Charge-Transfer Kinetics of Alloying in Mg-Sb and Li-Bi Liquid Metal Electrodes

© The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. All rights reserved. Liquid metal batteries (LMBs) comprising electrodes of two different liquid metal alloys separated by a molten salt electrolyte have been shown to be high rate-capability energy storage devices. In an effort to specify the limits of the LMB performance envelope, i.e., the electrical output of the cell, the charge transfer kinetics at the positive electrodes in Li-Bi and Mg-Sb have been characterized by electroanalytical methods. The variation in exchange current density, j0, with depth of discharge yielded average values of 60 A/cm2 in Li-Bi and 12 A/cm2 for Mg-Sb. These values confirm the highly facile nature of the liquid-liquid metal-salt interface and indicate that the current in these cells is not limited by electron transfer

Electrochemical Determination of the Thermodynamic Properties of Lithium-Antimony Alloys

The variation in the high temperature thermodynamic properties of the Li-Sb system with temperature (425–775ºC) and composition (x[subscript Li] = 0.01–0.75) was determined by electromotive force (emf) measurements in a cell configured as follows: Li-Bi reference electrode (x[subscript Bi] = 0.35) | eutectic of LiCl-KCl or LiCl-LiF | Li-Sb alloy. On the basis of these data the Li-Sb couple was deemed attractive for storage of electrical energy in a liquid metal battery. In addition, an updated Li-Sb binary phase diagram is proposed.TOTAL (Firm)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John Reed Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Fun

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Summary: Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health