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Trace doping of multiple elements enables stable battery cycling of LiCoO2 at 4.6 V
LiCoO2 is a dominant cathode material for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries due to its high volumetric energy density, which could potentially be further improved by charging to high voltages. However, practical adoption of high-voltage charging is hindered by LiCoO2’s structural instability at the deeply delithiated state and the associated safety concerns. Here, we achieve stable cycling of LiCoO2 at 4.6 V (versus Li/Li+) through trace Ti–Mg–Al co-doping. Using state-of-the-art synchrotron X-ray imaging and spectroscopic techniques, we report the incorporation of Mg and Al into the LiCoO2 lattice, which inhibits the undesired phase transition at voltages above 4.5 V. We also show that, even in trace amounts, Ti segregates significantly at grain boundaries and on the surface, modifying the microstructure of the particles while stabilizing the surface oxygen at high voltages. These dopants contribute through different mechanisms and synergistically promote the cycle stability of LiCoO2 at 4.6 V
Computational Study of Tunneling Transistor Based on Graphene Nanoribbon
Tunneling field-effect transistors (FETs) have been intensely explored
recently due to its potential to address power concerns in nanoelectronics. The
recently discovered graphene nanoribbon (GNR) is ideal for tunneling FETs due
to its symmetric bandstructure, light effective mass, and monolayer-thin body.
In this work, we examine the device physics of p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs using
atomistic quantum transport simulations. The important role of the edge bond
relaxation in the device characteristics is identified. The device, however,
has ambipolar I-V characteristics, which are not preferred for digital
electronics applications. We suggest that using either an asymmetric
source-drain doping or a properly designed gate underlap can effectively
suppress the ambipolar I-V. A subthreshold slope of 14mV/dec and a
significantly improved on-off ratio can be obtained by the p-i-n GNR tunneling
FETs
Delegating Quantum Computation in the Quantum Random Oracle Model
A delegation scheme allows a computationally weak client to use a server's
resources to help it evaluate a complex circuit without leaking any information
about the input (other than its length) to the server. In this paper, we
consider delegation schemes for quantum circuits, where we try to minimize the
quantum operations needed by the client. We construct a new scheme for
delegating a large circuit family, which we call "C+P circuits". "C+P" circuits
are the circuits composed of Toffoli gates and diagonal gates. Our scheme is
non-interactive, requires very little quantum computation from the client
(proportional to input length but independent of the circuit size), and can be
proved secure in the quantum random oracle model, without relying on additional
assumptions, such as the existence of fully homomorphic encryption. In practice
the random oracle can be replaced by an appropriate hash function or block
cipher, for example, SHA-3, AES.
This protocol allows a client to delegate the most expensive part of some
quantum algorithms, for example, Shor's algorithm. The previous protocols that
are powerful enough to delegate Shor's algorithm require either many rounds of
interactions or the existence of FHE. The protocol requires asymptotically
fewer quantum gates on the client side compared to running Shor's algorithm
locally.
To hide the inputs, our scheme uses an encoding that maps one input qubit to
multiple qubits. We then provide a novel generalization of classical garbled
circuits ("reversible garbled circuits") to allow the computation of Toffoli
circuits on this encoding. We also give a technique that can support the
computation of phase gates on this encoding.
To prove the security of this protocol, we study key dependent message(KDM)
security in the quantum random oracle model. KDM security was not previously
studied in quantum settings.Comment: 41 pages, 1 figures. Update to be consistent with the proceeding
versio
Non-collinear magnetic structure and anisotropic magnetoelastic coupling in cobalt pyrovanadate Co2V2O7
The Co2V2O7 is recently reported to exhibit amazing magnetic field-induced
magnetization plateaus and ferroelectricity, but its magnetic ground state
remains ambiguous due to its structural complexity. Magnetometry measurements,
and time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction (NPD) have been employed to study
the structural and magnetic properties of Co2V2O7, which consists of two
non-equivalent Co sites. Upon cooling below the Ne\'el temperature TN = 6.3 K,
we observe magnetic Bragg peaks at 2K in NPD which indicated the formation of
long range magnetic order of Co2+ moments. After symmetry analysis and magnetic
structure refinement, we demonstrate that Co2V2O7 possesses a complicated
non-collinear magnetic ground state with Co moments mainly located in b-c plane
and forming a non-collinear spin-chain-like structure along the c-axis. The ab
initio calculations demonstrate that the non-collinear magnetic structure is
more stable than various ferromagnetic states at low temperature. The
non-collinear magnetic structure with canted up-up-down-down spin configuration
is considered as the origin of magnetoelectric coupling in Co2V2O7 because the
inequivalent exchange striction induced by the spin-exchange interaction
between the neighboring spins is the driving force of ferroelectricity.
Besides, it is found that the deviation of lattice parameters a and b is
opposite below TN, while the lattice parameter c and stay almost constant below
TN, evidencing the anisotropic magnetoelastic coupling in Co2V2O7.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Cartilage stem/progenitor cells are activated in osteoarthritis via interleukin-1β/nerve growth factor signaling
Introduction: Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are key regulators in the pathogenesis of inflammatory arthritis; specifically, IL-1β is involved in tissue degeneration and NGF is involved in joint pain. However, the cellular and molecular interactions between IL-1β and NGF in articular cartilage are not known. Cartilage stem/progenitor cells (CSPCs) have recently been identified in osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage on the basis of their migratory properties. Here we hypothesize that IL-1β/NGF signaling is involved in OA cartilage degeneration by targeting CSPCs. Method: NGF and NGF receptor (NGFR: TrkA and p75NTR) expression in healthy and OA human articular cartilage and isolated chondrocytes was determined by immunostaining, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry and western blot. Articular cartilage derived stem/progenitor cells were collected and identified by stem/progenitor cell characteristics. 3D-cultured CSPC pellets and cartilage explants were treated with NGF and NGF neutralizing antibody, and extracellular matrix changes were examined by sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) release and MMP expression and activity. Results: Expression of NGF, TrkA and p75NTR was found to be elevated in human OA cartilage. Cellular changes upon IL-1β and/or NGF treatment were then examined. NGF mRNA and NGFR proteins levels were upregulated in cultured chondrocytes exposed to IL-1β. NGF was chemotactic for cells isolated from OA cartilage. Cells isolated on the basis of their chemotactic migration towards NGF demonstrated stem/progenitor cell characteristics, including colony-forming ability, multi-lineage differentiation potential, and stem cell surface markers. The effects of NGF perturbation in cartilage explants and 3D-cultured CSPCs were next analyzed. NGF treatment resulted in extracellular matrix catabolism indicated by increased sGAG release and MMP expression and activity; conversely, treatment with NGF neutralizing antibody inhibited increased MMP levels, and enhanced tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloprotease-1 (TIMP1) expression in OA cartilage explants. NGF blockade with neutralizing antibody also affected cartilage matrix remodeling in 3D-CSPC pellet cultures. Conclusion: Our results strongly suggest that NGF signaling is a contributing factor in articular cartilage degeneration in OA, which likely targets a specific subpopulation of progenitor cells, the CSPCs, affecting their migratory and matrix remodeling activities. These findings provide novel cellular/signaling therapeutic targets in osteoarthritic cartilage
White Lines and 3d-Occupancy for the 3d Transition-Metal Oxides
Electron energy-loss spectrometry was employed to measure the white lines at
the L23 absorption edges of the 3d transition-metal oxides and lithium
transition-metal oxides. The white-line ratio (L3/L2) was found to increase
between d^0 and d^5 and decrease between d^5 and d^10, consistent with previous
results for the transition metals and their oxides. The intensities of the
white lines, normalized to the post-edge background, are linear for the 3d
transition-metal oxides and lithium transition-metal oxides. An empirical
correlation between normalized white-line intensity and 3d occupancy is
established. It provides a method for measuring changes in the 3d-state
occupancy. As an example, this empirical relationship is used to measure
changes in the transition-metal valences of Li_{1-x}Ni_{0.8}Co_{0.2}O_2 in the
range of 0 < x < 0.64. In these experiments the 3d occupancy of the nickel ion
decreased upon lithium deintercalation, while the cobalt valence remained
constant.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
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