An Optimized Thermal Feedback Methodology for Accurate Temperature Control and High Amplification Efficiency during Fluorescent qPCR

Traditional qPCR instrument is combined with CMOS and a personal computer, and a photoelectric feedback automatic fluorescence detection system is designed to realize quantitative real-time PCR. The key to reaction efficiency lies in how to ensure that the temperature of the detection reagent completely matches the set temperature. However, for most traditional real-time fluorescent PCR systems, the temperature cycling is controlled by detecting the temperature of the heating well plate. It cannot directly measure the temperature in the reaction reagent PCR tube, which will cause the deviation in the actual temperature of the reagent to be as expected. Therefore, in this paper, we raise a method of directly detecting the temperature in the reaction tube of the reagent during the temperature cycling is adopted. According to the deviation from the expected value, the set temperature of the PCR instrument is adjusted to make the actual temperature of the reagent closer to the expected value. Through this method, we also realized the temperature calibration and optimization of the TEC circulation system we built. Experiments show that this low-cost, portable real-time quantitative PCR system can detect and analyze pathogens in situ

Weakly solvated EC-free linear alkyl carbonate electrolytes for Ni-rich cathode in rechargeable lithium battery

Summary: Ethylene carbonate (EC) in the electrolyte is not stable in cells operated at high voltage (≥4.4V) or with Li metal anode, which greatly reduce the energy density and lifetime of the rechargeable lithium battery. Herein, an EC-free linear alkyl carbonate-based electrolyte is developed, which enables the high-voltage (≥4.4V) and low-temperature (−30°C) application of Ni-rich cathode (LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2, NCM811). The EC-free system, consisting of LiPF6 and LiNO3 in ternary linear alkyl carbonates, possesses low viscosity, weakly solvated structure, and high interfacial stability with both the Ni-rich cathode and the Li metal anode to avoid continuous electrode/electrolyte side reactions and metal dissolution from the cathode. As a result, the Li||NCM811 cell delivers remarkable capacity retention of 93 ± 0.5% at the voltage of 4.4V and 88 ± 0.6% at 4.5V over 100 cycles. This study provides very encouraging perspective to develop EC-free carbonate-based electrolyte for high-voltage and low-temperature application in high-energy-density rechargeable lithium batteries