Energetics and kinetics of Li intercalation in irradiated graphene scaffolds

In the present study we investigate the irradiation-defects hybridized graphene scaffold as one potential building material for the anode of Li-ion batteries. Designating the Wigner V22 defect as a representative, we illustrate the interplay of Li atoms with the irradiation-defects in graphene scaffolds. We examine the adsorption energetics and diffusion kinetics of Li in the vicinity of a Wigner V22 defect using density functional theory calculations. The equilibrium Li adsorption sites at the defect are identified and shown to be energetically preferable to the adsorption sites on pristine (bilayer) graphene. Meanwhile the minimum energy paths and corresponding energy barriers for Li migration at the defect are determined and computed. We find that while the defect is shown to exhibit certain trapping effects on Li motions on the graphene surface, it appears to facilitate the interlayer Li diffusion and enhance the charge capacity within its vicinity because of the reduced interlayer spacing and characteristic symmetry associated with the defect. Our results provide critical assessment for the application of irradiated graphene scaffolds in Li-ion batteries.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

Image analysis and statistical modelling for measurement and quality assessment of ornamental horticulture crops in glasshouses

Image analysis for ornamental crops is discussed with examples from the bedding plant industry. Feed-forward artificial neural networks are used to segment top and side view images of three contrasting species of bedding plants. The segmented images provide objective measurements of leaf and flower cover, colour, uniformity and leaf canopy height. On each imaging occasion, each pack was scored for quality by an assessor panel and it is shown that image analysis can explain 88.5%, 81.7% and 70.4% of the panel quality scores for the three species, respectively. Stereoscopy for crop height and uniformity is outlined briefly. The methods discussed here could be used for crop grading at marketing or for monitoring and assessment of growing crops within a glasshouse during all stages of production

Polyoxometalate (POM)-layered double hydroxides (LDH) composite materials: design and catalytic applications

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are an important large class of two-dimensional (2D) anionic lamellar materials that possess flexible modular structure, facile exchangeability of inter-lamellar guest anions and uniform distribution of metal cations in the layer. Owing to the modular accessible gallery and unique inter-lamellar chemical environment, polyoxometalates (POMs) intercalated with LDHs has shown a vast array of physical properties with applications in environment, energy, catalysis, etc. Here we describe how polyoxometalate clusters can be used as building components for the construction of systems with important catalytic properties. This review article mainly focuses on the discussion of new synthetic approaches developed recently that allow the incorporation of the element of design in the construction of a fundamentally new class of materials with pre-defined functionalities in catalytic applications. Introducing the element of design and taking control over the finally observed functionality we demonstrate the unique opportunity for engineering materials with modular properties for specific catalytic applications

Reduced hole mobility due to the presence of excited states in poly-(3-hexylthiophene)

Copyright 2007 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. This article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 93, 233306 (2008) and may be found at

Removal of mercury (II) from aqueous solution by using rice residues

Sorption potential of rice residues for Hg(II) removal from aqueous solution was investigated. Rice husk (RH) and rice straw (RS) were selected and treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The raw and modified adsorbents were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and BET surface area measurements. The effects of pH, initial ion concentration, and agitation time on the removal process were studied in batch adsorption experiments. Two simple kinetic models, which are pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order, were tested to investigate the adsorption mechanisms. The kinetic data fits to pseudo second order model with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99 for all adsorbents. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir compared to Freundlich isotherm models. Alkali-treated adsorbent obtained larger surface area and RH-NaOH showed highest adsorption capacity followed by RS-Pure > RH-Pure > RS-NaOH. The maximum removal efficiency obtained by RH-NaOH and RS-Pure was 42 mg/l (80%) at pH 6.5 and with 2 days contact time (for 50 mg/l initial concentration and 25 mg adsorbents)