Ultrafast Nucleation Reverses Dissolution of Transition Metal Ions for Robust Aqueous Batteries

The dissolution of transition metal ions causes the notorious peeling of active substances and attenuates electrochemical capacity. Frustrated by the ceaseless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, Sisyphus of the Greek myth yearned for a treasure to be unearthed that could bolster his efforts. Inspirationally, by using ferricyanide ions (Fe(CN)₆^3-) in an electrolyte as a driving force and taking advantage of the fast nucleation rate of copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF), we successfully reversed the dissolution of Fe and Cu ions that typically occurs during cycling. The capacity retention increased from 5.7% to 99.4% at 0.5 A g^-1 after 10,000 cycles, and extreme stability of 99.8% at 1 A g^-1 after 40,000 cycles was achieved. Fe(CN)₆^3- enables atom-by-atom substitution during the electrochemical process, enhancing conductivity and reducing volume change. Moreover, we demonstrate that this approach is applicable to various aqueous batteries (i.e., NH₄⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Al³⁺).

Side-Chain-Type Anion Exchange Membranes Based on Poly(arylene ether sulfone)s Containing High-Density Quaternary Ammonium Groups

To obtain anion exchange membranes with both high ionic conductivity and good dimensional stability, a series of side-chain-type poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PAES-QDTPM-x) were designed and synthesized. Quaternary ammonium (QA) groups were densely aggregated and grafted onto the main chain via flexible hydrophobic spacers. Well-defined microphase separation was confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering. PAES-QDTPM-0.30 exhibited reasonably high conductivity (39.4 mS cm^-1 at 20 °C and 76.1 mS cm^-1 at 80 °C) and excellent dimensional stability at 80 °C (11.9% in length, 11.2% in thickness) due to the concentration of ion clusters and the side-chain-type structure. All membranes maintained over 82% of the conductivity after alkali treatment for 14 days. In the H₂/O₂ fuel cell performance test, the maximum power density of PAES-QDTPM-0.30 at 60 °C was 225.8 mW cm^-2.

Optimizing the SEM specimen preparation method for accurate microanalysis of carbon nanotube/nanocluster hybrids

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) integrated with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) are scientifically used to characterise the morphology, chemical composition and elemental distribution of powder samples. Upon an accessible analytical instrument, the specimen preparation method directly affects the quality and accuracy of the observation and analysis. In this paper, three preparation methods were utilised to characterise the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based materials, and their strengths as well as the limitations are discussed. Thus, a characterisation strategy was established by comparing the obtained three measurement together with the derived sample information. To the end, we proposed to acquire the backscattered electron (BSE) images of nanoscale heavier nanoclusters grafted CNTs, typically for wide functional applications such as energy conversion and storage. Our proposed optimum method works particularly on the clarification of powder samples with small particle sizes and low atomic numbers, which underscores the involved contribution of SEM backscattered electron images.

[Cost-effectiveness analysis of rabies immunization strategy based on dynamic-decision tree model]

Objective: To evaluate the cost-utility of different immunization strategies for rabies in China, and to provide a reference for determining the optimal immunization strategy. Methods: The system dynamics model was used to simulate the epidemic of canine rabies and a decision tree model was conducted to analysis different immune strategies. Relevant probabilities were obtained through literature search and on-site investigation. Sensitivity analysis was used to explore the important influenced factors. Results: At baseline, from a social perspective, 70% vaccination of dogs was the optimal strategy compared to current vaccination strategy (43% vaccination in dogs, human category-Ⅱ exposure vaccination/category-Ⅲ exposure vaccination combined with RIG). The total cost was 14 084 354 CNY, and the total utility value was 22 078 616.23 QALYs, and the incremental cost-utility ratio was-62 148 147 CNY/QALY; if human vaccination was considered, 55% vaccination of dogs combined with strategy one was the optimal strategy, its incremental cost-utility ratio was-444 620 557 CNY/QALY. The probability that an injured dog carries rabies virus was the most sensitive parameter. When it was greater than 0.005 03, strategy four was the optimal strategy. When it was less than 82/100 000, strategy one was the optimal strategy; when it was between 82/100 000 and 120/100 000, strategy two was the optimal strategy; when it was between 120/100 000 and 503/100 000, strategy two was the optimal strategy. Conclusion: It was conducive to increase the vaccination coverage of canine for the prevention and control of rabies.

Selecting the optimum conditions for two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis of proteins expressed in Populus euphratica

We selected the optimum conditions for two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) of proteins expressed in the heteromorphic leaves of Populus euphratica Oliv. by adjusting the isoelectric focusing, the loading quantity, the concentration of the electrophoretic gel, and other parameters. The results of our study showed that protein separation was improved with many clear protein spots observed, and the differentiations were obvious. The findings of this study will be useful for future studies of protein expression in the heteromorphic leaves of P. euphratica.

SU-E-T-10: Monte Carlo Study of the Dose Enhancement Factor (DEF) for Gold Nano-Particle (GNP) on the Cellular Level

PURPOSE

In megavoltage external beam radiotherapy, in vivo cell experiments suggest GNP could be used as a radiosensitizer by having radiation dose enhancement factor (DEF) significantly larger than 1. However, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations published in the literature failed to give prove, in which most of them only simulated the interactions between the radiation beams and a single GNP. In this study, we built a multi-GNPs model considering possible spatial arrangements of GNPs relative to a cell to calculate the DEFs of GNPs.

METHODS

Geant4 MC code with G4DNA physics model which can trace electrons down to eV level was used. Two types of geometry models representing different GNP-cell binding were created with each GNP modeled individually: (1) shell model with GNPs randomly and sparsely distributed in a shell in water mimicking when the GNPs were binding to the cell membrane, and (2) sphere model with GNPs randomly and sparsely distributed in a sphere in water mimicking when GNPs were floating inside the cytoplasm. Photon and electron spectrum at 5 cm in depth in water from a Varian 6MV beam was used as the radiation source. Dose to water inside the shell or the sphere representing cytoplasm were scored and compared to situations without GNPs to calculate the DEF. We also looked into the variation of DEFs due to different GNP sizes and concentrations.

RESULTS

A 35 um water cubic were successfully built in Geant4 with spatial resolution of 100 nm. Preliminary results shown under 200 keV electron irradiation, 100 nm GNPs in the shell model shown increased dose to cell at the beam entrance (DEF = 1.08).

CONCLUSIONS

The computation is undergoing for different GNP sizes and concentrations. Meaningful results are expected on the completion of this study.