batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Several commercial automotive battery suppliers have developed lithium ion cells which use cathodes that consist of a mixture of two different active materials. This approach is intended to take advantage of the unique properties of each material and optimize the performance of the battery with respect to the automotive operating requirements. Certain cathode materials have high coulombic capacity and good cycling characteristics, but are costly and exhibit poor thermal stability (e.g., LiNi x Co1−x−y Al y O2). Alternately, other cathode materials exhibit good thermal stability, high voltage and high rate capability, but have low capacity (e.g., LiMn2O4). By blending two cathode materials the shortcomings of the parent materials could be minimized and the resultant blend can be tailored to have a higher energy or power density coupled with enhanced stability and lower cost. In this review, we survey the developing field of blended cathode materials from a new perspective. Targeting a range of cathode materials, we survey the advances in the field in the current review. Limitations, such as capacity decay due to metal dissolution are also discussed, as well as how the appropriate balance of characteristics of the blended materials can be optimized for hybrid- and electric-vehicle applications.
Children are exposed to environmental contaminants through direct ingestion of water, food, soil, and feces, and through indirect ingestion owing to mouthing hands and objects. We quantified ingestion among 30 rural Bangladeshi children < 4 years old, recording every item touched or mouthed during 6-hour video observations that occurred annually for 3 years. We calculated the frequency and duration of mouthing and the prevalence of mouth contacts with soil and feces. We compared the mouthing frequency distributions to those from US children to evaluate the appropriateness of applying the US data to the Bangladeshi context. Median hand-mouthing frequency was 43–72 times/h and object-mouthing frequency 17–34 times/h among the five age groups assessed. For half of the observations, > 75% of all hand mouthing was associated with eating. The frequency of indoor hand mouthing not related to eating was similar to the frequency of all indoor hand mouthing among children in the United States. Object-mouthing frequency was higher among Bangladeshi children compared with US children. There was low intra-child correlation of mouthing frequencies over our longitudinal visits. Our results suggest that children’s hand- and object-mouthing vary by geography and culture and that future exposure assessments can be cross-sectional if the goal is to estimate population-level distributions of mouthing frequencies. Of all observations, a child consumed soil in 23% and feces in 1%.
This paper describes studies of a combined electrochemical/acoustic wave sensor for detection of metal ions in aqueous solutions. The sensor is based upon surface complexation of the metal ions at thiodisuccinic acid (TDS) functionalised self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modified electrodes on 10MHz AT-cut quartz resonators, functioning as a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The SAM-modified electrodes were employed for the detection of Cd(II) ions in single and mixed metal ion solutions, with Pb(II) or Cu(II) as the interferants. Acoustic determination was based on the QCM frequency change associated with the binding to the surface-immobilised ligand of metal ions as a function of their concentration. Frequency response data were acquired under emersed and immersed conditions for ligand binding to the Au electrode and, subsequently, metal ion binding to the ligand. In the latter case, the data were interpreted according to a range of isotherms, of which the Temkin isotherm was found empirically best to describe the concentration dependence. The acoustic wave data yielded information on equilibrium binding stoichiometry and energetics. The extent of metal ion binding was also determined by coulometric assay (upon reduction to the zero-valent metal) after transfer to metal ion-free electrolyte solution. XPS studies of surface-bound metal-TDS ligand complexes confirmed the binding stoichiometry obtained from the electrochemical and acoustic wave responses, and provided information on the ligand–substrate binding and bound analyte oxidation state.
An in-situ calcination strategy has been developed for the synthesis of porous zinc oxide/N-doped carbon (ZnO/NC) polyhedrons, in which zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) serves as the precursor. The ZnO/NC polyhedrons with a hierarchical architecture possess a high specific surface area of 390.7 m2 g−1, high nitrogen content (19.99 at%), and robust pore structures. The porous N-doped carbon frameworks can not only increase the electronic conductivity of ZnO, but also provide interior space for the fast diffusion of Li+ ions and accommodate the volume variations during the charge and discharge cycles. When evaluated for lithium storage capacity, the hierarchical ZnO/NC polyhedrons exhibit high reversible discharge capacity (834.3 mAh g−1 at the initial low rate of 0.5C, 1C = 978 mA g−1), superior rate performance (399.2 mAh g−1 at 5C and 253.5 mAh g−1 at 10C), and excellent cycling stability (677.9 mAh g−1 at 1C after 400 cycles). The reasons are explored in terms of the well-confined primary nanocrystals (5 nm), and the finely constructed interconnected pores of the N-doped carbon networks, which facilitate the fast and effective transfer of Li+ ions and electrons, and accommodate the large volume expansions.
Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial to energy conversion technologies such as fuel cells and metal–air batteries. Three-dimensional (3D) heteroatom-doped graphene-based materials have been reported to be efficient electrocatalysts for ORR in fuel cells for energy conversion. In this study, a novel cobalt-embedded nitrogen-doped graphene xerogel (denoted as Co-NGX) was prepared by a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The Co-NGX hybrid obtained at the pyrolysis temperature of 900 °C (labeled as Co-NGX 900) was comparable to the benchmark Pt/C catalyst in terms of the onset potential and half-wave potential, indicating excellent ORR activity of our Co-NGX 900 catalyst. Additionally, the proposed Co-NGX 900 also displayed higher stability and better methanol tolerance than the commercial Pt/C, which might hold great promise as a Pt-free catalyst for application in alkaline direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).
Water loss and water recycling in direct-methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is a major issue that affects the complexity, volume and weight of the system and becomes of greater concern as the size of the DMFC decreases. Flat micro DMFCs were built in a plastic housing with a water-management system that controls the flux of liquid-water through the membrane and the loss of water during operation. These cells contain a nanoporous proton-conducting membrane (NP-PCM). Methanol consumption and water loss were measured during operation in static air at room temperature for up to 900h. Water flux through the membrane varied from negative, through zero, to positive values as a function of the thickness and the properties of the water-management system. The loss of water molecules (to the air) per molecule of methanol consumed in the cell reaction (defined as the W factor) varied from 0.5 to 7. When W equals 2 (water flux through the membrane equals zero) there is no need to add water to the DMFC and the cell is operating under water-neutral conditions. When W is smaller than 2, water must be removed from the cell and when it is larger than 2, water must be added. The cell showed stable operation up to 900h and its maximum power was 12.5mW/cm2.
Batteries based on manganese dioxide (MnO2) cathodes are good candidates for grid-scale electrical energy storage, as MnO2 is low-cost, relatively energy dense, safe, water-compatible, and non-toxic. Alkaline Zn–MnO2 cells, if cycled at reduced depth of discharge (DOD), have been found to achieve substantial cycle life with battery costs projected to be in the range of $100 to 150 per kWh (delivered). Commercialization of rechargeable Zn–MnO2 batteries has in the past been hampered due to poor cycle life. In view of this, the work reported here focuses on the long-term rechargeability of prismatic MnO2 cathodes at reduced DOD when exposed to the effects of Zn anodes and with no additives or specialty materials. Over 3000 cycles is shown to be obtainable at 10% DOD with energy efficiency >80%. The causes of capacity fade during long-term cycling are also investigated and appear to be mainly due to the formation of irreversible manganese oxides in the cathode. Analysis of the data indicates that capacity loss is rapid in the first 250 cycles, followed by a regime of stability that can last for thousands of cycles. A model has been developed that captures the behavior of the cells investigated using measured state of charge (SOC) data as input. An approximate economic analysis is also presented to evaluate the economic viability of Zn–MnO2 batteries based on the experiments reported here.
The anodic behaviour of copper was investigated in ethanol solution containing LiClO4, LiCl electrolyte and water. The type of electrolyte and the water content influences the mechanism of the anodic process and the formation of anodic products. In LiClO4 electrolyte the dissolution of copper is related to the oxidation of Cu(I) to Cu(II). In solutions of LiCl the etching of copper begins with the creation of soluble complexes of Cu(I) with chloride ions and solvent molecules. At potentials above 0.4 V the formation of alkoxides was observed in both solutions, characterized by a yellow tint. On the other hand, above 0.8 V (i.e. above the equilibrium potential of alcohol oxidation) copper dissolution is accompanied by the formation of a blue colloidal suspension of Cu (II) copper salt. Anodic etching of copper in solutions containing 3% H2O at potentials higher than 0.4 V leads to the formation of colloidal suspension of copper oxide nanoparticles.
Rates of mass transfer at rotating cylinder electrodes of wedge wire screens were studied by measuring the limiting current for the cathodic reduction of ferricyanide as test reaction. The experimental data are well correlated by an empirical expression between the Sherwood number and the Reynolds number, both in terms of the internal slot opening as characteristic length, and including two additional dimensionless parameters in order to characterize the geometry of the screens. The performance of an undivided electrochemical batch reactor with a rotating cylinder cathode of wedge wire screens was tested analyzing the cadmium removal from dilute solutions. The effect of cathodic applied potential and size of the screen is studied. Taking into account the residual cadmium concentration the best results were obtained for a cathode potential of −1.1 V vs. SCE at 700 rpm, where the cadmium concentration decreased from 54 to 0.9 mg l−1 after 30 min of electrolysis with a specific energy consumption of 10.7 kWh kg−1 and a normalized space velocity of 3.54 h−1.
Renewable Energy Sources have been growing rapidly over the last few years. The spreading of renewables has become stronger due to the increased air pollution, which is largely believed to be irreversible for the environment. On the other hand, the penetration of renewable energy technologies causes major problems to the stability of the grid. Along with the fluctuations of the renewable energy technologies production, storage is important for power and voltage smoothing. Energy storage is also important for energy management, frequency regulation, peak shaving, load leveling, seasonal storage and standby generation during a fault. Thus, storage technologies have gained an increased attention and have become more than a necessity nowadays. This paper presents an up to date comprehensive overview of energy storage technologies. It incorporates characteristics and functionalities of each storage technology, as well as their advantages and disadvantages compared with other storage technologies. Comparison tables with several characteristics of each storage method are included, while different applications of energy storage technologies are described as well. Finally, several hybrid energy storage applications are analyzed and different combinations of energy storage technologies are reviewed.
Various distinct cognitive processes such as semantic memory, executive planning or technical reasoning have been shown to support tool use. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between these processes. To do so, a large apraxia battery was submitted to 16 patients with left brain-damage (LBD) and aphasia and 19 healthy controls. The battery included: classical apraxia tests (Pantomime of Tool Use and Single Tool Use), familiar and novel tool use tests (Tool-Object Pairs and Sequential Mechanical Problem-Solving), semantic memory tests (Recognition of tool utilization gestures and Functional and Categorical Associations) as well as the Tower Of London. The Sequential Mechanical Problem-Solving task is a new task which permits the evaluation of pre-planning in unusual tool use situations. In this task as well as in the Tool-Object Pairs task, participants solved a tool use problem in a Choice and a No-Choice condition to examine the effect of tool selection. Globally, left brain damaged patients were impaired as compared to controls. We found high correlations in left brain damaged patients between performances on classical apraxia tests, familiar and novel tool use tests and Functional and Categorical Associations but no significant association between these performances and Tower Of London or Recognition of tool utilization gestures. Furthermore, the two conditions (Choice and No-Choice) of Tool-Object Pairs and Sequential Mechanical Problem-Solving were associated. In sum, all tasks involving tool use are strongly associated in LBD patients. Moreover, the ability to solve sequential mechanical problems does not depend on executive planning. Also, tool use appears to be associated with knowledge about object function but not with knowledge about tool manipulation. Taken together, these findings indicate that technical reasoning and, to a lesser extent, semantic memory may both play an important role in tool use.
Digital technology affords the opportunity to provide objective, frequent, and sensitive assessment of disease outside of the clinic environment. This article reviews recent literature on the application of digital technology in movement disorders, with a focus on Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease.
Monocrystalline orthorhombic Na0.44MnO2 nanoplate as a potential cathode material for sodium-ion batteries has been synthesized by a template-assisted sol-gel method. It exhibits high crystallinity, pure phase and homogeneous size distribution. During the synthesis, acidic and reductive conditions are applied to limit the production of unfavorable Birnessite phase in the precursor, and colloidal polystyrene is included to avoid morphology collapse during the gel formation and particle elongation in one direction. The decompositions of polystyrene and citric acid during high temperature firing offer a reductive carbothermal condition which can suppress the formation of unidimensional particles, and limit particle growth along the [001] direction. As a consequence, the material delivers 96mAhg−1 discharge capacity at 10C (86% of 0.1C capacity) and maintains 97.8% capacity after 100 cycles at 0.5C. Such superior rate capability and cycling stability of this material are among the best to date, suggesting its great interest in practical applications.
SnSb alloys with high theoretical capacities for lithium-ion batteries always suffer from the quick capacity fading owing to their huge volume change. In this study, SnSb nanoparticles are fixed in the nanochannels of flexible mats composed of graphene, and multichannel porous carbon nanofiber mats which are prepared by electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment at 700°C in Ar/H2. The flexible mats can be bent for 180 degree without any crack and can be unfolded as usual. As binder-free anodes, the mats with suitable ratio of GO in precursor solution show discharge capacity of 617mAh/g at 300th cycle at a current density of 100mA/g, much higher than those similar nanofibers added with more or less GO. The flexible mats can deliver a rate capacity of 369mA h/g at a current density of 2A/g, also higher than those similar nanofibers. The electronic tests show that the graphene asrising from GO can linearly improve the conductivity of the mats. The enhanced properties of SnxSb-graphene-carbon flexible mats can be attributed to the improved conductivity and mechanical property due to the presence of graphene, the multichannels to accommodate the volume change of SnxSb during lithiation/delithiation, and carbon nanofiber mats to provide high-way and diffusion channels for electrons and ions. It is believed that the electrospinning method combined with graphene could be a useful approach to prepare flexible mats for supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells.
Objective Information learned in a spaced way is usually better recognized than information learned in a massed way. The brain mechanisms underlying this spacing effect remain unclear. Methods We applied anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left and right prefrontal (PFC) or posterior parietal (PPC) cortices to study how stimulation influences learning and retrieval of information, as evidenced by item recognition and the spacing effect, and whether the effects are lateralized according to stimulus material and site of stimulation. We devised a continuous recognition task with verbal and non-verbal stimuli repeated either immediately or after a delay. Stimulus recognition was tested 30min later. Results There was a spacing effect for both materials, which, however, was not modulated by tDCS. Nonetheless, tDCS differentially impacted memory retrieval regardless of repetition mode during learning: tDCS over the PPC during learning enhanced recognition of non-verbal material regardless of side of stimulation, while tDCS over the left PFC decreased recognition regardless of material. Conclusions The PPC seems to be involved specifically in the mnesic treatment of non-verbal material whereas the left PFC specifically influences learning irrespective of stimulus material. Significance Prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices follow different lateralization rules in recognition memory.
In laboratory fish research, the zebrafish Danio rerio (Cyprinidae) represents the equivalent of the mouse in mammalian research. This species has become a major model for studies in developmental and behavioural genetics, neurophysiology, biomedicine, ecotoxicology, and behavioural and evolutionary ecology. To meet the need for accurate and reproducible data in both fundamental and applied sciences, it is of primary importance to be able to tag and/or recognize individual zebrafish. However, classic methods used in fish ecology and aquaculture are generally difficult to apply to such small fish. Recently, various new tagging methods have been developed. This paper presents a first review of current identification and marking methods applied to zebrafish, from external observation methods (such as skin pattern recognition, fin clipping, scale regeneration, colour and transgenic methods) to the most advanced technological developments in electronic (low- and high- radio-frequencies PIT tags, microchip) and image analysis methods (video tracking). This review aims to help researchers and zebrafish facility managers select the identification method (ID) best adapted to their needs. The main characteristics of each ID method are examined (including detection range, durability, speed and repetitiveness, ID code combination, size dependence and ethical considerations), and their pros and cons are summarized in a decision table to help select the most appropriate option for a research or management program. Finally, contextual applications of these ID methods and future developments are discussed.
The present experiment was designed to study changes in behavior following immunolesioning of the basal forebrain cholinergic system. Rats were lesioned at 3 months of age by injection of the 192 IgG-saporin immunotoxin into the medial septum area and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, and then tested at different times after surgery (from days 7–500) on a range of behavioral tests, administered in the following order: a nonmatching-to-position task in a T-maze, an object-recognition task, an object-location task, and an open-field activity test. The results revealed a two-way interaction between post-lesion behavioral testing time and memory demands. In the nonmatching-to-position task, memory deficits appeared quite rapidly after surgery, i.e. at a post-lesion time as short as 1 month. In the object-recognition test, memory impairments appeared only when rats were tested at late post-lesion times (starting at 15 months), whereas in the object-location task deficits were apparent at early post-lesion times (starting from 2 months). Taking the post-operative time into account, one can hypothesize that at the shortest post-lesion times, behavioral deficits are due to pure cholinergic depletion, while as the post-lesion time increases, one can speculate the occurrence of a non-cholinergic system decompensation process and/or a gradual degeneration process affecting other neuronal systems that may contribute to mnemonic impairments. Interestingly, when middle-aged rats were housed in an enriched environment, 192 IgG-saporin-lesioned rats performed better than standard-lesioned rats on both the nonmatching-to-position and the object-recognition tests. Environment enrichment had significant beneficial effects in 192 IgG-saporin-lesioned rats, suggesting that lesioned rats at late post-lesion times (over 1 year) still have appreciable cognitive plasticity.
In this study, a one-pot sintering process incorporating sol–gel preparation route and in-situ carbon coating was proposed for the synthesis of carbon-coated nanosized LiTi2(PO4)3. Experimental results show that the prepared LiTi2(PO4)3 particles are of high crystallinity and well-coated by turbostratic carbon. Attributed to nanosized particles and enhanced conductivity provided by turbostratic carbon coating, the carbon-coated LiTi2(PO4)3 showed high rate performance and good cycling life in aqueous electrolyte. Particularly, the carbon-coated LiTi2(PO4)3 exhibited initial specific capacities of 103 and 89 mAh g−1, and retained 80.6% and 97% of the initial capacities after 120 cycles at 1C and 10C in aqueous electrolyte, respectively. The high rate performance and good cycling life of carbon-coated LiTi2(PO4)3 in aqueous electrolyte reveal its potential as negative electrode in aqueous lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and industrial-scale energy storage systems.