Saccharin Sodium Coupling Fluorinated Solvent Enabled Stable Interface for High-Voltage Li-Metal Batteries.

Optimizing the electrode/electrolyte interface structure is the key to realizing high-voltage Li-metal batteries (LMBs). Herein, a functional electrolyte is introduced to synergetically regulate the interface layer structures on the high-voltage cathode and the Li-metal anode. Saccharin sodium (NaSH) as a multifunctional electrolyte additive is employed in fluorinated solvent-based electrolyte (FBE) for robust interphase layer construction. On the one hand, combining the results of ex-situ techniques and in-situ electrochemical dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM-D) technique, it can be seen that the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer constructed by NaSH-coupled fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) on Li-metal anode significantly inhibits the growth of lithium dendrites and improves the cyclic stability of the anode. On the other hand, the experimental results also confirm that the cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI) layer induced by NaSH-coupled FEC effectively protects the active materials of LiCoO2 and improves their structural stability under high-voltage cycling, thus avoiding the material rupture. Moreover, theoretical calculation results show that the addition of NaSH alters the desolvation behavior of Li+ and enhances the transport kinetics of Li+ at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In this contribution, the LiCoO2 ǁLi full cell containing FBE+NaSH results in a high capacity retention of 80% after 530 cycles with a coulombic efficiency of 99.8%.

Intelligent interior atmosphere lamp system based on quantum dot LEDs for safe driving assistance.

A driver safety assisting system is essential to reduce the probability of traffic accidents. But most of the existing driver safety assisting systems are simple reminders that cannot improve the driver's driving status. This paper proposes a driver safety assisting system to reduce the driver's fatigue degree by the light with different wavelengths that affect people's moods. The system consists of a camera, an image processing chip, an algorithm processing chip, and an adjustment module based on quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs). Through this intelligent atmosphere lamp system, the experimental results show that blue light reduced the driver's fatigue degree when just turned on; but as time went on, the driver's fatigue degree rebounded rapidly. Meanwhile, red light prolonged the driver's awake time. Different from blue light alone, this effect can remain stable for a long time. Based on these observations, an algorith was designed to quantify the degree of fatigue and detect its rising trend. In the early stage, the red light is used to prolong the awake time and the blue light to suppress when the fatigue value increases, so as to maximize the awake driving time. The result showed that our device prolonged the awake driving time of the drivers by 1.95 times and reduced fatigue during driving: the quantitative value of fatigue degree generally decreased by about 0.2 times. In most experiments, the subjects were able to complete four hours of safe driving, which reached the maximum length of continuous driving at night allowed by China laws. In conclusion, our system changes the assisting system from a reminder to a helper, thus effectively reducing the driving risk.

Preparation and Characteristics of Na2HPO4·12H2O-K2HPO4·3H2O/SiO2 Composite Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage.

In this paper, a series of eutectic hydrated salts was obtained by mixing Na2HPO4·12H2O (DHPD) with K2HPO4·3H2O (DHPT) in different proportions. With the increase in the content of DHPT, the phase transition temperature and melting enthalpy of eutectic hydrated salts decreased gradually. Moreover, the addition of appropriate deionized water improved the thermal properties of eutectic hydrated salts. Colloidal silicon dioxide (SiO2) was selected as the support carrier to adsorb eutectic hydrated salts, and the maximum content of eutectic hydrated salts in composite PCMs was 70%. When the content of the nucleating agent (Na2SiO3·9H2O) was 5%, the supercooling degree of composite PCMs was reduced to the minimum of 1.2 °C. The SEM and FT-IR test results showed that SiO2 and eutectic hydrated salts were successfully combined, and no new substances were formed. When the content of DHPT was 3%, the phase transition temperature and melting enthalpy of composite PCMs were 26.5 °C and 145.3 J/g, respectively. The results of thermogravimetric analysis and heating-cooling cycling test proved that composite PCMs had good thermal reliability and stability. The application performance of composite PCMs in prefabricated temporary houses was investigated numerically. The results indicated that PCM panels greatly increased the Grade I thermal comfort hours and reduced energy consumption. Overall, the composite PCM has great development potential building energy conservation.

MoS2-nanoflower enhanced programmable adsorption/desorption plasmonic detection for bipolar-molecules with high sensitivity.

High sensitivity and capturing ratio are strongly demanded for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors when applied in detection of small molecules. Herein, an SPR sensor is combined with a novel smart material, namely, MoS2 nanoflowers (MNFs), to demonstrate programmable adsorption/desorption of small bipolar molecules, i.e., amino acids. The MNFs overcoated on the plasmonic gold layer increase the sensitivity by 25% compared to an unmodified SPR sensor, because of the electric field enhancement at the gold surface. Furthermore, as the MNFs have rich edge sites and negatively charged surfaces, the MNF-SPR sensors exhibit not only much higher bipolar-molecule adsorption capability, but also efficient desorption of these molecules. It is demonstrated that the MNF-SPR sensors enable controllable detection of amino acids by adjusting solution pH according to their isoelectric points. In addition, the MNFs decorated on the plasmonic interface can be as nanostructure frameworks and modified with antibody, which allows for specific detection of proteins. This novel SPR sensor provides a new simple strategy for pre-screening of amino acid disorders in blood plasma and a universal high-sensitive platform for immunoassay.

Preparation of TTO/UF resin microcapsule via in situ polymerisation and modelling of its slow release.

For slow release of tea tree oil (TTO), TTO were encapsulated by urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin via in situ polymerisation. The effects of curing time and drying condition on particle size, and TTO loading of the TTO/UF microcapsules were investigated. The results indicated that TTO/UF resin microcapsules with curing time of 80 min had narrow size distribution and good wall cover. Drying at ambient was better to maintain the TTO content than drying at oven. The loading of TTO with curing time of 80 min can be up to 45 wt.% of the mass-proportion to the prepared microcapsules, and more than 90 wt.% of the loaded TTO could be sustainably released in about 5 days. Moreover, the release kinetics of TTO/UF microcapsules was well described by Ritger-Peppas model, revealing non-Fickian diffusion. Promisingly, TTO/UF microcapsules with good stability can be used as a slow release vehicle for antibacterial application.

Flower-Like Molybdenum Disulfide for Polarity-Triggered Accumulation/Release of Small Molecules.

Flower-like molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with rich edge sites has been prepared by the hydrothermal method. The edge sites possess polarity due to the noncentrosymmetric Mo-S on exposed (100) facets and thus show a strong electrostatic attraction toward polar species. The flower-like MoS2 can be used as small-molecule carriers for the model drug, Rhodamine B (RhB). The results prove that flower-like MoS2 have fast adsorption kinetics and perform a switchable accumulation/release with response to the solvent polarity. An outstanding reusability can be found in flower-like MoS2 due to little cargo retention, and the recycle of adsorption can be repeated 100 times with above 88.5% of the adsorption capacity retained. The flower-like MoS2 with solvent polarity-triggered loading/release can be extended to controlled release and color switch of display.