Lightweight Electrolyte Design for Li/Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) Batteries.

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) recently emerges as a promising cathode for high-energy lithium (Li) metal batteries owing to its high capacity, extended cycle life, and liberty from costly transition metals. As the high capacities of both Li metal and SPAN lead to relatively small electrode weights, the weight and specific energy density of Li/SPAN batteries are particularly sensitive to electrolyte weight, highlighting the importance of minimizing electrolyte density. Besides, the large volume changes of Li metal anode and SPAN cathode require inorganic-rich interphases that can guarantee intactness and protectivity throughout long cycles. This work addresses these crucial aspects with an electrolyte design where lightweight dibutyl ether (DBE) is used as a diluent for concentrated lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI)-triethyl phosphate (TEP) solution. The designed electrolyte (d = 1.04 g mL-1) is 40%-50% lighter than conventional localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs), leading to 12%-20% extra energy density at the cell level. Besides, the use of DBE introduces substantial solvent-diluent affinity, resulting in a unique solvation structure with strengthened capability to form favorable anion-derived inorganic-rich interphases, minimize electrolyte consumption, and improve cell cyclability. The electrolyte also exhibits low volatility and offers good protection to both Li metal anode and SPAN cathode under thermal abuse.

A 9-10-Bit Adjustable and Energy-Efficient Switching Scheme for Successive Approximation Register Analog-to-Digital Converter with One Least Significant Bit Common-Mode Voltage Variation.

A 9-10-bit adjustable and energy-efficient switching scheme for SAR ADC with one-LSB common-mode voltage variation is proposed. Based on capacitor-splitting technology and common-mode conversion techniques, the proposed switching scheme reduces the DAC switching energy by 96.41% compared to the conventional scheme. The low complexity and the one-LSB common-mode voltage offset of this scheme benefit from the simultaneous switching of the reference voltages of the capacitors corresponding to the positive array and the negative array throughout the entire reference voltage switching process, and the reference voltage of each capacitor in the scheme does not change more than two voltages. The post-layout result shows that the ADC achieves the 54.96 dB SNDR, the 61.73 dB SFDR, and the 0.67 µw power consumption with the 10-bit mode and the 48.33 dB SNDR, the 54.17 dB SFDR, and the 0.47 µw power consumption with the 9-bit mode in a 180 nm process with a 100 kS/s sampling frequency.

Dispersive Fourier transform based dual-comb ranging.

Laser-based light detection and ranging (LIDAR) offers a powerful tool to real-timely map spatial information with exceptional accuracy and owns various applications ranging from industrial manufacturing, and remote sensing, to airborne and in-vehicle missions. Over the past two decades, the rapid advancements of optical frequency combs have ushered in a new era for LIDAR, promoting measurement precision to quantum noise limited level. For comb LIDAR systems, to further improve the comprehensive performances and reconcile inherent conflicts between speed, accuracy, and ambiguity range, innovative demodulation strategies become crucial. Here we report a dispersive Fourier transform (DFT) based LIDAR method utilizing phase-locked Vernier dual soliton laser combs. We demonstrate that after in-line pulse stretching, the delay of the flying pulses can be identified via the DFT-based spectral interferometry instead of temporal interferometry or pulse reconstruction. This enables absolute distance measurements with precision starting from 262 nm in single shot, to 2.8 nm after averaging 1.5 ms, in a non-ambiguity range over 1.7 km. Furthermore, our DFT-based LIDAR method distinctly demonstrates an ability to completely eliminate dead zones. Such an integration of frequency-resolved ultrafast analysis and dual-comb ranging technology may pave a way for the design of future LIDAR systems.

Revealing the synergistic effect of Ni single atoms and adjacent 3d metal doped Ni nanoparticles in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Herein, we report the successful fabrication of a series of transition metal doped Ni nanoparticles (NPs) coordinated with Ni single atoms in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (denoted as Ni1+NPsM-NCNTs, M = Mn, Fe, Co, Cu and Zn; Ni1 = Ni single atom). X-ray absorption fine structure reveals the coexistence of Ni single atoms with Ni-N4 coordination and NiM NPs. When applied for electrocatalytic CO2RR, the Ni1+NPsM-NCNT compounds show the Faradaic efficiency of CO (FECO) with a volcano-like tendency of Mn < Fe ≈ Co < Zn < Cu, in which the Ni1+NPsCu-NCNT exhibits the highest FECO of 96.92%, a current density of 171.25 mA cm-2 and a sustainable stability over 24 hours at a current density of 100 mA cm-2, outperforming most reported examples in the literature. Detailed experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that for Ni1+NPsCu-NCNTs, the electron transfer from NiCu NPs to Ni single atoms strengthens the adsorption of *COOH intermediates. Moreover, the d-band center of Ni-N in Ni1+NPsCu-NCNT is upshifted, providing stronger binding with the reaction intermediates of *COOH, whereas the NiCu NPs increase the Gibbs free energy change of the Volmer step, suppressing the competitive HER.

A 43.5dB Gain Unipolar a-IGZO TFT Amplifier with Parallel Bootstrap Capacitor for Bio-signals Sensing Applications.

In this paper, a high gain amplifier with phase compensation loop is presented. A structure of parallel gate cross-coupled transistors to both ends of differential pair drain and source is designed to improves the load impedance, which obtains sufficient gain and further reduces power consumption. A novel capacitor bootstrap load circuit is proposed. The capacitor bootstrap topology is constructed by the drain source resistance of the transistor working in the cut-off region, where the gate source parasitic capacitor of the transistor is in parallel with the bootstrap capacitor rather than the existing series structure, thereby only a small bootstrap capacitor is required. By avoiding the use of large capacitors, chip area can be effectively reduced without compromising performance such as gain and bandwidth. The amplifier is fabricated using 10-µm n-type a-IGZO TFT technology. Measurement results show that the proposed amplifier achieves a voltage gain of 43.5dB and a common mode rejection ratio of 61.2dB while maintaining low power consumption. The amplifier also exhibits a -3dB bandwidth covering 0.4~2.1KHz, encompassing major bioelectric frequency bands. A real-time ECG signal was successfully captured using the fabricated TFT amplifier and gel electrodes. It has great potential in flexible sensing and acquisition applications such as electro cardiogram (ECG), electro encephalogram (EEG), pulse detection, and other wearable applications.

Construction of Inverse-Opal ZnIn2S4 with Well-Defined 3D Porous Structure for Enhancing Photocatalytic H2 Production.

The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen using photocatalysts is a pivotal solution to the ongoing energy and environmental challenges. In this study, inverse opal (IO) ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) with varying pore sizes is synthesized for the first time via a template method. The experimental results indicate that the constructed inverse opal ZnIn2S4 has a unique photonic bandgap, and its slow photon effect can enhance the interaction between light and matter, thereby improving the efficiency of light utilization. ZnIn2S4 with voids of 200 nm (ZIS-200) achieved the highest hydrogen production rate of 14.32 µ mol h-1. The normalized rate with a specific surface area is five times higher than that of the broken structures (B-ZIS), as the red edge of ZIS-200 is coupled with the intrinsic absorption edge of the ZIS. This study not only developed an approach for constructing inverse opal multi-metallic sulfides, but also provides a new strategy for enriching efficient ZnIn2S4-based photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution from water.

[Study on mechanism of Chinese Yam polysaccharide synergizing nucleoside analogues against hepatitis B virus through p38 MAPK signaling pathway].

This study explore the molecular mechanism of the synergistic effect of Chinese Yam polysaccharides and nucleoside analogues(NAs) on hepatitis B virus(HBV) resistance. Different concentrations of Chinese Yam polysaccharide and entecavir were ad-ded to HepG2.2.15 cells. After the cytotoxicity was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8), the optimal concentration and time of the two drugs to inhibit HepG2.2.15 cells were screened out. They were divided into control group, Chinese Yam polysaccharide group, entecavir group and combination drug group(Chinese Yam polysaccharide + entecavir). The drugs were added to HepG2.2.15 cells, ELISA was used to detect the effects of each group of drugs on the secretion of hepatitis B virus surface antigen(HBsAg) and hepatitis B virus e antigen(HBeAg) in cell supernatant, probe quantitative real-time PCR(probe qRT-PCR) was used to detect the effects of drugs on HBV-DNA in HepG2.2.15 cells, and Western blot was used to detect the effects of each group of drugs on the expression of p38 MAPK, p-p38 MAPK, NTCP proteins in HepG2.2.15 cells. The qRT-PCR was used to detect the effect of drugs on the expression of p38 MAPK and NTCP mRNA in HepG2.2.15 cells. The results showed that compared with control group, the concentrations of HBeAg and HBsAg in Chinese Yam polysaccharide group, entecavir group and combination group decreased(P<0.01 or P<0.001), and both of them inhibited HBV-DNA in HepG2.2.15 cells(P<0.01), and the HBV-DNA inhibition of HepG2.2.15 cells in the combination group was more obvious(P<0.001), and the protein expression levels of p-p38 MAPK and NTCP were significantly decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01), the mRNA expression level of p38 MAPK increased, and the mRNA expression level of NTCP decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01). To sum up, Chinese Yam polysaccharide can reduce the expression of NTCP protein and mRNA through p38 MAPK signaling pathway and cooperate with entecavir in anti-HBV.

Directional Activation of Oxygen by the Au-Loaded ZnAl-LDH with Defect Structure for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Oxidative Coupling of Methane.

Photocatalytic oxidative coupling of CH4 (OCM) is a promising CH4 conversion process that can achieve efficient methane conversion with the assistance of O2. It remains to be highly challenging to improve the photocatalytic OCM activity from catalyst design and to deepen the understanding of the reactant activation in the OCM process. In this work, the Au-loaded ZnAl-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with and without oxygen vacancy are constructed (denoted as Au/ZnAl and Au/ZnAl-v), respectively. When applied for photocatalytic OCM, the Au/ZnAl-v shows a CH4 conversion rate of 8.5 mmol g-1 h-1 with 92% selectivity of C2H6 at 40 °C, outperforming most reported photocatalytic OCM systems at low temperature reported in the literature. Furthermore, the catalytic performance of Au/ZnAl-v can be stable for 100 h. In contrast, the An/ZnAl exhibits a CH4 conversion rate of 0.8 mmol g-1 h-1 with 46% selectivity of C2H6. Detailed characterizations and DFT calculation studies reveal that the introduced Ov sites on Au/ZnAl-v are able to activate O2, and the resulting superoxide radical O2·- greatly promotes the activation of CH4. The coupling of CH3· groups with the assistance of Au cocatalyst leads to the formation of C2H6 with high photocatalytic activity.

ASB3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by mediating DR5 ubiquitination in TRAIL resistance.

Ankyrin-repeat proteins with a suppressor of cytokine signaling box (ASB) proteins belong to the E3 ubiquitin ligase family. 18 ASB members have been identified whose biological functions are mostly unexplored. Here, we discovered that ASB3 was essential for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and high ASB3 expression predicted poor clinical outcomes. ASB3 silencing induced HCC cell growth arrest and apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Liver-specific deletion of Asb3 gene suppressed diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cancer development. Mechanistically, ASB3 interacted with death receptor 5 (DR5), which promoted ubiquitination and degradation of DR5. We further showed that ASB3 knockdown stabilized DR5 and increased the sensitivity of liver cancer cells to the treatment of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in a DR5-dependent manner in cellular and in animal models. In summary, we demonstrated that ASB3 promoted ubiquitination and degradation of DR5 in HCC, suggesting the potential of targeting ASB3 to HCC treatment and overcome TRAIL resistance.

Ultrathin NiV Layered Double Hydroxide for Methanol Electrooxidation: Understanding the Proton Detachment Kinetics and Methanol Dehydrogenation Oxidation.

Electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is regarded as a promising pathway to obtain value-added chemicals and drive cathodic H2 production, while the rational design of catalyst and in-depth understanding of the structure-activity relationship remains challenging. Herein, the ultrathin NiV-LDH (u-NiV-LDH) with abundant defects is successfully synthesized, and the defect-enriched structure is finely determined by X-ray adsorption fine structure etc. When applied for MOR, the as-prepared u-NiV-LDH presents a low potential of 1.41 V versus RHE at 100 mA cm-2, which is much lower than that of bulk NiV-LDH (1.75 V vs RHE) at the same current density. The yield of H2 and formate is 98.2% and 88.1% as its initial over five cycles and the ultrathin structure of u-NiV-LDH can be well maintained. Various operando experiments and theoretical calculations prove that the few-layer stacking structure makes u-NiV-LDH free from the interlayer hydrogen diffusion process and the hydrogen can be directly detached from LDH laminate. Moreover, the abundant surface defects upshift the d-band center of u-NiV-LDH and endow a higher local methanol concentration, resulting in an accelerated dehydrogenation kinetics on u-NiV-LDH. The synergy of the proton detachment from the laminate and the methanol dehydrogenation oxidation contributes to the excellent MOR performance of u-NiV-LDH.

A Low-Power SAR ADC with Capacitor-Splitting Energy-Efficient Switching Scheme for Wearable Biosensor Applications.

A low-power SAR ADC with capacitor-splitting energy-efficient switching scheme is proposed for wearable biosensor applications. Based on capacitor-splitting, additional reference voltage Vcm, and common-mode techniques, the proposed switching scheme achieves 93.76% less switching energy compared to the conventional scheme with common-mode voltage shift in one LSB. With the switching scheme, the proposed SAR ADC can lower the dependency on the accuracy of Vcm and the complexity of digital control logic and DAC driver circuits. Furthermore, the SAR ADC employs low-noise and low-power dynamic comparators utilizing multi-clock control, low sampling error sampling switches based on the bootstrap technique, and dynamic SAR logic. The simulation results demonstrate that the ADC achieves a 61.77 dB SNDR and a 78.06 dB SFDR and consumes 4.45 µW of power in a 180 nm process with a 1 V power supply, a full-swing input signal frequency of 93.33 kHz, and a sampling rate of 200 kS/s.

A Hybrid Energy-Efficient, Area-Efficient, Low-Complexity Switching Scheme in SAR ADC for Biosensor Applications.

A hybrid energy-efficient, area-efficient, low-complexity switching scheme in SAR ADC for biosensor applications is proposed. This scheme is a combination of the monotonic technique, the MSB capacitor-splitting technique, and a new switching method. The MSB capacitor-splitting technique, as well as the reference voltage Vaq allow for more options for reference voltage conversion, resulting in higher area savings and higher energy efficiency. In a capacitor array, the circuit performs unilateral switching during all comparisons except for the second and last two comparisons, reducing the difficulty in designing the drive circuit. The proposed switching scheme saves 98.4% of the switching energy and reduces the number of unit capacitors by 87.5% compared to a conventional scheme. Furthermore, the SAR ADC employs low-noise and low-power dynamic comparators utilizing multi-clock control, low-sampling error-sampling switches based on the bootstrap technique, and dynamic SAR logic. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed SAR ADC achieves 61.51 dB SNDR, 79.21 dB SFDR and consumes 0.278 µW of power in a 180 nm process with a 1 V power supply, a full swing input signal frequency of 23.33 kHz, and a sampling rate of 100 kS/s.