Freestanding and Sandwich‐Structured Electrode Material with High Areal Mass Loading for Long‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Freestanding cathode materials with sandwich‐structured characteristic are synthesized for high‐performance lithium–sulfur battery. Sulfur is impregnated in nitrogen‐doped graphene and constructed as primary active material, which is further welded in the carbon nanotube/nanofibrillated cellulose (CNT/NFC) framework. Interconnected CNT/NFC layers on both sides of active layer are uniquely synthesized to entrap polysulfide species and supply efficient electron transport. The 3D composite network creates a hierarchical architecture with outstanding electrical and mechanical properties. Synergistic effects generated from physical and chemical interaction could effectively alleviate the dissolution and shuttling of the polysulfide ions. Theoretical calculations reveal the hydroxyl functionization exhibits a strong chemical binding with the discharge product (i.e., Li₂S). Electrochemical measurements suggest that the rationally designed structure endows the electrode with high specific capacity and excellent rate performance. Specifically, the electrode with high areal sulfur loading of 8.1 mg cm^?2 exhibits an areal capacity of ≈8 mA h cm^?2 and an ultralow capacity fading of 0.067% per cycle over 1000 discharge/charge cycles at C/2 rate, while the average coulombic efficiency is around 97.3%, indicating good electrochemical reversibility. This novel and low‐cost fabrication procedure is readily scalable and provides a promising avenue for potential industrial applications.     

Tattooing Dye as a Green Electrode Material for Lithium Batteries

Lawsone (2‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphthoquinone), a naturally derived red‐orange dye, is investigated as a promising cathode material for next‐generation lithium batteries. Lithium cells based on lawsone cathode display a high discharge capacity of 280 mA h g^?1 (99% theoretical capacity), a high energy density of 664 W h kg^?1, and long life of 1000 cycles at 0.5 C along with good rate performance up to 5 C. These results represent significant improvements from previously reported organic cathode materials, and surpass those of conventional lithium batteries based on LiCoO₂ cathodes (140 mA h g^?1 and 520 W h kg^?1, respectively). Its success stems from the unique 2D planar packing of lawsone molecules, with maximized overlap of adjacent p orbitals for redox active sites. The result is the simultaneous enhancement of electrical and ionic conductivities that are an order of magnitude higher than those of other synthetic quinones. Given that lawsone is derived from the henna plant and has long been used as a dye for human hair and skin, this work may open a new chapter in the design of future green batteries.     

Progress in Tandem Solar Cells Based on Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Owing to their high efficiency, low‐cost solution‐processability, and tunable bandgap, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) made of hybrid organic‐inorganic perovskite (HOIP) thin films are promising top‐cell candidates for integration with bottom‐cells based on Si or other low‐bandgap solar‐cell materials to boost the power conversion efficiency (PCE) beyond the Shockley‐Quiesser (S‐Q) limit. In this review, recent progress in such tandem solar cells based on the emerging PSCs is summarized and reviewed critically. Notable achievements for different tandem solar cell configurations including mechanically‐stacked, optical coupling, and monolithically‐integrated with PSCs as top‐cells are described in detail. Highly‐efficient semitransparent PSC top‐cells with high transmittance in near‐infrared (NIR) region are critical for tandem solar cells. Different types of transparent electrodes with high transmittance and low sheet‐resistance for PSCs are reviewed, which presents a grand challenge for PSCs. The strategies to obtain wide‐bandgap PSCs with good photo‐stability are discussed. The PCE reduction due to reflection loss, parasitic absorption, electrical loss, and current mismatch are analyzed to provide better understanding of the performance of PSC‐based tandem solar cells.     

High Voltage LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2/Graphite Cell Cycled at 4.6 V with a FEC/HFDEC‐Based Electrolyte

A high voltage LiNi_0.5Mn_0.3Co_0.2O₂/graphite cell with a fluorinated electrolyte formulation 1.0 m LiPF₆ fluoroethylene carbonate/bis(2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl) carbonate is reported and its electrochemical performance is evaluated at cell voltage of 4.6 V. Comparing with its nonfluorinated electrolyte counterpart, the reported fluorinated one shows much improved Coulombic efficiency and capacity retention when a higher cut‐off voltage (4.6 V) is applied. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy data clearly demonstrate the superior oxidative stability of the new electrolyte. The structural stability of the bulk cathode materials cycled with different electrolytes is extensively studied by X‐ray absorption near edge structure and X‐ray diffraction.     

Direct Evidence of Ion Diffusion for the Silver‐Electrode‐Induced Thermal Degradation of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have recently demonstrated high efficiencies of over 22%, but the thermal stability is still a major challenge for commercialization. In this work, the thermal degradation process of the inverted structured PSCs induced by the silver electrode is thoroughly investigated. Elemental depth profiles indicate that iodide and methylammonium ions diffuse through the electron‐trasnporting layer and accumulate at the Ag inner surface. The driving force of forming AgI then facilitates the ions extraction. Variations on the morphology and current mapping of the MAPbI₃ thin films upon thermal treatment reveal that the loss of ions occurs at the grain boundaries and leads to the reconstruction of grain domains. Consequently, the deteriorated MAPbI₃ thin film, the poor electron extraction, and the generation of AgI barrier result in the degradation of efficiencies. These direct evidences provide in‐depth understanding of the effect of thermal stress on the devices, offering both experimental support and theoretical guidance for the improvement on the thermal stability of the inverted PSCs.     

沉积型海底微生物燃料电池构建及其影响因素研究

海底微生物燃料电池具有底物丰富、可长期运行、维护成本低和环境友好等特点,具有很好的研究价值和广阔的发展前景。但由于其低的功率密度输出和长期运行的不稳定性,使海底微生物燃料电池尚未得到广泛地实际应用。选取海底沉积泥用于实验室构建的海底微生物燃料电池装置中,比较了在不同阳极材料、阴阳极面积比、阳极修饰、阳极泥下深度条件下海底微生物燃料电池的功率密度输出及其电化学性能,得出最佳的海底微生物燃料电池阳极材料为碳毡;阴极及电极最佳面积比为1∶1;最佳阳极修饰为氨水浸渍;最佳阳极泥下深度为2 cm。     

参考电极与视觉空间选择性注意ERP的研究

在平均参考和无穷远点参考情况下,对左右视野空间选择性注意的ERP反应进行了研究。其中无穷远点参考是通过一种基于等效分布源理论建立的参考电极校正技术处理后得到的。结果表明,两种参考电极一致地在选择性注意中P1,N1的相对增强反应,但也略有差异,其中以无穷远点为参考的结果中,PI的相对增强更加明显,P2能较好地同时出现在注意与非注意两种条件下。     

An electrochemical immunosensor for milk progesterone using a continuous flow system

An electrochemical biosensor for cow's milk progesterone has been developed and used in a competitive immunoassay under thin-layer, continuous-flow conditions. Single-use biosensors were fabricated by depositing anti-progesterone monoclonal antibody (mAb) onto screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs). Three operational steps could be identified: (1) Competitive binding of sample/conjugate (alkaline-phosphatase-labelled progesterone, AP-prog) mixture, (2) establishment of a steady-state amperometric baseline current and (3), measurement of an amperometric signal in the presence of enzyme substrate (1-naphthyl phosphate, 1-NP). In the thin-layer cell, the enzyme product, 1-naphthol, showed electrochemical behaviour consistent with bulk conditions and gave a linear amperometric response under continuous-flow conditions (E_app=+0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl) over the range 0.1–1.0 μg/ml. After pre-incubating biosensors with progesterone standards, signal generation within the cell (substrate CONCENTRATION=5 mM) was recorded amperometrically as rate (nA/s) or maximum current (i_max, nA). Response values for milk standards were approximately 50% of those prepared in buffer. In both cases, calibration plots over the range 0–50 ng/ml progesterone were obtained. By conducting sample binding under flowing conditions, only 7% of the previous response was obtained, even at a substrate concentration of 50 mM, resulting in low signal:noise ratio. Using a stop-flow arrangement (i.e. quiescent sample binding, followed by continuous flow), low-noise amperograms were obtained at [1-NP]=5 mM. Calibration plots were obtained over the range 0–25 ng/ml, with a coefficient of variation of 12.5% for five replicate real milk samples.     

Determination of oxygen profiles in agar-based gelled in vitro plant tissue culture media

Keeping account of the limited knowledge concerning the relevance of the oxygen status of the medium during in vitro culture, a technique was elaborated to systematically study the oxygen concentration in gelled media. In a first series of experiments, the Oxygen Diffusion Rate (ODR) technique was used to investigate the dissolved oxygen concentration as a function of time at different depths. The results obtained demonstrated that the oxygen concentration in agar media was reduced by 80% during the heating steps included in the preparation procedure. It took about one week to reach an oxygen concentration equal to 90% of the equilibrium value at a depth of 1 cm, irrespective of the brand of agar used. As the recovery of the oxygen concentration at various depths could be nicely modelled by Fick's law, it follows that this process is diffusion limited. In this respect, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) measurements revealed that the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in gelled media was only affected to a very small extent by the presence of up to 2% (w/v) agar. In a final experiment, explants of Ficus benjamina were cultured on a rooting medium. As the oxygen concentration in the gelled medium was not significantly affected by the presence of the biological material, it was concluded that the oxygen uptake by explants from gelled media is negligibly small and hence cannot be considered as being a growth-limiting factor during in vitro micropropagation. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.