The escalating focus on environmental concerns and the swift advancement of eco-friendly biodegradable batteries raises a pressing demand for enhanced material design in the battery field. The traditional polypropylene (PP) that is monopolistically utilized in the commercial LIBs is hard to recycle. In this work, we prepare a novel water degradable separators via the cross-linking of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and dibasic acid (tartaric acid, TA). Through the integration of non-solvent liquid-phase separation, we successfully produced a thermally stable PVA-TA membrane with tunable thickness and a high level of porosity. These specially engineered PVA-TA separators were implemented in LiFePO
Currently, the impact of nanoparticles (NPs) on plants is a provocative and promising field. As well-known, dicotyledon and monocotyledon show significant differences in the structural features of the roots and iron absorption mechanisms, and hence it is very meaningful to carry out the comparative study on the diverse impact of NPs on the physiological behaviors of monocotyledon and dicotyledon. In this study, two typical monocotyledon and dicotyledon crops, watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and maize (Zea mays L.), were exposed to 0-100 mg/L iron oxide nanoparticles (γ-Fe2O3 NPs). The physiological parameters, such as seed germination percentage, root lengths, malonaldehyde (MDA) contents, chlorophyll contents, ferric reductase activity, and iron contents of shoots and roots were determined. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations showed that γ-Fe2O3 could enter both two plant root epidermis cell, but no translocation of γ-Fe2O3 NPs from roots to shoots was found in the two plants. Results showed that 20 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs promoted seed germination of watermelon seeds by 14.5% and maize seeds by 10.1%, respectively. And 20 and 50 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs could accelerate root elongation of the two plants. Malondialdehyde (MDA) production, an indicator of lipid peroxidation, was no increased by exposure to 20-100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs in watermelon plants, however, 100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs initially induced an antioxidant defense in maize but then the stress was eliminated. 20-100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs could increase the chlorophyll contents of watermelon during the duration of exposure, while chlorophyll contents of maize exposure to γ-Fe2O3 NPs were higher than control in the first week but no positive effects were observed in the next two weeks. It's noteworthy that chlorophyll contents of maize were far higher than that of watermelon in the first week, which might be explained by the higher efficiency of iron uptake in strategy II plants.
Thermal batteries with a high power density and rapid activation time are crucial for improving the fast response ability of sophisticated weapons. In this study, an Ni-NiCl 2 composite was prepared via hydrogen reduction and employed as a cathode material. Discharge tests on a battery assembled using the fabricated composite revealed that its initial internal resistance decreased and the activation time reduced. Notably, the Ni-NiCl 2 cathode increased the energy output by 47% (from 6.76 to 9.94 Wh in NiCl 2 and Ni-NiCl 2 , respectively) with a cut-off voltage of 25 V; the power density of the novel battery system reached 11.4 kW/kg. The excellent performance of the thermal battery benefited from the high electrode potential and low internal resistance of Ni-NiCl 2 . This study contributes to the development of high-performance electrode materials for next-generation thermal battery-related technologies.
Nutrient-containing nanomaterials have been developed as fertilizers to foster plant growth and agricultural yield through root applications. However, if applied through leaves, how these nanomaterials, e.g. γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs), influence the plant growth and health are largely unknown. This study is aimed to assess the effects of foliar-applied γ-Fe2O3 NPs and their ionic counterparts on plant physiology of Citrus maxima and the associated mechanisms. No significant changes of chlorophyll content and root activity were observed upon the exposure of 20–100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs and Fe3+. In C. maxima roots, no oxidative stress occurred under all Fe treatments. In the shoots, 20 and 50 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs did not induce oxidative stress while 100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs did. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the dosages of γ-Fe2O3 NPs and Fe3+ and iron accumulation in shoots. However, the accumulated iron in shoots was not translocated down to roots. We observed down-regulation of ferric-chelate reductase (FRO2) gene expression exposed to γ-Fe2O3 NPs and Fe3+ treatments. The gene expression of a Fe2+ transporter, Nramp3, was down regulated as well under γ-Fe2O3 NPs exposure. Although 100 mg/L γ-Fe2O3 NPs and 20–100 mg/L Fe3+ led to higher wax content, genes associated with wax formation (WIN1) and transport (ABCG12) were downregulated or unchanged compared to the control. Our results showed that both γ-Fe2O3 NPs and Fe3+ exposure via foliar spray had an inconsequential effect on plant growth, but γ-Fe2O3 NPs can reduce nutrient loss due to their the strong adsorption ability. C. maxima plants exposed to γ-Fe2O3 NPs and Fe3+ were in iron-replete status. Moreover, the biosynthesis and transport of wax is a collaborative and multigene controlled process. This study compared the various effects of γ-Fe2O3 NPs, Fe3+ and Fe chelate and exhibited the advantages of NPs as a foliar fertilizer, laying the foundation for the future applications of nutrient-containing nanomaterials in agriculture and horticulture.
Abstract Membranes with fast and selective ions transport are highly demanded for energy storage devices. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), bearing uniform interlayer galleries and abundant hydroxyl groups covalently bonded within two-dimensional (2D) host layers, make them superb candidates for high-performance membranes. However, related research on LDHs for ions separation is quite rare, especially the deep-going study on ions transport behavior in LDHs. Here, we report a LDHs-based composite membrane with fast and selective ions transport for flow battery application. The hydroxide ions transport through LDHs via vehicular (standard diffusion) & Grotthuss (proton hopping) mechanisms is uncovered. The LDHs-based membrane enables an alkaline zinc-based flow battery to operate at 200 mA cm − 2 , along with an energy efficiency of 82.36% for 400 cycles, which is among the highest efficiencies for zinc-based flow batteries. This study offers an in-depth understanding of ions transport in LDHs and further inspires their applications in other energy-related devices.
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