Unraveling the Irreversible Storage of Dimethyl Carbonate-Solvated Hexafluorophosphate Anions in Graphite Electrode.

LiPF6 dissolved in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is one of the cheapest groups of electrolyte solutions in dual-ion batteries. Generally, the discharge capacity of anion storage delivered by the graphite cathode grows with increasing LiPF6 concentration. This fact is consistent with the irreversible storage of DMC-solvated PF6-, and then, the underlying mechanism is clarified by the electrochemical tests and ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements of graphite cathodes as well as infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy characterizations of solutions. Moreover, quaternary ammonium salts have facile dissociation, which can effectively regulate the solvation state of the anion and the interaction between ion pairs in the electrolyte. A small amount of tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6) is introduced into the highly concentrated LiPF6-DMC solution to improve the performance of the graphite cathode. The discharge capacity of the Li/graphite cell has increased by approximately 50%. This effect is also correlated with the solvation state of the anion. This study provides an insightful clue for the choice of electrolyte solution in dual-ion batteries.

Mortality prediction using a novel combination of biomarkers in the first day of sepsis in intensive care units.

Early identification of infection severity and organ dysfunction is crucial in improving outcomes of patients with sepsis. We aimed to develop a new combination of blood-based biomarkers that can early predict 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis or septic shock. We enrolled 66 patients with sepsis or septic shock and compared 14 blood-based biomarkers in the first 24 h after ICU admission. The serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (median 217.6 vs. 4809.0 pg/ml, P = 0.001), lactate (median 2.4 vs. 6.3 mmol/L, P = 0.014), N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (median 1596.5 vs. 32,905.3 ng/ml, P < 0.001), prothrombin time (PT) (median 15.6 vs. 20.1 s, P = 0.030), activated partial thrombin time (APTT) (median 45.1 vs. 59.0 s, P = 0.026), and international normalized ratio (INR) (median 1.3 vs. 1.8, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the survivor group. IL-6, NT-proBNP, and INR provided the best individual performance in predicting 28-day mortality of patients with sepsis or septic shock. Furthermore, the combination of these three biomarkers achieved better predictive performance (AUC 0.890, P < 0.001) than conventional scoring systems. In summary, the combination of IL-6, NT-proBNP, and INR may serve as a potential predictor of 28-day mortality in critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock.

A Combined Self-Consistent Method to Estimate the Effective Properties of Polypropylene/Calcium Carbonate Composites.

In this work, trying to avoid difficulty of application due to the irregular filler shapes in experiments, self-consistent and differential self-consistent methods were combined to obtain a decoupled equation. The combined method suggests a tenor γ independent of filler-contents being an important connection between high and low filler-contents. On one hand, the constant parameter can be calculated by Eshelby's inclusion theory or the Mori⁻Tanaka method to predict effective properties of composites coinciding with its hypothesis. On the other hand, the parameter can be calculated with several experimental results to estimate the effective properties of prepared composites of other different contents. In addition, an evaluation index σ f ' of the interactional strength between matrix and fillers is proposed based on experiments. In experiments, a hyper-dispersant was synthesized to prepare polypropylene/calcium carbonate (PP/CaCO3) composites up to 70 wt % of filler-content with dispersion, whose dosage was only 5 wt % of the CaCO3 contents. Based on several verifications, it is hoped that the combined self-consistent method is valid for other two-phase composites in experiments with the same application progress as in this work.