ABSTRACT
Implantable neural probes that are mechanically flexible yet robust are attractive candidates for achieving stable neural interfacing in the brain. Current flexible neural probes consist mainly of metal thin-film electrodes integrated on micrometer-thick polymer substrates, making it challenging to achieve electrode-tissue interfacing on the cellular scale. Here, we describe implantable neural probes that consist of robust carbon nanotube network embroidered graphene (CeG) films as free-standing recording microelectrodes. Our CeG film microelectrode arrays (CeG_MEAs) are ultraflexible yet mechanically robust, thus enabling cellular-scale electrode-tissue interfacing. Chronically implanted CeG_MEAs can stably track the activities of the same population of neurons over two months. Our results highlight the potential of ultraflexible and free-standing carbon nanofilms for stable neural interfacing in the brain.
Subject(s)
Graphite , Nanotubes, Carbon , Brain , Microelectrodes , Neurons/physiologyABSTRACT
Malignant melanoma (MM) is a highly aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer, primarily caused by recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the regulatory mechanisms underlying melanoma recurrence and metastasis. Our study has identified a potential targeted regulatory relationship between LINC02202, miR-526b-3p and XBP1 in malignant melanoma. Through the regulation of the miR-526b-3p/XBP1 signalling pathway, LINC02202 may play a role in tumour progression and immune infiltration and inhibiting the expression of LINC02202 can increase the efficacy of immunotherapy for melanoma. Our findings shed light on the impact of LINC02202/XBP1 on the phenotype and function of malignant melanoma cells. Furthermore, this study provides a theoretical foundation for the development of novel immunotherapy strategies for malignant melanoma.
Subject(s)
Melanoma , MicroRNAs , Skin Neoplasms , Humans , Melanoma/drug therapy , Melanoma/genetics , Melanoma/pathology , MicroRNAs/metabolism , Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/metabolism , Antibodies, Monoclonal/pharmacology , Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use , Cell Line, Tumor , Skin Neoplasms/genetics , Drug Delivery Systems , Gene Expression Profiling , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , X-Box Binding Protein 1/genetics , X-Box Binding Protein 1/metabolismABSTRACT
Water splitting (or, water electrolysis) is considered as a promising approach to produce green hydrogen and relieve the ever-increasing energy consumption as well as the accompanied environmental impact. Development of high-efficiency, low-cost practical water-splitting systems demands elegant design and fabrication of catalyst-loaded electrodes with both high activity and long-life time. To this end, dimensional engineering strategies, which effectively tune the microstructure and activity of electrodes as well as the electrochemical kinetics, play an important role and have been extensively reported over the past years. Here, a type of most investigated electrode configurations is reviewed, combining particulate catalysts with 3D porous substrates (aerogels, metal foams, hydrogels, etc.), which offer special advantages in the field of water splitting. It is analyzed the design principles, structural and interfacial characteristics, and performance of particle-3D substrate electrode systems including overpotential, cycle life, and the underlying mechanism toward improved catalytic properties. In particular, it is also categorized the catalysts as different dimensional particles, and show the importance of building hybrid composite electrodes by dimensional control and engineering. Finally, present challenges and possible research directions toward low-cost high-efficiency water splitting and hydrogen production is discussed.
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Mixed solid solutions have played an important role in improving the kinetics and performance of hydrogen storage materials, as reported for the Li-Mg-N-H, K-Mg-N-H, and Rb-Mg-N-H systems. Besides, the formation of a homogeneous solid solution, mostly due to partial ionic substitution, is known to be an effective approach to improve the ionic conductivity of a material, which is an important property in electrochemical applications. We have reported a series of solid solutions based on mixed amide-hydride materials of the Group 1 elements, e.g., K(NH2)xH1-x, Rb(NH2)xH1-x, and Cs(NH2)xH1-x, via the exchange of NH2-/H- anions with the change of the lattice cell of the solid solution. Extending the research in this direction, we study the M-N-H solid solution in the MNH2-MH systems (M = K, Rb, Cs, and their combinations), i.e., KNH2-RbH, RbNH2-KH, RbNH2-CsH, and CsNH2-RbH via ex situ/in situ XRD, IR, and 1H 2D solid-state NMR. The results obtained confirm the formation of mixed metal amide-hydride solid solutions associated with an exchange between both anionic (NH2- and H-) and cationic species (K+, Rb+, and Cs+). With this study, we aim to create an accessible library of M-N-H solid solutions for further studies as additives for hydrogen storage materials or ionic conductors.
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OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to measure the prevalence of resistance to antimicrobial agents, and explore the risk factors associated with drug resistance by using nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) isolates from China. METHODS: A total of 335 NTM isolates were included in our analysis. Broth dilution method was used to determine in vitro drug susceptibility of NTM isolates. RESULTS: Clarithromycin (CLA) was the most potent drug for Mycobacterium intracellulare (MI). The resistance rate of 244 MI isolates to CLA was 21%, yielding a minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC)50 and MIC90 of 8 and 64 mg/L, respectively. 51% of 244 MI isolates exhibited resistance to amikacin (AMK). For 91 Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) isolates, 6 (7%) and 49 (54%) isolates were categorized as resistant to CLA at day 3 and 14, respectively. The resistance rate to CLA for Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies abscessus (MAA) was dramatically higher than that for Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies massiliense (MAM). Additionally, the percentage of patients presenting fever in the CLA-susceptible group was significantly higher than that in the CLA-resistant group. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that approximate one fifth of MI isolates are resistant to CLA. We have identified a higher proportion of CLA-resistant MAA isolates than MAM. The patients caused by CLA-resistant MI are at low risk for presenting with fever relative to CLA-susceptible group.
Subject(s)
Mycobacterium abscessus , Nontuberculous Mycobacteria , Humans , Mycobacterium avium Complex , China , Amikacin , Clarithromycin , FeverABSTRACT
To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences in iris color in quail, the transcriptome of iris tissue from black quail and Korean quail at day 10 of hatching was RNA sequenced in this study. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, functionally annotated and enriched after the quality control and mapping of the raw data. RT-qPCR validation was performed using EIF2S3 as an internal reference gene. The screened SNPs were studied by bioinformatics analysis and iris color correlation analysis. The results showed that there were 425 upregulated genes and 364 downregulated genes in 789 DEGs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that 139 DEGs were significantly enriched in 154 GO terms. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment results showed that the Notch signaling pathway, melanogenesis and tyrosine metabolism were associated with pigment synthesis (p < 0.05). The expression levels of the ASIP, MLPH, PMEL, TYR and SOX10 genes were significantly different in black quail iris and Korean quail iris, as verified by RT-qPCR. The SOX10 gene c.324G>C mutation, which caused the replacement of p.Glu108Asp, had a highly significant correlation with iris color in black quail and Korean quail, which may be one of the reasons for different in iris color between these two quail species.
Subject(s)
Gene Expression Profiling , Mutation, Missense , Animals , Transcriptome , Sequence Analysis, RNA , PhenotypeABSTRACT
Objective: We studied the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine paiteling treatment of persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in males. Methods: The study included 159 male patients with persistent HPV infection between January 2018 and July 2022, and categorized into the treatment group (n = 96) and control group (n = 63) based on the treatment. The treatment group was externally treated with paiteling diluent for 4 consecutive days and then stopped for 3 days. The total course of treatment was one month. The treatment group underwent a second test six months after treatment. The control group did not receive any therapy and underwent a second test in the seventh month. Results: 19 of the 159 patients were lost during the 6-month follow-up period, leaving 140 patients. The male HPV infection peaks between the ages of 26-35 years 73(52.14%), and its prevalence decrease with age. 84 (60.0%) were single type infections, and 22 (15.71%) had at least 3 types infections. There were 76 (54.29%) patients with the high-risk types, 34 (24.29%) with the low-risk types, and 30 (21.43%) with the mixed types. After 6 months, complete negative conversion rates and negative conversion rates were 74.7% and 90.8% in the treatment group respectively, compared to the control group (P < .01). A comparison of negative conversion rates among different types reveals that 16 type (89.5%) and 6 type (92.3%) had statistical differences, (P < .01) and (P < .05) respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the vaccine status of sexual partners was a protective factor (OR = 0.050-0.848) and multi-type infection was a risk factor (OR = 1.807-22.527) for the curative effect. Conclusion: Paiteling is convenient, safe, and effective for the treatment of persistent HPV infection in males.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the etiological agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the leading cause of death due to a single infectious agent worldwide. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of MTB is critical for controlling TB especially in resource-limited countries, since any diagnosis delay increases the chances of transmission. Here, a real-time recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) assay targeting conserved positions in IS1081 gene of MTB, is successfully established to detect MTB. The intact workflow was completed within 30 min at 42 °C with no cross-reactivity observed for non-tuberculous mycobacteria and other clinical bacteria, and the detection limit for recombinant plasmid of MTB IS1081 was 163 copies/reaction at 95% probability, which was approximately 1.5-fold increase in analytical sensitivity for the detection of MTB, compared to conventional quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR; 244 copies/reaction). Furthermore, the result of clinical performance evaluation revealed an increased sensitivity of RAA assay relative to qPCR was majorly noted in the specimens with low bacteria loads. Our results demonstrate that the developed real-time RAA assay is a convenient, sensitive, and low-cost diagnostic tool for the rapid detection of MTB.
Subject(s)
Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Tuberculosis , Humans , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics , Recombinases/genetics , Sensitivity and Specificity , Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/methods , Tuberculosis/diagnosis , Tuberculosis/microbiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial susceptibility tests (ASTs) are pivotal tools for detecting and combating infections caused by multidrug-resistant rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) but are time-consuming and labor-intensive. DESIGN: We used a Mycobacterium abscessus-based RGM model to develop a rapid (24-h) AST from the beginning of the strain culture, the Clinical Antimicrobials Susceptibility Test Ramanometry for RGM (CAST-R-RGM). The ASTs obtained for 21 clarithromycin (CLA)-treated and 18 linezolid (LZD)-treated RGM isolates. RESULTS: CAST-R-RGM employs D2O-probed Raman microspectroscopy to monitor RGM metabolic activity, while also revealing bacterial antimicrobial drug resistance mechanisms. The results of clarithromycin (CLA)-treated and linezolid (LZD)-treated RGM isolates exhibited 90% and 83% categorical agreement, respectively, with conventional AST results of the same isolates. Furthermore, comparisons of time- and concentration-dependent Raman results between CLA- and LZD-treated RGM strains revealed distinct metabolic profiles after 48-h and 72-h drug treatments, despite similar profiles obtained for both drugs after 24-h treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Ultimately, the rapid, accurate, and low-cost CAST-R-RGM assay offers advantages over conventional culture-based ASTs that warrant its use as a tool for improving patient treatment outcomes and revealing bacterial drug resistance mechanisms.
Subject(s)
Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous , Mycobacterium abscessus , Mycobacterium , Humans , Clarithromycin/pharmacology , Linezolid/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Drug Resistance, Bacterial , Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous/drug therapy , Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous/microbiology , Nontuberculous MycobacteriaABSTRACT
As the world increasingly swaps fossil fuels, significant advances in lithium-ion batteries have occurred over the past decade. Though demand for increased energy density with mechanical stability continues to be strong, attempts to use traditional ink-casting to increase electrode thickness or geometric complexity have had limited success. Here, we combined a nanomaterial orientation with 3D printing and developed a dry electrode processing route, structured electrode additive manufacturing (SEAM), to rapidly fabricate thick electrodes with an out-of-plane aligned architecture with low tortuosity and mechanical robustness. SEAM uses a shear flow of molten feedstock to control the orientation of the anisotropic materials across nano to macro scales, favoring Li-ion transport and insertion. These structured electrodes with 1 mm thickness have more than twice the specific capacity at 1 C compared to slurry-cast electrodes and have higher mechanical properties (compressive strength of 0.84 MPa and modulus of 5 MPa) than other reported 3D-printed electrodes.
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Azobenzene mesogens have garnered considerable research attention in the realm of photo-responsive materials due to their reversible trans-cis isomerization. In this paper, we demonstrate an azobenzene inverse opal film synthesized via photo-polymerization from a SiO2 opal template. The proposed design exhibits intriguing optical properties, including dynamic fluorescent features, distinct fluorescent enhancement, and an anti-fake micropattern with a switchable structure color. This work holds significant importance for advancing the development of novel optical devices.
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Cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector C (CIDEC) is involved in diet-induced adipose inflammation. Whether CIDEC plays a role in diabetic vascular inflammation remains unclear. A type 2 diabetic rat model was induced by high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin. We evaluated its characteristics by metabolic tests, Western blot analysis of CIDEC and C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein-3 (CTRP3) expression, and histopathological analysis of aortic tissues. The diabetic group exhibited elevated CIDEC expression, aortic inflammation, and remodeling. To further investigate the role of CIDEC in the pathogenesis of aortic inflammation, gene silencing was used. With CIDEC gene silencing, CTRP3 expression was restored, accompanied with amelioration of insulin resistance, aortic inflammation, and remodeling in diabetic rats. Thus, the silencing of CIDEC is potent in mediating the reversal of aortic inflammation and remodeling, indicating that CIDEC may be a potential therapeutic target for vascular complications in diabetes.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental , Insulin Resistance , Animals , Cell Death , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/complications , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/genetics , Inflammation/genetics , Proteins/genetics , Proteins/metabolism , RatsABSTRACT
Cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector C (CIDEC) is responsible for metabolic disturbance and insulin resistance, which are considered to be important triggers in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). To investigate whether CIDEC plays a critical role in DCM, DCM rat model was induced by a high-fat diet and a single injection of low-dose streptozotocin (27.5 mg/kg). DCM rats showed severe metabolic disturbance, insulin resistance, myocardial hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, ectopic lipid deposition, inflammation and cardiac dysfunction, accompanied by CIDEC elevation. With CIDEC gene silencing, the above pathophysiological characteristics were significantly ameliorated accompanied by significant improvements in cardiac function in DCM rats. Enhanced AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α activation was involved in the underlying pathophysiological molecular mechanisms. To further explore the underlying mechanisms that CIDEC facilitated collagen syntheses in vitro, insulin-resistant cardiac fibroblast (CF) model was induced by high glucose (15.5 mmol/L) and high insulin (104 µU/mL). We observed that insulin-resistant stimulation dramatically raised CIDEC expression and promoted CIDEC nuclear translocation in CFs. Meanwhile, AMPKα2 was observed to distribute almost completely inside CF nucleus. The results further proved that CIDEC biochemically interacted and co-localized with AMPKα2 rather than AMPKα1 in CF nucleus, which provided a novel mechanism of CIDEC in promoting collagen syntheses. This study suggested that CIDEC gene silencing alleviates DCM via AMPKα signaling both in vivo and in vitro, implicating CIDEC may be a promising target for treatment of human DCM.
Subject(s)
AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/complications , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications , Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/prevention & control , Gene Expression Regulation , Gene Silencing , Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Animals , Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/etiology , Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/metabolism , Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/pathology , Insulin Resistance , Male , Phosphorylation , Proteins/genetics , Proteins/metabolism , Rats , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Hydrogen energy is considered to be one of the most promising clean energy sources. The development of highly active, low-cost catalysts, and good stability is essential for hydrogen production. Herein, the catalytic activity of a two-dimensional ß-Sb surface doped with main-group elements (N, P, As, O, S, Se, and Te) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was investigated by density functional theory, and the catalytic activity of the ß-Sb monolayer can be improved by doping group VIA atoms. The catalytic activity of Se@Sb and O@Sb structures at the doping concentration of 2.78% and the S@Sb structure at the doping concentration of 5.56% may be as good as the Pt(111) surface, while keeping energetically stable. In addition, the catalytic performance could be optimized under biaxial strain. Further analysis suggests that the activity is caused by hole states in the lone pair electrons, which are created by the group VIA atom dopants. And our work also reveals that the density of states at the Fermi level could be an appropriate descriptor of the hydrogenation Gibbs free energy. This work not only proposes a novel non-platinum HER catalyst but also provides physical foundations for further application on antimonene-based catalysts.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Accurate determination of antimicrobial resistance profiles is of great importance to formulate optimal regimens against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Although para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) has been widely used clinically, the reliable testing methods for PAS susceptibility were not established. Herein, we aimed to establish critical test concentration for PAS on the Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) 960 in our laboratory settings. METHODS: A total of 102 clinical isolates were included in this study, including 82 wild-type and 20 resistotype isolates. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by MGIT 960. Whole-genome sequencing was used to identify the mutation patterns potentially conferring PAS resistance. Sequence alignment and structure modelling were carried out to analyze potential drug-resistant mechanism of folC mutant. RESULTS: Overall, the Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) distribution demonstrated excellent separation between wild-type and resistotype isolates. The wild-type population were all at least 1 dilution below 4 µg/ml, and the resistotype population were no lower than 4 µg/ml, indicating that 4 µg/ml was appropriate critical concentration to separate these two populations. Of 20 mutant isolates, 12 (60.0%) harbored thyA mutations, 2 (10%) had a mutation on upstream of dfrA, and the remaining isolates had folC mutations. Overall, thyA and folC mutations were scattered throughout the whole gene without any one mutation predominating. All mutations within thyA resulted in high-level resistance to PAS (MIC > 32 µg/ml); whereas the MICs of isolates with folC mutations exhibited great diversity, ranged from 4 to > 32 µg/ml, and sequence and structure analysis partially provided the possible reasons for this diversity. CONCLUSIONS: We propose 4 µg/ml as tentative critical concentration for MGIT 960. The major mechanism of PAS resistance is mutations within thyA and folC in MTB isolations. The whole-gene deletion of thyA locus confers high-level resistance to PAS. The diversity of many distinct mutations scattered throughout the full-length folC gene challenges the PCR-based mutation analysis for PAS susceptibility.
Subject(s)
Aminosalicylic Acid , Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant , Humans , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics , Aminosalicylic Acid/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Antitubercular Agents/pharmacology , Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics , Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/microbiology , MutationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Increasing bone mass accumulation in adolescence and obtaining greater peak bone mass is one of the effective methods to prevent osteoporosis in the future. We aimed to examine the association between total bilirubin and bone mineral density (BMD) level in adolescents. METHODS: We used the data from 2005-2010 and 2013-2014 cycles of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The BMD levels in the region of lumbar spine and femoral regions, including total femur, femoral neck, trochanter, and intertrochanter were measured. Univariable and multivariable linear regression model were used to assess the relationship between total bilirubin concentration and BMD. RESULTS: A total of 3741 participants aged 12-19 years were ultimately included in the study. There were 1997 (53.38%) males and 1744 (46.62%) females. Univariate analysis results showed that age, sex, race, education, income, body mass index, dietary calcium intake, and diabetes were correlated with BMD levels. Compared with the lowest quartile of total bilirubin concentration, the highest quartile of total bilirubin concentration was positively associated with BMD levels in the regions of total femur (ß = 0.036, 95% CI = 0.021 to 0.050, P < 0.001), femur neck (ß = 0.030, 95% CI = 0.016 to 0.044, P < 0.001), trochanter (ß = 0.033, 95% CI = 0.019 to 0.046, P < 0.001), intertrochanter (ß = 0.040, 95% CI = 0.023 to 0.056, P < 0.001), and lumbar spine (ß = 0.032, 95% CI = 0.018 to 0.045, P < 0.001). We also observe the same trend in sensitivity analysis (P for trend < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that total bilirubin concentration was positively associated with BMD levels in adolescents in United States. Total bilirubin concentration might be a protective marker against bone loss in adolescents.
Subject(s)
Bone Density , Osteoporosis , Adolescent , Bilirubin , Female , Femur Neck/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Male , Nutrition Surveys , United StatesABSTRACT
The reactive hydride composite (RHC) LiBH4-MgH2 is regarded as one of the most promising materials for hydrogen storage. Its extensive application is so far limited by its poor dehydrogenation kinetics, due to the hampered nucleation and growth process of MgB2. Nevertheless, the poor kinetics can be improved by additives. This work studied the growth process of MgB2 with varying contents of 3TiCl3·AlCl3 as an additive, and combined kinetic measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to develop a structural understanding. It was found that the formation of MgB2 preferentially occurs on TiB2 nanoparticles. The major reason for this is that the elastic strain energy density can be reduced to ~4.7 × 107 J/m3 by creating an interface between MgB2 and TiB2, as opposed to ~2.9 × 108 J/m3 at the original interface between MgB2 and Mg. The kinetics of the MgB2 growth was modeled by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation, describing the kinetics better than other kinetic models. It is suggested that the MgB2 growth rate-controlling step is changed from interface- to diffusion-controlled when the nucleation center changes from Mg to TiB2. This transition is also reflected in the change of the MgB2 morphology from bar- to platelet-like. Based on our observations, we suggest that an additive content between 2.5 and 5 mol% 3TiCl3·AlCl3 results in the best enhancement of the dehydrogenation kinetics.
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Heterostructures of graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are promising candidates for high-performance flexible photodetectors because of their high photoresponsivity and detectivity. However, the mechanical stability of current flexible photodetectors is limited, due to a mechanical mismatch between their two-dimensional channel materials and metallic contacts. Herein, we develop a type of mechanically stable, highly responsive, and flexible photodetector by integrating MoS2and all-carbon transistors. By combining the high mobility of graphene with the strong light-matter interactions of MoS2, our heterostructure photodetector exhibits a greatly improved photoresponse performance, compared with individual graphene or MoS2photodetectors. In addition, the mechanical properties of the all-carbon electrodes are a good match for those of the active two-dimensional channels, resulting in greatly improved electrical stability of the heterostructure photodetector under mechanical deformation. These capabilities make our heterostructure photodetector a promising candidate for flexible photodetection and photoimaging applications.
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The transition metal sulfides/oxides have been considered as promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacities but have suffered limits from the unsatisfactory electronic conductivity and limited lifespan. Here, FeS micro-flowers are synthesized by hydrothermal treatment and are wared and grafted into layer-by-layer carbon nanotubes (CNT). Subsequently, FeS@Fe2O3/CNT composite films are obtained by annealing, during which the FeS micro-flowers are partially oxidized to core-shell FeS@Fe2O3micro-flowers. The FeS@Fe2O3/CNT composite electrodes exhibited high reversible capacity of 1722.4 mAh g-1(at a current density of 0.2 A g-1after 100 cycles) and excellent cycling stability (545.1 mAh g-1at a current density of 2 A g-1after 600 cycles) as self-supporting anodes. The prominent electrochemical performances are attributed to the unique reciprocal overlap architecture. This structure serves as a cushion to buffer large volume expansion during discharge/charge cycles, and ameliorates electrical conductivity. Due to their good specific capacity and cycle stability, these FeS@Fe2O3/CNT films have high potential application value to be used as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion, lithium sulfur and flexible packaging batteries.
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Thick electrode with high-areal-capacity is a practical and promising strategy to increase the energy density of batteries, but development toward thick electrode is limited by the electrochemical performance, mechanical properties, and manufacturing approaches. In this work, we overcome these limitations and report an ultrathick electrode structure, called fiber-aligned thick or FAT electrode, which offers a novel electrode design and a scalable manufacturing strategy for high-areal-capacity battery electrodes. The FAT electrode uses aligned carbon fibers to construct a through-thickness fiber-aligned electrode structure with features of high electrode material loading, low tortuosity, high electrical and thermal conductivity, and good compression property. The low tortuosity of FAT electrode enables fast electrolyte infusion and rapid electron/ion transport, exhibiting a higher capacity retention and lower charge transfer resistance than conventional slurry-casted thick electrode design.