Chemical Trends in the Lattice Thermal Conductivity of Li(Ni, Mn, Co)O₂ (NMC) Battery Cathodes

While the transport of ions and electrons in conventional Li-ion battery cathode materials is well understood, our knowledge of the phonon (heat) transport is still in its infancy. We present a first-principles theoretical investigation of the chemical trends in the phonon frequency dispersion, mode lifetimes, and thermal conductivity in the series of layered lithium transition-metal oxides Li(NixMnyCoz)O2 (x + y + z = 1). The oxidation and spin states of the transition metal cations are found to strongly influence the structural dynamics. Calculations of the thermal conductivity show that LiCoO2 has highest average conductivity of 45.9 W·m–1·K–1 at T = 300 K and the largest anisotropy, followed by LiMnO2 with 8.9 W·m–1·K–1 and LiNiO2 with 6.0 W·m–1·K–1. The much lower thermal conductivity of LiMnO2 and LiNiO2 is found to be due to 1–2 orders of magnitude shorter phonon lifetimes. We further model the properties of binary and ternary transition metal combinations to examine the possible effects of mixing on the thermal transport. These results serve as a guide to ongoing work on the design of multicomponent battery electrodes with more effective thermal management

Patterns of distribution and conservation status of freshwater fishes in South Africa

The combined fish collection databases of the Albany Museum and the J.l.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology are used to identify hotspots of endemism and threatened fish distributions in South Africa. Hotspots of fish species richness occur in the north-eastern lowveld sectors of South Africa and along the ecotone between the tropical/ subtropical and temperate faunal zones. Hotspots of endemic fish richness occur within both the tropical and temperate faunal regions, notably in the Olifants River system, Western Cape and in areas of high relief such as the Cape Fold Mountains, the Amatola-Winterberg (Eastern Cape), and the Drakensberg Escarpment (Kwazulu/ Natal-Eastern Transvaal). Threatened taxa are concentrated in the hotspots of endemic species richness which coincide largely with areas of major river conservation concern. There is limited scope for fish conservation within the ambit of formal (or informal) declared reserves, and the survival of the fauna depends on the success of river catchment conservation management. The value of museum collections in identifying areas of conservation concern for freshwater fishes is emphasized, and highlights the importance of well-preserved voucher specimens for biodiversity conservation

Exploring the Impact of Galaxy Interactions over Seven Billion Years with CAS

We explore galaxy assembly over the last seven billion years by characterizing "normal" galaxies along the Hubble sequence, against strongly disturbed merging/interacting galaxies with the widely used CAS system of concentration (C), asymmetry (A), and 'clumpiness' (S) parameters, as well as visual classification. We analyze Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS images of ~4000 intermediate and high mass (> 10^9 solar masses) galaxies from the GEMS survey, one of the largest HST surveys conducted to date in two filters. We explore the effectiveness of the CAS criteria [A>S and A>~0.35] in separating normal and strongly disturbed galaxies at different redshifts, and quantify the recovery and contamination rate. We also compare the average star formation rate and the cosmic star formation rate density as a function of redshift between normal and interacting systems identified by CAS.Comment: ASP conference proceedings of 2007 Bash Symposium. Latex with asp2006.sty. 4 pages, 4 figure

Geometry of Star-Forming Galaxies from SDSS, 3D-HST and CANDELS

We determine the intrinsic, 3-dimensional shape distribution of star-forming galaxies at 0<z<2.5, as inferred from their observed projected axis ratios. In the present-day universe star-forming galaxies of all masses 1e9 - 1e11 Msol are predominantly thin, nearly oblate disks, in line with previous studies. We now extend this to higher redshifts, and find that among massive galaxies (M* > 1e10 Msol) disks are the most common geometric shape at all z < 2. Lower-mass galaxies at z>1 possess a broad range of geometric shapes: the fraction of elongated (prolate) galaxies increases toward higher redshifts and lower masses. Galaxies with stellar mass 1e9 Msol (1e10 Msol) are a mix of roughly equal numbers of elongated and disk galaxies at z~1 (z~2). This suggests that galaxies in this mass range do not yet have disks that are sustained over many orbital periods, implying that galaxies with present-day stellar mass comparable to that of the Milky Way typically first formed such sustained stellar disks at redshift z~1.5-2. Combined with constraints on the evolution of the star formation rate density and the distribution of star formation over galaxies with different masses, our findings imply that, averaged over cosmic time, the majority of stars formed in disks.Comment: Published in ApJ Letter