Rational Designs for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Low Electrolyte/Sulfur Ratio

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are considered a promising next-generation energy storage device owing to their high theoretical energy density. However, their overall performance is limited by several critical issues such as lithium polysulfide (PS) shuttles, low sulfur utilization, and unstable Li metal anodes. Despite recent huge progress, the electrolyte/sulfur ratio (E/S) used is usually very high (≥20 µL mg⁻¹), which greatly reduces the practical energy density of devices. To push forward LSBs from the lab to the industry, considerable attention is devoted to reducing E/S while ensuring the electrochemical performance. To date, however, few reviews have comprehensively elucidated the possible strategies to achieve that purpose. In this review, recent advances in low E/S cathodes and anodes based on the issues resulting from low E/S and the corresponding solutions are summarized. These will be beneficial for a systematic understanding of the rational design ideas and research trends of low E/S LSBs. In particular, three strategies are proposed for cathodes: preventing PS formation/aggregation to avoid inadequate dissolution, designing multifunctional macroporous networks to address incomplete infiltration, and utilizing an imprison strategy to relieve the adsorption dependence on specific surface area. Finally, the challenges and future prospects for low E/S LSBs are discussed.     

Simulation Analysis of the Heat Transfer Performance of an N-type Microchannel Heat Exchanger

A microchannel heat exchanger with a triangular wave and symmetrical triangular wave structure was proposed in this paper. In addition, a new N-type microchannel heat exchanger was developed to balance the heat transfer performance and pressure drop. The relationship between different configurations of the N structure of the microchannel and the heat transfer performance was analyzed. The results showed that, at a high inlet flow rate, the symmetrical triangular wave microchannel had the best heat transfer performance, followed by the triangular wave microchannel and the straight channel. At the same flow rate, the degree of disturbance of the fluid was highest in the symmetrical N-structure microchannel, and an excellent heat transfer effect was observed.     

Lead-free sodium niobate nanowires with strong piezo-catalysis for dye wastewater degradation

In this work, the hydrothermally-synthesized sodium niobate nanowires were used to decompose Rhodamine B dye solution through the piezo-catalytic effect. With the sodium niobate catalyst, a high piezo-catalytic degradation ratio of ～80% was achieved under the excitation of vibration for the Rhodamine B dye solution (～5?mg/l). These active species in the catalytic process, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals with the strong oxidation ability, were also observed, which confirmed the key role of piezoelectric effect for piezo-catalysis. The piezo-catalysis of sodium niobate nanowires provides a high-efficiency and reusable tool in application in depredating the dye wastewater.     

Super-oleophilicity Co-doping Co2+/F-/TiO2 one-dimensional nanotubes for photocatalytic denitrification of light oil

In this study, a simple hydrothermal synthesis method was adapted for the preparation of Co-doping Co²⁺/F^-/TiO₂ nanotubes photocatalyst, and the micro-nano structure of catalysts prepared by biomimetic technology which makes the catalyst have super-oleophilicity property. Co²⁺/F^-/TiO₂ revealed improved photocatalytic performance for denitrification of light oil compared to single TiO₂ photocatalysts. The enhance of photocatalytic activity can be attributed to narrowing the band gap, increasing the light response wavelength and exposing more highly active crystal surfaces due to synergistic effects of Co²⁺ and F^? in the photocatalyst.     

Stabilizing temperature-capacitance dependence of (Sr,Pb, Bi)TiO3-Bi4Ti3O12 solutions for energy storage

(1-x)Sr_0.7Pb_0.15Bi_0.1TiO₃-xBi₄Ti₃O₁₂ ((1-x)SPBT-xBIT, x = 0-0.125) bulk ceramics were developed and calcined via the solid-state method, aimed at the application of pulsed power capacitors. The phase structures, temperature stability, hysteresis loop, and discharge properties were systematically investigated. Considering both the temperature stability and dielectric properties, 0.925SPBT-0.075BIT bulk ceramics with a capacitance variation satisfying the X7R specification were developed for pulsed power capacitors. The energy storage density was 0.252 J/cm³, and the ceramics showed high temperature stability at 80 kV/cm. The discharge current waveforms of the 0.925SPBT-0.075BIT ceramics were recorded. A high discharge power density of approximately 1.01 × 10⁸ W/kg with an 8 Ω load resistor and short discharge period of 84 ns were achieved at 50 kV/cm. The good temperature stability properties and high power density show that the 0.925SPBT-0.075BIT ceramics are well suited for pulsed power capacitors with a wide temperature range.     

Semantic word shifts in a scientific domain

Understanding semantic word shifts in scientific domains is essential for facilitating interdisciplinary communication. Using a data set of published papers in the field of information retrieval (IR), this paper studies the semantic shifts of words in IR based on mining per-word topic distribution over time. We propose that semantic word shifts not only occur over time, but also over topics. The shifts are examined from two perspectives, the topic-level and the context-level. According to the over-time word-topic distribution, stable words and unstable words are recognized. The diverging and converging trends in the unstable type reveal characteristics of the topic evolution process. The context-level shifts are further detected by similarities between word vectors. Our work associates semantic word shifts with the evolving of topics, which facilitates a better understanding of semantic word shifts from both topics and contexts.     

Headspace fingerprinting approach to identify the major pathway influencing volatile patterns of vinasse-cured duck processed by high pressure,as well as its impact on physicochemical and sensory attributes

As a decisive attribute, flavour could be influenced by HP treatments through multiple physical and chemical pathways within the high pressure (HP)-assisted meat curing process. This investigation aimed to identify the major pathway influencing volatile flavour patterns of two representative vinasse-cured duck (VCD) products with HP treatments (150–300 MPa/15 min), including wet and dry types, by employing headspace fingerprinting as an untargeted approach. Results suggested that HP treatments greatly lowered moisture contents and increased Warner-Bratzler shear force and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances of the cured samples. According to multivariate models, the volatile flavour patterns of the HP-processed VCD could be clearly separated from the unprocessed samples, but the VCD pressurised at different intensities represented similar volatile fingerprinting, which was validated by e-nose analysis. The discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model outlined vinasse-derived ethanol, acetic acid, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, phenethyl alcohol and 2-methyl-3-octanone as the major discriminant aromas across the unpressurised and pressurised samples.