Effects of acid wastes from titanium dioxide production on biomass and species richness of benthic algae

Titanium dioxide wastes are suspected to be toxic to rocky shore communities in an estuary in southeast Norway. An experimental project lasting two years examined whether titanium dioxide wastes affected recolonization by rocky shore organisms. The experiments were performed in situ in six tanks (each with 9 m³ brackish water) at two different levels of salinity. Three different concentrations of industrial waste water were used. The growth season in 1986 was dry and sunny compared to 1987, causing reduction of growth on exposed granite chips compared to controls. At the two highest waste concentrations in the tanks, Fucus serratus was observed with necrotic tissue both years, and in 1986 benthic diatoms were scarce.     

Glass‐Type Polyamorphism in Li‐Garnet Thin Film Solid State Battery Conductors

Ceramic Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ garnet materials are promising candidates for the electrolytes in solid state batteries due to their high conductivity and structural stability. In this paper, the existence of “polyamorphism” leading to various glass‐type phases for Li‐garnet structure besides the known crystalline ceramic ones is demonstrated. A maximum in Li‐conductivity exists depending on a frozen thermodynamic glass state, as exemplified for thin film processing, for which the local near range order and bonding unit arrangement differ. Through processing temperature change, the crystallization and evolution through various amorphous and biphasic amorphous/crystalline phase states can be followed for constant Li‐total concentration up to fully crystalline nanostructures. These findings reveal that glass‐type thin film Li‐garnet conductors exist for which polyamorphism can be used to tune the Li‐conductivity being potential new solid state electrolyte phases to avoid Li‐dendrite formation (no grain boundaries) for future microbatteries and large‐scale solid state batteries.     

Life cycle and matrix analyses for re-refined Oil in Japan

Unstable market systems and consumer preferences for virgin oil have inhibited the development of waste oil re-refining in Japan. In this papery comparative life cycle inventories were developed for re-refining waste oil and for the no-refining case in which the waste oil is incinerated and needs are supplied with virgin oil. Total energy, CO₂, NO_x, and SO₂ emissions were included during the re-refining and consumption (incineration) stages; all are lower in the case of re-refined fuel use. In addition, by using a streamlined LCA matrix, we demonstrate that re-refining waste oil can reduce environmental impacts compared with the case in which virgin oil is chosen.     

Oxide-Based Solid-State Batteries: A Perspective on Composite Cathode Architecture

The garnet-type phase Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) attracts significant attention as an oxide solid electrolyte to enable safe and robust solid-state batteries (SSBs) with potentially high energy density. However, while significant progress has been made in demonstrating compatibility with Li metal, integrating LLZO into composite cathodes remains a challenge. The current perspective focuses on the critical issues that need to be addressed to achieve the ultimate goal of an all-solid-state LLZO-based battery that delivers safety, durability, and pack-level performance characteristics that are unobtainable with state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries. This perspective complements existing reviews of solid/solid interfaces with more emphasis on understanding numerous homo- and heteroionic interfaces in a pure oxide-based SSB and the various phenomena that accompany the evolution of the chemical, electrochemical, structural, morphological, and mechanical properties of those interfaces during processing and operation. Finally, the insights gained from a comprehensive literature survey of LLZO–cathode interfaces are used to guide efforts for the development of LLZO-based SSBs.     

An HPLC‐ESMS study on the solid‐phase assembly of C‐terminal proline peptides

DKP formation is a serious side reaction during the solid‐phase synthesis of peptide acids containing either Pro or Gly at the C‐terminus. This side reaction not only leads to a lower overall yield, but also to the presence in the reaction crude of several deletion peptides lacking the first amino acids. For the preparation of protected peptides using the Fmoc/tBu strategy, the use of a ClTrt‐Cl‐resin with a limited incorporation of the C‐terminal amino acid is the method of choice. The use of resins with higher loading levels leads to more impure peptide crudes. The use of HPLC‐ESMS is a useful method for analysing complex samples, such as those formed when C‐terminal Pro peptides are prepared by non‐optimized solid‐phase strategies. Copyright © 1999 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From Legal Transplants to Sustainable Transition

Extended producer responsibility (EPR), which assigns significant responsibility to producers to take back their end‐of‐life products to create incentives for redesign of products with lower life cycle environmental impacts, has come to a crossroad facing a trade‐off between the original innovation‐oriented regime design and the cost‐efficiency challenges in practice. This is particularly true in its implementation in non‐Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries as they are trying to transplant the “best practices” from OECD countries, for there is increasing skepticism as to whether EPR is suitable for developing countries at all. As an important producer of electronic products and destination of electronic waste (e‐waste) flows in the world, China has been expected to play a vital role in the evolution of global governance based on the idea of EPR, either to create new ways for producers to perform their end‐of‐life strategies, or to reshape the mode of production and consumption with its fast‐growing market. However, the establishment of EPR in China has been long and full of difficulties. This article reviews the status and trends in the establishment of an EPR system for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management in China. We use the framework of a multilevel perspective of transition theory in our analysis to characterize the complex interactions among various agents in the evolution of the Chinese system from initial innovation‐oriented design to the current efficiency‐oriented version. An ongoing research framework for evaluation of the EPR program in China is outlined as the research agenda in coming years.     

Production of pectinesterase and polygalacturonase by Aspergillus niger in submerged and solid state systems

Production of pectinesterase and polygalacturonase by Aspergillus niger was studied in submerged and solid-state fermentation systems. With pectin as a sole carbon source, pectinesterase and polygalacturonase production were four and six times higher respectively in a solid state system than in a submerged fermentation system and required a shorter time for enzyme production. The addition of glucose increased pectinesterase and polygalacturonase production in the solid state system but in submerged fermentation the production was markedly inhibited. A comparison of enzyme productivities showed that those determined for pectinesterase and polygalacturonase with pectin as a carbon source were three and five times higher by using the solid state rather than the submerged fermentation system. The productivities of the two enzymes were affected by glucose in both fermentation systems. The membranes of cells from the solid state fermentation showed increased levels of C18:1, C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acids. Differences in the regulation of enzyme synthesis by Aspergillus niger depended on the fermentation system, favoring the solid state over the submerged fermentation for pectinase production. Received 12 May 1997/ Accepted in revised form 19 September 1997     

Germanium Thin Film Protected Lithium Aluminum Germanium Phosphate for Solid‐State Li Batteries

Solid‐state Li batteries using Na⁺ superionic conductor type solid electrolyte attracts wide interest because of its safety and high theoretical energy density. The NASCION type solid electrolyte LAGP (Li_1.5Al_0.5Ge_0.5P₃O₁₂) shows favorable conductivity as well as good mechanical strength to prevent Li dendrite penetration. However, the instability of LAGP with Li metal remains a great challenge. In this work, an amorphous Ge thin film is sputtered on an LAGP surface, which can not only suppress the reduction reaction of Ge⁴⁺ and Li, but also produces intimate contact between the Li metal and the LAGP solid electrolyte. The symmetric cell with the Ge‐coated LAGP solid electrolyte shows superior stability and cycle performance for 100 cycles at 0.1 mA cm^?2. A quasi‐solid‐state Li–air battery has also been assembled to further demonstrate this advantage. A stable cycling performance of 30 cycles in ambient air can be obtained. This work helps to achieve a stable and ionic conducting interface in solid‐state Li batteries.     

Ethers Illume Sodium‐Based Battery Chemistry: Uniqueness,Surprise, and Challenges

Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) have the potential to be practically applied in large‐scale energy storage markets. The rapid progress of SIBs research is primarily focused on electrodes, while electrolytes attract less attention. Indeed, the improvement of electrode performance is arguably correlated with the electrolyte optimization. In conventional lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), ether‐based electrolytes are historically less practical owing to the insufficient passivation of both anodes and cathodes. As an important class of aprotic electrolytes, ethers have revived with the emerging lithium‐sulfur and lithium‐oxygen batteries in recent years, and are even booming in the wave of SIBs. Ether‐based electrolytes are unique to enabling these new battery chemistries in terms of producing stable ternary graphite intercalation compounds, modifying anode solid electrolyte interphases, reducing the solubility of intermediates, and decreasing polarization. Better still, ether‐based electrolytes are compatible with specific inorganic cathodes and could catalyze the assembly of full SIBs prototypes. This Research News article aims to summarize the recent critical reports on ether‐based electrolytes in sodium‐based batteries, to unveil the uniqueness of ether‐based electrolytes to advancing diverse electrode materials, and to shed light on the viability and challenges of ether‐based electrolytes in future sodium‐based battery chemistries.     

Solid-phase synthesis of an Htc-containingdimer analog of the autophosphorylationsite of pp60src PTK: Effective acylationconditions for Htc residues

The difficulty during SPPS in acylating thesecondary amino group of Htc, a locally constrainedtyrosine, can be correlated with the steric hindranceof the amino acid or with the conformation of the growingpeptide chain. Our experimental data indicate that theavailability of the Htc amino group is associated with itssteric hindrance rather than a conformational effectof the peptide chain.An optimized solid phase automated protocol for Htcis reported. Under optimal conditions, Fmoc-aminoacids with hindered side chains were incorporated inapproximately 99% yield using HATU as couplingreagent. Unhindered side chain amino acid acylated thesecondary amino group of Htc in good yield underclassical HBTU/HOBt coupling conditions.