A Highly Efficient All-Solid-State Lithium/Electrolyte Interface Induced by an Energetic Reaction

The energetic chemical reaction between Zn(NO₃)₂ and Li is used to create a solid-state interface between Li metal and Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ (LLZTO) electrolyte. This interlayer, composed of Zn, ZnLi_x alloy, Li₃N, Li₂O, and other species, possesses strong affinities with both Li metal and LLZTO and affords highly efficient conductive pathways for Li⁺ transport through the interface. The unique structure and properties of the interlayer lead to Li metal anodes with longer cycle life, higher efficiency, and better safety compared to the current best Li metal electrodes operating in liquid electrolytes while retaining comparable capacity, rate, and overpotential. All-solid-state Li||Li cells can operate at very demanding current–capacity conditions of 4 mA cm⁻²–8 mAh cm⁻². Thousands of hours of continuous cycling are achieved at Coulombic efficiency >99.5 % without dendrite formation or side reactions with the electrolyte.     

Far-field spectral intensity characteristics of a time-dependent gaussian pulse from a circular mask with a linear circular apertures array

The spectral characteristics of a time-dependent Gaussian pulse from a circular mask with a circular apertures array in the far field are theoretically investigated and presented with numerical results. A rigorous treatment, with the Fresnel diffraction integral, to the spectral changes of a time-dependent Gaussian-shaped pulse passing through a circular mask with a linear circular apertures array is given and some properties of the spectral intensity under different situations are provided. Also an accurate and concrete criteria judging the condition for the red shift, blue shift of spectral intensity distributions is obtained as well.     

A simple fabrication method for mechanically robust superhydrophobic surface by hierarchical aluminum hydroxide structures

Superhydrophobic surfaces with uniformly superhydrophobic surface where nano-scale structures were fabricated by alkali surface modification method and self-assembled monolayer coating. To enhance mechanical durability of the superhydrophobicity, we propose the fabrication process for dual-scale hierarchical structures combining both microstructure via sandblasting techniques and the nanostructured aluminum hydroxide layer. The superhydrophobic surfaces fabricated by both methods exhibited a high water contact angle and very low contact angle hysteresis. By forming the hierarchical structure, the mechanical durability of superhydrophobic aluminum hydroxide surface was improved. The resulting hierarchical structures are suitable for diverse applications of aluminum in various industrial areas, including self-cleaning, anti-frosting, and microfluidic devices for rigorous environments.     

Influence of reactive oxygen species on the sterilization of microbes

The influence of reactive oxygen species on living cells, including various microbes, is discussed. A sterilization experiment with bacterial endospores reveals that an argon–oxygen plasma jet very effectively kills endospores of Bacillus atrophaeus (ATCC 9372), thereby indicating that oxygen radicals are the key element of sterilization. Ozone in acidic water also kills endospores of B. atrophaeus very effectively, demonstrating the capability of cleaning a large surface area contaminated by toxic biological agents. The viable microbe numbers after the contact with acidic ozone water directly correlate with increase in the ozone decay time in water after lowering the pH value of water from pH = 7 to 4 indicating that acidic ozone water is an effective means of sterilizing microbes. However, advanced cells such as fertilized eggs were not greatly influenced by the acidic ozone water. Also, both human and canine cells after treatment with the acidic ozone water prospered without showing signs of stress due to ozone in acidic water. This study suggests that antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase can be developed in the advanced cells to protect themselves from attacks by reactive oxygen species. Meanwhile, the advanced cells utilize oxygen by certain enzymes, proliferating life on earth.     

Electron-beam assisted growth of hexagonal boron-nitride layer

It has been known that a good quality h-BN layer can only be grown within a narrow temperature window of 1020–1100 K on a copper substrate. We found that the growth temperature window on Cu(111) surface could be lowered up to 100 K by ionizing and/or exciting borazine precursor gas with an electron-beam. The structures of a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) layers grown at various substrate temperatures on a Cu(111) were examined using scanning tunneling microscopy. We found that the grown h-BN film exhibits highly inert behavior with wide bandgap semiconductor characteristics.     

Pure steam condensation model with laminar film in a vertical tube

A new physical model for calculating the liquid film thickness and condensation heat transfer coefficient in a vertical condenser tube is proposed by considering the effects of gravity, liquid viscosity, and vapor flow in the core region of the flow. To estimate the velocity profile in the liquid film, the liquid film was assumed to be in Couette flow forced by the interfacial velocity at the liquid–vapor interface. For simplifying the calculation procedures, the interfacial velocity was estimated by introducing an empirical power-law velocity profile. The resulting film thickness and heat transfer coefficient from the model were compared with the experimental data and the results obtained from the other condensation models. The results demonstrated that the proposed model described the liquid film thinning effect by the vapor shear flow and predicted the condensation heat transfer coefficient from experiments reasonably well.     

A generalized Cayley-Hamilton theorem for polynomials with matrix coefficients

A family F of square matrices of the same order is called a quasi-commuting family if (AB-BA)C=C(AB-BA) for all A,B,C∈F where A,B,C need not be distinct. Let f_k(x₁,x₂,…,x_p),(k=1,2,…,r), be polynomials in the indeterminates x₁,x₂,…,x_p with coefficients in the complex field C, and let M₁,M₂,…,M_r be n×n matrices over C which are not necessarily distinct. Let and let δ_F(x₁,x₂,…,x_p)=detF(x₁,x₂,…,x_p). In this paper, we prove that, for n×n matrices A₁,A₂,…,A_p over C, if {A₁,A₂,…,A_p,M₁,M₂,…,M_r} is a quasi-commuting family, then F(A₁,A₂,…,A_p)=O implies that δ_F(A₁,A₂,…,A_p)=O.     

Hydrazine-selective chromogenic and fluorogenic probe based on levulinated coumarin

Chemosignaling of hydrazine by selective deprotection of levulinated coumarin was investigated. In the presence of hydrazine, levulinated coumarin was selectively deprotected, resulting in chromogenic and fluorescent turn-on type signaling. The selective naked-eye detectable signaling of hydrazine was possible in the presence of representative metal ions and common anions in an aqueous environment.     

Optimal Gradient Estimates and Asymptotic Behaviour for the Vlasov–Poisson System with Small Initial Data

The Vlasov–Poisson system describes interacting systems of collisionless particles. For solutions with small initial data in three dimensions it is known that the spatial density of particles decays as t ⁻³ at late times. In this paper this statement is refined to show that each derivative of the density which is taken leads to an extra power of decay, so that in N dimensions for N \geqq 3{N \geqq 3} the derivative of the density of order k decays as t ^−N-k . An asymptotic formula for the solution at late times is also obtained.