Carbon Nanotube Network Induces Porous Deposited MnO2 for High-Areal Capacity Zn/Mn Batteries.

Mn2+/MnO2 aqueous battery is a promising candidate for large-scale energy storage owing to its feature of low-cost and abundant crustal reserves. However, the inherent MnO2 shedding issue results in a limited areal capacity and poor cycling life, which prohibits its further commercialization. In this manuscript, it is revealed that the cause of shedding is the cracking of MnO2 layer due to stress. To circumvent this challenge, carbon nanotubes framework is introduced on pristine carbon felt, which provides more deposition sites and induces the formation of a porous deposition layer. Compared to the dense deposition layer on pristine carbon felt, the porous structure can effectively avoid cracking and subsequent shedding issue. Moreover, the porous deposited layer is conducive to proton diffusion and rich in defects, which facilitates the subsequent dissolution reaction. As results, the assembled Zn/Mn battery demonstrates more than 200 cycles with the areal capacity of 15 mAh cm-2 at 40 mA cm-2. Even with a high areal capacity of 40 mAh cm-2, it can still run for more than 60 cycles. This breakthrough paves a way toward practical manganese-based batteries, bringing us closer to achieve cost-effective batteries.

Bromine Assisted MnO2 Dissolution Chemistry: Toward a Hybrid Flow Battery with Energy Density of over 300†Wh L-1.

Mn2+ /Mn3+ redox pair has been considered as a promising cathode for high energy density batteries, due to its attractive features of high redox potential, solubility and outstanding kinetics. However, the disproportionation side reaction of Mn3+ , which results in accumulation of "dead" MnO2 limits its reversibility and further energy density. Herein, a novel catholyte based on mixture of Mn2+ and Br- was proposed for flow batteries with high energy density and long cycle life. In the design, the "dead" MnO2 can be fully discharged via Br- by a chemical-electrochemical reaction. Coupled with Cd/Cd2+ as anode, the assembled Bromine-Manganese flow battery (BMFB) demonstrates a high energy efficiency of 76 % at 80 mA cm-2 with energy density of 360 Wh L-1 . The battery assembled with silicotungstic acid as anode could continuously run for over 2000 cycles at 80 mA cm-2 . With high power density, energy density and durability, the BMFB shows great potential for large-scale energy storage.

Low-Cost Titanium-Bromine Flow Battery with Ultrahigh Cycle Stability for Grid-Scale Energy Storage.

Flow batteries are one of the most promising large-scale energy-storage systems. However, the currently used flow batteries have low operation-cost-effectiveness and exhibit low energy density, which limits their commercialization. Herein, a titanium-bromine flow battery (TBFB) featuring very low operation cost and outstanding stability is reported. In this battery, a novel complexing agent, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, is employed to stabilize bromine/polybromides and suppress Br diffusion. The results reveal that the complexing agent effectively inhibits Br crossover and reduces Br-induced corrosivity, which in turn significantly improves the reliability of the TBFB system. The novel TBFB demonstrates 95% coulombic efficiency and 83% energy efficiency at 40 mA cm-2 current density. Moreover, it can run smoothly for more than 1000 cycles without any capacity decay. Furthermore, an assembled 300 W TBFB stack can be continuously operated for more than 500 cycles, thereby confirming the practical applicability of the proposed TBFB. Because the TBFB utilizes an ultralow-cost electrolyte (41.29 $ kWh-1 ) and porous polyolefin membranes, it serves as a reliable and low-cost energy-storage device. Therefore, considering its ultrahigh stability and low cost, the TBFB can be used as a large-scale energy-storage device.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of Triplophysa yarkandensis in response to salinity and alkalinity stress.

Triplophysa yarkandensis, a fish belonging to the family Nemacheilidae, is distributed in the Tarim River, China, immediately north of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Due to increasing salinity and alkalinity in the Tarim River, the habitats of T. yarkandensis have been seriously altered. To identify the genes and pathways that are important for responding to salinity and alkalinity stress, the gill transcriptomes of fish living under different salinity and alkalinity conditions were obtained using RNA sequencing. A total of 1,123,448,964 clean reads were obtained and assembled into 177,271 unigenes, with an average length of 1703 bp. Around 13,526 unigenes showed differential expression when comparing different salinity concentrations with the controls, 6967 of which were upregulated and 6559 were downregulated. When comparing different alkalinity concentrations with the controls, there were 17,475 unigenes that showed differential expression, of which 10,457 were upregulated and 7018 were downregulated. Only 146 unigenes were both differentially expressed in salinity and alkalinity groups compared to the control. The results of KEGG enrichment showed that there were five upregulated and 12 downregulated pathways in fish subject to salinity treatment. For fish exposed to alkalinity treatment, 15 pathways were upregulated and 13 downregulated. There were four upregulated and four downregulated pathways that were shared by fish subject to salinity and alkalinity treatments. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the T. yarkandensis transcriptome; the information presented here will provide further understanding of the fish's response to salinity and alkalinity stress, as well as further insight into the T. yarkandensis genome.

Advanced Materials for Zinc-Based Flow Battery: Development and Challenge.

Zinc-based flow batteries (ZFBs) are well suitable for stationary energy storage applications because of their high energy density and low-cost advantages. Nevertheless, their wide application is still confronted with challenges, which are mainly from advanced materials. Therefore, research on advanced materials for ZFBs in terms of electrodes, membranes, and electrolytes as well as their chemistries are of the utmost importance. Herein, the focus is on the scientific understandings of the fundamental design of these advanced materials and their chemistries in relation to the battery performance. The principles of using different materials in different ZFB technologies, the functions and structure of the materials, and further material improvements are discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges and prospects of ZFBs are summarized as well. This review provides valuable instruction on how to design and develop new materials as well as new chemistries for ZFBs.

A highly stable neutral viologen/bromine aqueous flow battery with high energy and power density.

An ultra-high voltage viologen/Br2 flow battery was designed based on a novel two-electron viologen derivative, a highly-conductive and low-cost porous polyolefin membrane, and an effective complexing agent, making the battery one of the most stable two-electron viologen-based flow batteries with superior energy and power density at the same time.

Inhibition of Zinc Dendrite Growth in Zinc-Based Batteries.

Zinc deposition and dissolution is a significant process in zinc-based batteries. During this process, the formation of zinc dendrites is pervasive, which leads to the loss of efficiency and capacity of batteries. The continually growing dendrites will finally pierce the separator and cause the batteries to short circuit. Thus, employing effective methods to inhibit the formation and growth of zinc dendrites is vital for the practical application of zinc-based batteries. This Minireview first clarifies the formation and growth principles of zinc dendrites. Then, the research and development of methods to solve the problem of zinc dendrites are reviewed, including ways to suppress the further formation and growth of dendrites as far as possible, to minimize the adverse effects of dendrites, along with ways to produce dendrite-free deposition processes. The mechanisms, advantages, drawbacks, and perspectives of these methods are illustrated. Thus, this overview of these methods will aid understanding of the formation process of zinc dendrites and provide an extensive, comprehensive, and professional reference to resolve the problem of zinc dendrites completely.

A membrane-free interfacial battery with high energy density.

A new concept of the membrane-free interfacial battery based on a biphasic system was proposed for the first time. An aqueous ZnBr2 solution was used as a negative electrolyte, while Br2 in CCl4 served as a positive electrolyte. This interfacial Zn/Br2 battery demonstrated a very impressive performance with a CE of 96% and an EE of 81% at a current density of 15 mA cm-2.

A multi-electron transfer ferrocene derivative positive redox moiety with improved solubility and potential.

Rational molecular structure modification towards high performance redox couples attracts great concern. A ferrocene derivative N-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)-1-(2-(diphenylphosphino) ferrocenyl) ethanamine (FeCp2PPh2RCN) with improved solubility and potential as well as multi-electron transfer behavior is designed and fabricated. Benefitting from the high operating current density and capacity of the battery, FeCp2PPh2RCN demonstrates promising prospects as a positive redox moiety.

A Long Cycle Life, Self-Healing Zinc-Iodine Flow Battery with High Power Density.

A zinc-iodine flow battery (ZIFB) with long cycle life, high energy, high power density, and self-healing behavior is prepared. The long cycle life was achieved by employing a low-cost porous polyolefin membrane and stable electrolytes. The pores in the membrane can be filled with a solution containing I3- that can react with zinc dendrite. Therefore, by consuming zinc dendrite, the battery can self-recover from micro-short-circuiting resulting from overcharging. By using KI, ZnBr2 , and KCl as electrolytes and a high ion-conductivity porous membrane, a very high power density can be achieved. As a result, a ZIFB exhibits an energy efficiency (EE) of 82 % at 80 mA cm-2 , which is 8 times higher than the currently reported ZIFBs. Furthermore, a stack with an output of 700 W was assembled and continuously run for more than 300 cycles. We believe this ZIFB can lead the way to development of new-generation, high-performance flow batteries.

Effects of resource availability and hydrological regime on autochthonous and allochthonous carbon in the food web of a large cross-border river (China).

Resource availability and flooding disturbance restrict the amount of energy available to the upper trophic level consumers and thus determine the trophic structure and energy mobilization in river food webs. In this study, we evaluated the availability of primary and secondary food resources, food web structure (determined by δ13C and δ15N) and relative contributions of autochthonous and allochthonous particulate carbon to aquatic consumers in the Irtysh River, which spans from northwest China to Kazakhstan and suffers from a long frozen period. Despite higher density and biomass, epilithic algae did not make large contributions to aquatic consumers due to the restriction of flow velocity, water depth and turbidity. Aquatic invertebrates specialized in utilization of terrestrial carbon sources, whereas fish varied from aquatic to riparian plants. Different resource use of aquatic consumers across the three reaches in the Irtysh River was ascribed to the spatial distribution of species and resource availability determined by flooding, flood scouring and dam construction. The trophic positions and food chain length at the upper reach were higher than those at the middle and lower reaches. These findings suggest that allochthonous carbon had an advantage over autochthonous carbon in supporting aquatic food webs of the Irtysh River. Higher availability of allochthonous particulate carbon might be relevant to intensive forest cover and high energy flood events in the Irtysh River.

A Low-Cost Neutral Zinc-Iron Flow Battery with High Energy Density for Stationary Energy Storage.

Flow batteries (FBs) are one of the most promising stationary energy-storage devices for storing renewable energy. However, commercial progress of FBs is limited by their high cost and low energy density. A neutral zinc-iron FB with very low cost and high energy density is presented. By using highly soluble FeCl2 /ZnBr2 species, a charge energy density of 56.30 Wh L-1 can be achieved. DFT calculations demonstrated that glycine can combine with iron to suppress hydrolysis and crossover of Fe3+ /Fe2+ . The results indicated that an energy efficiency of 86.66 % can be obtained at 40 mA cm-2 and the battery can run stably for more than 100 cycles. Furthermore, a low-cost porous membrane was employed to lower the capital cost to less than $ 50 per kWh, which was the lowest value that has ever been reported. Combining the features of low cost, high energy density and high energy efficiency, the neutral zinc-iron FB is a promising candidate for stationary energy-storage applications.

Establishment of a three-step method to evaluate effects of chemicals on development of zebrafish embryo/larvae.

Core endpoints in zebrafish embryos are crucial indicators in screening harmful effects of chemicals. In this study, we established a three-step process to more quantitatively and less-subjective determine effects of chemicals on phenotypes of developing zebrafish embryos. Embryos were exposed to each of two concentrations of the representative chemicals cadmium chloride (CdCl2), tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) or 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-nonafluoro-1-hexanol (4:2 FTOH) from 0.75 h post-fertilization (hpf) to 96 hpf. After exposure, larvae were imaged by use of a three-step method to describe morphology. Seven points were selected, which resulted in acquisition of 21 lines and 105 angles from images of larvae. Exposure to TDCIPP (0.1 or 0.2 mg/L), CdCl2 (1 or 4 mg/L) or 4:2 FTOH (0.3 or 1 mg/L) significantly changed lengths of some lines and magnitudes of some angles, that resulted in differential scoring of points. Points were then prioritized and directions, distances and trajectories of movement were further described and standard reference values were developed. Movement of the point describing the mouth during embryonic development was found to be a sensitive parameter for assessment of adverse effects of chemicals. The present study provides a new strategy to characterize phenotypes of development of zebrafish embryo/larva following exposure to environmental toxins.

Dissecting the role of transforming growth factor-ß1 in topmouth culter immunobiological activity: a fundamental functional analysis.

Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) has been proven to function primarily in mammalian immunobiological activity, but information regarding the immune role of TGF-ß1 in teleosts is limited. In the present study, we describe the cDNA cloning and characterization of the TGF-ß1 molecule in the topmouth culter. TGF-ß1 is highly expressed in immune-related tissues of the culter, including the thymus, head kidney, and spleen. The recombinant culter TGF-ß1 (cTGF-ß1) was successfully expressed and purified in vitro, and the effects of cTGF-ß1 on the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-1ß, in the absence or presence of LPS was determined in culter peripheral blood leukocytes. cTGF-ß1 was found to have bipolar properties in inflammatory reactions. Additionally, to assess the immune role of teleost TGF-ß1 in vivo, the expression of TGF-ß1 in the culter thymus and spleen tissues induced by poly I:C were also examined. The expression of TGF-ß1 was obviously up-regulated, as shown in the cell lines. However, the peak time of cTGF-ß1 expression in the cell lines occurred significantly earlier than in the organic tissues under the same inducer, suggesting that the response of the teleost TGF-ß1 molecule to exogenous infection depends on a more complicated signalling pathway in vivo than in vitro.

[Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Heavy Metals in Three Gorges Reservoir and Effect of Biological Factors].

Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) reached the maximum water level (175 m) of impoundment in Oct. 2010. In order to reveal the potential influence of the greatest water-level impoundment on the heavy metal pollution in the typical waters of TGR, the content level of trace metals ( Hg, Cd and Pb) in biota and potential biomagnification along the aquatic food chain were investigated in the main stem of TGR from July 2011 to August 2012, as well as the relationship between the trace metal concentrations of aquatic consumers (fish and aquatic invertebrate) and biological factors. Our study showed that no individual data of the three trace metals in biota exceeded the edible safety criteria of aquatic products in China and FAO. In contrast with those before the impoundment of TGR, Hg showed a little higher, while Cd and Pb exhibited a little lower level after the impoundment. Trace metals in TGR exhibited relatively lower concentrations compared with those in reservoirs in other countries. Significant correlations were found between the Cd concentration and body size (body length and body weight) of Cyprinus carpio, as well as the Hg concentration and body size (body length and body weight) of Erythroculter ilishaeformis. As for feeding habits, there was statistically significant difference between trace metal concentrations in herbivorous, planktonic, omnivorous and carnivorous fish. However, no significant difference was found between the metal concentrations in fish with different habitats (pelagic, mesopelagic and benthic). Even so, the overall trend was that fish living in benthic layer had higher heavy metal concentrations than those in pelagic and mesopelagic zones. The regression slopes of log-Hg concentration versus delta(15)N, served as an indicator of trophic magnification factor (TMF). Significant correlations (P < 0.05) were observed for Hg in the food web of TGR. TMF of Hg in TGR indicated lower level (0.046-0.066) in contrast with those in the reservoirs of United States and Canada, and this was explained by the relatively lower organic carbon in the soil and sediment of TGR.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Schizothorax pseudaksaiensis (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Schizothorax pseudaksaiensis was cloned and sequenced in the present study. The genome was 16,582 bp in size, which had a mostly conserved structural organization in comparison with that of other teleost fish. It consisted of 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes), and 2 main non-coding regions (the control region and the origin of the light strand replication). All protein-coding genes started with ATG except for COX1, which began with GTG. However, the termination codons of 13 protein-coding genes varied with TAA, TA, T or TAG. The overall base composition of S. pseudaksaiensis in descending order was A 30.18%, C 27.08%, T 25.37% and G 17.37%, with a slight A + T bias. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence may provide useful information for phylogenetic analysis and studies of population genetics of S. pseudaksaiensis.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Perca schrenkii (Perciformes: Percidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Perca schrenkii was obtained in the present study. The total length of the mitogenome was 16 536 bp in accordance with other teleost fish. It consisted of 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes) and 2 main non-coding regions (the control region and the origin of the light strand replication). All protein-coding genes started with ATG except for COX1, which began with GTG. However, the termination codons of 13 protein-coding genes were varied with TAA, TA, T or TAG. The overall base composition in descending order was T 27.9%, C 27.7%, A 27.1% and G 17.4%, with a slight A + T bias. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence may provide important information for phylogenetic analysis and studies on the population genetics of P. schrenkii.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Triplophysa (Hedinichthys) yarkandensis (Day).

In this study, we first determined the complete mitochondrial genome of the Triplophysa (Hedinichthys) yarkandensis (Day). The genome was 16,566 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and a non-coding region (D-loop region). The overall base composition of T. (H.) yarkandensis (Day) in descending order was T 28.20%, A 27.12%, C 25.61% and G 19.07%, with a slight A + T bias. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence could provide useful information for phylogenetic analysis and studies of population genetics of T. (H.) yarkandensis (Day).

Characterization of Chinese giant salamander iridovirus tissue tropism and inflammatory response after infection.

The Chinese giant salamander iridovirus (GSIV), belonging to the genus Ranavirus in the family Iridoviridae, causes severe hemorrhagic lesions and nearly 100% mortality in naturally infected Chinese giant salamanders Andrias davidiamus. However, the replication and distribution of the virus has not been well characterized in vivo. Using in situ hybridization, the expression of the GSIV major capsid protein (MCP) was detected in the cytoplasm of cells of the spleen, kidney, liver and gut tissues. MCP expression in the spleen and kidney appeared to fluctuate significantly during the acute phase of infection. Using an immunofluorescence assay, GSIV antigens were abundant in the spleen and kidney tissues but appeared to be at relatively low levels in the liver and gut. Additionally, there were significant changes in the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) in different tissues in response to infection with GSIV. The expression of MIF, TNF-α and IL-1ß had significantly increased in the spleen at 3 d post-infection; this correlated with a decrease in virus replication in the spleen. These results suggest that the spleen and kidney are the major target tissues of GSIV, and the increased expression of MIF, TNF­α and IL-1ß may contribute to a reduction of virus replication in the spleen.

The complete mitogenome sequence of Ptychobarbus dipogon (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Ptychobarbus dipogon is 16,787 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 2 non-coding regions: control region (CR) and origin of light-strand replication (OL). The gene order of P. dipogon mitogenome is similar to those observed in most other vertebrates. The complete mitogenome sequence of P. dipogon can provide useful data for further studies on population structure, phylogenetics and conservation genetics of this species.