Enabling Ultralow-Temperature (-70 °C) Lithium-Ion Batteries: Advanced Electrolytes Utilizing Weak-Solvation and Low-Viscosity Nitrile Cosolvent.

Low-temperature performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has always posed a significant challenge, limiting their wide application in cold environments. In this work, the high-performance LIBs working under ultralow-temperature conditions, which is achieved by employing the weak-solvation and low-viscosity isobutyronitrile as a cosolvent to tame the affinity between solvents and lithium ions, is reported. The as-prepared electrolytes exhibit a sufficiently high conductivity (1.152 mS cm-1 ) at -70 °C. The electrolytes enable LiCoO2 cathode and graphite anode to achieve high Coulombic efficiency of >99.9% during long-term cycling at room temperature, and to respectively achieve 75.8% and 100.0% of their room-temperature capacities at -40 °C. Even the LiCoO2 //graphite pouch cells can retain 68.7% of the room-temperature capacity when discharged at -70 °C, and present stable cycling performance at -40 and 60 °C. This work provides a solution for the development of advanced electrolytes to enable LIBs working at wide-temperatures range.

Correlating the Solvating Power of Solvents with the Strength of Ion-Dipole Interaction in Electrolytes of Lithium-ion Batteries.

The solvation structure of Li+ plays a significant role in determining the physicochemical properties of electrolytes. However, to date, there is still no clear definition of the solvating power of different electrolyte solvents, and even the solvents that preferentially participate in the solvation structure remain controversial. In this study, we comprehensively discuss the solvating power and solvation process of Li+ ions using both experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations. Our findings reveal that the solvating power is dependent on the strength of the Li+ -solvent (ion-dipole) interaction. Additionally, we uncover that the anions tend to enter the solvation sheath in most electrolyte systems through Li+ -anion (ion-ion) interaction, which is weakened by the shielding effect of solvents. The competition between the Li+ -solvent and Li+ -anion interactions ultimately determines the final solvation structures. This insight into the fundamental understanding of the solvation structure of Li+ provides inspiration for the design of multifunctional mixed-solvent electrolytes for advanced batteries.

Response of microbial community to the remediation of neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid contaminated wetland soil by Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Imidacloprid (IMI), a typic neonicotinoid insecticide, is widely used and persist in soils with long half-time causing serious threat to ecosystem and human health. It is urgent to develop suitable and effective methods to accelerate it degradation and alleviate its negative impacts in soil. In this study, the introduction of functional microbe white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium to remediate IMI contaminated wetland soil was carried out. The remediation performance and the response of the soil microbial community were examined. The results showed that P. chrysosporium could improve the degradation of IMI in soil no matter the soil was sterilized or not. The bioaugmentation was especially observed in non-sterilized soil under the inoculation patterns of FE and SP with the maximum IMI degradation rate of 91% and 93% in 7 days, respectively. The invertase activity in soil was also enhanced with P. chrysosporium inoculation. Microbial community analysis revealed that P. chrysosporium inoculation could increase the diversity and richness of bacterial community, and stimulate some IMI degraders genera including Ochrobactrum, Leifsonia, Achromobacter, and Bacillus. Moreover, the xenobiotic degradation and metabolism pathway was generally enhanced with P. chrysosporium inoculation based on PICRUSt analysis. These obtained results demonstrated that the introduction of white-rot fungus is of great potentially enabling the remediation of neonicotinoids contaminated soil.

Hydrogen sulfide and calcium effects on cadmium removal and resistance in the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an emerging gas transmitter, has been shown to be involved in multiple intracellular physiological and biochemical processes. In this study, the effects of hydrogen sulfide coupled with calcium on cadmium removal and resistance in Phanerochaete chrysosporium were examined. The results revealed that H2S enhanced the uptake of calcium by P. chrysosporium to resist cadmium stress. The removal and accumulation of cadmium by the mycelium was reduced by H2S and Ca2+ pretreatment. Moreover, oxidative damage and membrane integrity were alleviated by H2S and Ca2+. Corresponding antioxidative enzyme activities and glutathione were also found to positively respond to H2S and Ca2+, which played an important role in the resistance to cadmium-induced oxidative stress. The effects of hydroxylamine (HA; a hydrogen sulfide inhibitor) and ethylene glycol-bis-(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA; a calcium chelator) toward H2S and Ca2+ and their cross-interactions confirmed the positive roles and the potential crosstalk of H2S and Ca2+ in cadmium stress resistance. These findings imply that the protective effects of H2S in P. chrysosporium under cadmium stress may occur through a reduction in the accumulation of cadmium and promotion of the antioxidant system, and the H2S-regulated pathway may be associated with the intracellular calcium signaling system.Key points• Altered monoterpenoid tolerance mainly related to altered activity of efflux pumps.• Increased tolerance to geranic acid surprisingly caused by decreased export activity.• Reduction of export activity can be beneficial for biotechnological conversions.

Biodegradation and detoxification of neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam by white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

The extensive use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the past two decades caused serious impacts on many kinds of living beings. Therefore, it has been strongly suggested to detoxify and eliminate neonicotinoids' residual levels in environment. Here, the degradation and detoxification of thiamethoxam (THX) by white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium was conducted. Results shown that P. chrysosporium can tolerate THX and degraded 49% of THX after incubation for 15 days, and then 98% for 25 days at the initial concentration of 10 mg/L, which indicates the excellent degradation ability of this fungus to THX. Based on the by-products identified, THX underwent dechlorination, nitrate reduction, and C-N cleavage between the 2-chlorothiazole ring and oxadiazine. (Z)-N-(3-methyl-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-ylidene)nitramide and 3-methyl-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-imine were identified as the main metabolites. The impacts of THX and its corresponding degradation intermediates on the growth of E. coil and Microcystis aeruginosa as well as the germination of rape and cabbage demonstrated that P. chrysosporium effectively degrades THX into metabolites and reduces its biotoxicity. The present work demonstrates that P. chrysosporium can be effectively used for degradation and detoxification of THX.

FGFR4 and TGF-ß1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and correlation of transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 in 126 HCC samples was detected immunohistochemically. Combined with clinical postoperative follow-up data, the expression of TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 in HCC and the relationship with the prognosis of patients were analyzed by statistically. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of TGF-ß1 was 84.1% (106/126) in tumors, and that in peritumoral liver tissues was 64.3% (81/126); the positive expression rate of FGFR4 in tumors was 74.6% (94/126) and that in peritumoral liver tissues was 57.1% (72/126). The expression of TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 in the carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in peritumoral liver tissues (p < 0.05). Intratumoral TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 expression was associated with TNM stage (p < 0.05). TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 expression levels didn't significantly correlate with other clinicopathological parameters, including age, sex, tumor size, serum AFP level, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, etc. (p > 0.05). TGF-ß1 expression was positively correlated with FGFR4 expression (r = 0.595, p < 0.05). Patients with positive FGFR4 or TGF-ß1 expression had shorter overall survival compared with negative expression (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of TGF-ß1 and FGFR4 could make synergy on the occurrence and progression of HCC, and may be used as prognosis indicators for HCC patients.