Glass and glass ceramic electrodes and solid electrolyte materials for lithium ion batteries: A review

Due to its distinct network structure, lack of a grain boundary, and isotropic qualities, glass has been the subject of extensive research. Lithium ion batteries can have their capacity and safety increased by using glassy electrode and electrolyte materials. We discuss the properties and uses of several types of glass and glass ceramic as anodes, including tin oxide glass, vanadium oxide glass, and so on. Metal-organic framework (MOF) materials are also investigated as a new generation of high-performance anode materials. We present the usage of glassy MOF materials to overcome MOF material volume change during charge and discharge, as well as the order and disorder transition of certain MOF materials during charge and discharge. The use of vanadium-based glass as a cathode material is also discussed. These materials have the potential to be employed as electrode materials in the next generation of lithium- ion batteries. In addition, the application of glass, especially sulfide glass, as an all-solid-state battery electrolyte and the effect of mixed anion effect on improving the conductivity of solid electrolyte were introduced.</p

Peregrine and saker falcon genome sequences provide insights into evolution of a predatory lifestyle

As top predators, falcons possess unique morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations that allow them to be successful hunters: for example, the peregrine is renowned as the world's fastest animal. To examine the evolutionary basis of predatory adaptations, we sequenced the genomes of both the peregrine (Falco peregrinus) and saker falcon (Falco cherrug), and we present parallel, genome-wide evidence for evolutionary innovation and selection for a predatory lifestyle. The genomes, assembled using Illumina deep sequencing with greater than 100-fold coverage, are both approximately 1.2 Gb in length, with transcriptome-assisted prediction of approximately 16,200 genes for both species. Analysis of 8,424 orthologs in both falcons, chicken, zebra finch and turkey identified consistent evidence for genome-wide rapid evolution in these raptors. SNP-based inference showed contrasting recent demographic trajectories for the two falcons, and gene-based analysis highlighted falcon-specific evolutionary novelties for beak development and olfaction and specifically for homeostasis-related genes in the arid environment–adapted saker

Search for light dark matter from atmosphere in PandaX-4T

We report a search for light dark matter produced through the cascading decay of $\eta$ mesons, which are created as a result of inelastic collisions between cosmic rays and Earth's atmosphere. We introduce a new and general framework, publicly accessible, designed to address boosted dark matter specifically, with which a full and dedicated simulation including both elastic and quasi-elastic processes of Earth attenuation effect on the dark matter particles arriving at the detector is performed. In the PandaX-4T commissioning data of 0.63 tonne$\cdot$year exposure, no significant excess over background is observed. The first constraints on the interaction between light dark matter generated in the atmosphere and nucleus through a light scalar mediator are obtained. The lowest excluded cross-section is set at $5.9 \times 10^{-37}{\rm cm^2}$ for dark matter mass of $0.1$ MeV$/c^2$ and mediator mass of 300 MeV$/c^2$. The lowest upper limit of $\eta$ to dark matter decay branching ratio is $1.6 \times 10^{-7}$

A Search for Light Fermionic Dark Matter Absorption on Electrons in PandaX-4T

We report a search on a sub-MeV fermionic dark matter absorbed by electrons with an outgoing active neutrino using the 0.63 tonne-year exposure collected by PandaX-4T liquid xenon experiment. No significant signals are observed over the expected background. The data are interpreted into limits to the effective couplings between such dark matter and electrons. For axial-vector or vector interactions, our sensitivity is competitive in comparison to existing astrophysical bounds on the decay of such dark matter into photon final states. In particular, we present the first direct detection limits for an axial-vector (vector) interaction which are the strongest in the mass range from 25 to 45 (35 to 50) keV/c$^2$

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO

Potential of Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrino Detection at JUNO

JUNO is an underground neutrino observatory under construction in Jiangmen, China. It uses 20kton liquid scintillator as target, which enables it to detect supernova burst neutrinos of a large statistics for the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) and also pre-supernova neutrinos from the nearby CCSN progenitors. All flavors of supernova burst neutrinos can be detected by JUNO via several interaction channels, including inverse beta decay, elastic scattering on electron and proton, interactions on C12 nuclei, etc. This retains the possibility for JUNO to reconstruct the energy spectra of supernova burst neutrinos of all flavors. The real time monitoring systems based on FPGA and DAQ are under development in JUNO, which allow prompt alert and trigger-less data acquisition of CCSN events. The alert performances of both monitoring systems have been thoroughly studied using simulations. Moreover, once a CCSN is tagged, the system can give fast characterizations, such as directionality and light curve

Bimetallic phosphide wrapped in hierarchically structured P, N co-doped porous carbon nanocatalysts for enhanced rechargeable Lisingle bondO2 batteries

Recently, transition-metal phosphides (TMPs) cathode materials possess tremendous prospects for lithium‑oxygen batteries (LOBs). However, designing highly efficient TMPs cathode materials achieving long-cycling stability still faces numerous obstacles. The hierarchical porous carbon is expected to be a remarkable substrate for transition-metal composites because of its high specific surface area and superior electrical conductivity. Herein, NiCoP@PNC hybrid catalysts consisting of NiCoP nanoparticles and heteroatom-doped carbon skeleton were prepared via simple freeze-drying and high-temperature pyrolysis methods. The NiCoP@PNC composites with a high specific surface area and rich interior porosity can effectively accelerate charge transfer and enhance electrocatalytic activity. Compared with either Co2P@PNC and PNC electrodes, the NiCoP@PNC cathode delivers an enhanced specific capacity of 14,028.1 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1. The NiCoP@PNC catalytic LOBs can reach 196 cycles with the fixed capacities of 500 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1 due to the increased electron transfer efficiency and improved electrochemical reaction kinetics. This approach provides a facile method to prepare TMP-based composite materials for developing high-performance LOBs

MOF-derived CoP nanoparticles anchored on P, N co-doped carbon nanoframework as robust electrocatalyst for rechargeable Li-O2 batteries

Currently, transition-metal phosphides (TMPs) coupled with heteroatom-doped carbon materials have attracted promising prospects in lithium‑oxygen (Li-O2) batteries. The CoP electrocatalysts have been extensively studied as popular electrode materials because of their efficient catalytic activity. However, numerous obstacles remain in optimizing synthetic techniques and exploring electrocatalytic mechanisms for CoP-based electrocatalysts. Herein, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-derived CoP nanoparticles anchored on P, N co-doped carbon nanoframeworks (CoP@PNCFs) are successfully designed at different phosphorization temperatures. The effects of the concentration of CoP active species, and the amount of P and N doping on the electrochemical performances are comparatively investigated and compared for different catalysts. The optimal catalyst, CoP@PNCF-700, displays high CoP active component, pyridinic-N and graphitic-N content, and abundant defect structures to enhance the electrochemical activity. More importantly, the CoP@PNCF-700 catalytic Li-O2 batteries deliver a high discharge specific capacity of 9630.5 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 and a prominent long cycling stability of 187 cycles with a fixed capacity of 500 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1. This effort provides a facile strategy for designing cost-effective electrocatalysts for other energy-storage systems.<br/