A Highly-Fluorinated Lithium Borate Main Salt Empowering Stable Lithium Metal Batteries.

Traditional lithium salts are difficult to meet practical application demand of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) under high voltages and temperatures. LiPF6, as the most commonly used lithium salt, still suffers from notorious moisture sensitivity and inferior thermal stability under those conditions. Here, we synthesize a lithium salt of lithium perfluoropinacolatoborate (LiFPB) comprising highly-fluorinated and borate functional groups to address the above issues. It is demonstrated that the LiFPB shows superior thermal and electrochemical stability without any HF generation under high temperatures and voltages. In addition, the LiFPB can form a protective outer-organic and inner-inorganic rich cathode electrolyte interphase on LiCoO2 (LCO) surface. Simultaneously, the FPB- anions tend to integrate into lithium ion solvation structure to form a favorable fast-ion conductive LiBxOy based solid electrolyte interphase on lithium (Li) anode. All these fantastic features of LiFPB endow LCO (1.9 mAh cm-2)/Li metal cells excellent cycling under both high voltages and temperatures (e.g., 80 % capacity retention after 260 cycles at 60 °C and 4.45 V), and even at an extremely elevated temperature of 100 °C. This work emphasizes the important role of salt anions in determining the electrochemical performance of LMBs at both high temperature and voltage conditions.

Cathode Electrolyte Interphase (CEI) Endows Mo6 S8 with Fast Interfacial Magnesium-Ion Transfer Kinetics.

Magnesium (Mg) metal secondary batteries have attracted much attention for their high safety and high energy density characteristics. However, the significant issues of the cathode/electrolyte interphase (CEI) in Mg batteries are still being ignored. In this work, a significant CEI layer on the typical Mo6 S8 cathode surface has been unprecedentedly constructed through the oxidation of the chloride-free magnesium tetrakis(hexafluoroisopropyloxy)borate (Mg[B(hfip)4 ]2 ) salt under a proper charge cut-off voltage condition. The CEI has been identified to contain Bx Oy effective species originating from the oxidation of [B(hfip)4 ]- anion. It is confirmed that the Bx Oy species is beneficial to the desolvation of solvated Mg2+ , speeding up the interfacial Mg2+ transfer kinetics, thereby improving the Mg2+ -storage capability of Mo6 S8 host. The firstly reported CEI in Mg batteries will give deeper insights into the interface issues in multivalent electrochemical systems.

Diagnostic value of the combination of circulating serum miRNAs and CA125 in endometriosis.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can serve as noninvasive biomarkers for endometriosis, but their diagnostic and prognostic values require investigation. This study evaluated the potential of 6 miRNAs in diagnosing endometriosis and predicting fertility. The study included patients with endometriosis (stages I-IV) and controls admitted to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital between May 2013 and March 2014. The serum expression levels of 6 miRNAs (miR-199a, miR-145*, miR-122, miR-9*, miR-141*, and miR-542-3p) were determined using qRT-PCR. Receiver operating characteristics curves were used to determine the diagnostic accuracy. The study included 155 patients with endometriosis and 77 controls. The model combining miR-199a, miR-122, miR-145*, and miR-141* with the carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) exhibited 81.8% sensitivity and 92.6% specificity and an area under the curve of 0.939 for diagnosing endometriosis. When combining miR-199a, miR-122, miR-145*, miR-542-3p, and CA125, the receiver operating characteristics curve showed an area under the curve of 0.759 and 79.6% sensitivity and 73.5% specificity for stage I/II versus III/IV endometriosis. Circulating miRNA levels were associated with pelvic adhesions (miR-199a, P < .05), lesion distribution (miR-9*, miR-145*, and miR-141*; all P < .05), and the presence of deep infiltrating endometriosis (miR-199a and miR-122; both P < .001). The expression levels of miR-199a, miR-122, and miR-542-3p decreased with an increasing endometriosis fertility index. The model combining circulating miRNAs (miR-199a, miR-122, miR-145*, and miR-141*) and CA125 is promising for diagnosing endometriosis and its severity. miR-199a, miR-122, and miR-542-3p were associated with the endometriosis fertility index and might be used to predict fertility preoperatively, but these results require confirmation.

Self-Standing Single-Ion Borate Salt-Based Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium Metal Batteries.

Polymer electrolytes (PEs) with excellent flexibility and superior compatibility toward lithium (Li) metal anodes have been deemed as one of the most promising alternatives to liquid electrolytes. However, conventional lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI)-based dual-ion PEs suffer from a low Li ion transference number and notorious Li dendrite growth. Here, a single-ion conducting polyborate salt without any fluorinated groups, polymeric lithium dihydroxyterephthalic acid borate (PLDPB), is presented for addressing the issues of Li metal batteries. Owing to a nearly immovable bulky anion and the presence of a rigid benzene structure, the PLDPB@poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) PE exhibits an ultrahigh Li ion transference number (0.94) and excellent mechanical strength, which could significantly restrict the growth of Li dendrites. Postmortem analysis reveals that a fluorine-free solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) enriched with B-O and benzene-containing species is formed on the surface of the Li metal anode, thereby facilitating elimination of excessive parasitic reactions and simultaneously suppressing the formation of Li dendrites. Consequently, the LiFePO4/Li cells with PLDPB@PEO PEs show an improved long-term cycling performance and high capacity retention (90.0%) and Coulombic efficiency (99.9%) after 500 cycles. This work may inspire new ideas to boost the development of single-ion conducting salts for dendrite-free Li metal batteries.

Circulating MicroRNAs in gynecological malignancies: from detection to prediction.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to play critical roles in many physiological and pathophysiological processes. The presence of altered miRNA profiles in human body fluids has been reported for a number of diseases including gynecological malignancies. In this review, we summarized the current progresses of circulating miRNAs associated with malignancies in gynecology, with an emphasizing on the circulating miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in ovarian cancer, endometrial carcinoma and cervical cancer.