.082 S/cm at 80 °C), minimizes dimensional changes over temperatures from 20 to 80 °C, and enhances stability with 30% of the initial conductivity maintained after 450 h. These enhancements appear to be the result of nanophase separation and internal free volume. Small angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the internal domain size increases (up to 7.44 nm) with increasing triptycene fraction.

Dithiolodithiole as a building block for conjugated materials.

The development of new conjugated organic materials for dyes, sensors, imaging, and flexible light emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and photovoltaics has largely relied upon assembling π-conjugated molecules and polymers from a limited number of building blocks. The use of the dithiolodithiole heterocycle as a conjugated building block for organic materials is described. The resulting materials exhibit complimentary properties to widely used thiophene analogues, such as stronger donor characteristics, high crystallinity, and a decreased HOMO-LUMO gap. The dithiolodithiole (C4S4) motif is readily synthetically accessible using catalytic processes, and both the molecular and bulk properties of materials based on this building block can be tuned by judicious choice of substituents.

Solvent quality effects on scaling behavior of poly(methyl methacrylate) brushes in the moderate- and high-density regimes.

Herein, we give a detailed experimental analysis for scaling law behavior in the "moderately dense" and "high-density" brush regimes for poly(methyl methacrylate) brushes swollen in a range of solvent conditions. This expansive experimental analysis aims to validate decades of mean field theory predictions on power law scaling behavior of grafted polymer chains. Brushes with grafting densities (σ) ranging from 0.1 to 0.8 nm(-2) are prepared by atom-transfer radical polymerization. The swollen thickness (h) is characterized using liquid cell ellipsometry, and the solvent quality is varied using mixtures of acetone and methanol. In a good solvent, the exponential scaling behavior (h ∝ σ(n)) has the typical n = 1/3 dependency for grafting densities of σ ≤ 0.4 nm(-2). For grafting densities of >0.4 nm(-2), n increases, indicating the transition from the moderately dense to the high-density brush regime. However, in a poor solvent, the scaling behavior is independent of σ and scales as h ∝ σ(0.80), approaching the theoretical expectations of h ∝ σ(1). An abrupt transition between these scaling law behaviors occurs at the Θ-solvent condition of ∼45% (v/v) methanol in acetone. While our experimental results parallel trends predicted by mean field theory, differences are observed and appear to be attributed to self-solvation of the polymer, polydispersity in the molecular weight, and chain termination.

Polymer solar cells based on copolymers of dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]silole and thienopyrroledione.

Novel low band gap copolymers based on dithienosilole and thienopyrroledione units were synthesized. Copolymer P1 with branched side chains on the TPD units demonstrated a PCE of 4.4% with a high V(oc) of 0.89 V for OPV applications while OTFT devices fabricated from a copolymer containing linear side chains (P2) performed better in OTFT device configurations.

Alignment controlled growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on quartz substrates.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) possess extraordinary electrical properties, with many possible applications in electronics. Dense, horizontally aligned arrays of linearly configured SWNTs represent perhaps the most attractive and scalable way to implement this class of nanomaterial in practical systems. Recent work shows that templated growth of tubes on certain crystalline substrates yields arrays with the necessary levels of perfection, as demonstrated by the formation of devices and full systems on quartz. This paper examines advanced implementations of this process on crystalline quartz substrates with different orientations, to yield strategies for forming diverse, but well-defined horizontal configurations of SWNTs. Combined experimental and theoretical studies indicate that angle-dependent van der Waals interactions can account for nearly all aspects of alignment on quartz with X, Y, Z, and ST cuts, as well as quartz with disordered surface layers. These findings provide important insights into methods for guided growth of SWNTs, and possibly other classes of nanomaterials, for applications in electronics, sensing, photodetection, light emission, and other areas.