Back cover: Mn2+ or Mn3+? Investigating transition metal dissolution of manganese species in lithium ion battery electrolytes by capillary electrophoresis

A new CE method with ultraviolet–visible detection was developed in this study to investigate manganese dissolution in lithium ion battery electrolytes. The aqueous running buffer based on diphosphate showed excellent stabilization of labile Mn³⁺, even under electrophoretic conditions. The method was optimized regarding the concentration of diphosphate and modifier to obtain suitable signals for quantification. Additionally, the finally obtained method was applied on carbonate-based electrolytes samples. Dissolution experiments of the cathode material LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ (lithium nickel manganese oxide [LNMO]) in aqueous diphosphate buffer at defined pH were performed to investigate the effect of a transition metal-ion-scavenger on the oxidation state of dissolved manganese. Quantification of both Mn species revealed the formation of mainly Mn³⁺, which can be attributed to a comproportionation reaction of dissolved and complexed Mn²⁺ with Mn⁴⁺ at the surface of the LNMO structure. It was also shown that the formation of Mn³⁺ increased with lower pH. In contrast, dissolution experiments of LNMO in carbonate-based electrolytes containing LIPF₆ showed only dissolution of Mn²⁺.     

Multivariate analysis of dynamical processes

The analysis of multi-dimensional biomedical systems requires analysis techniques, which are able to deal with multivariate data consisting of both time series as well as point processes. Univariate and bivariate analysis techniques in the frequency domain for time series and point processes are established and investigated, although the number of investigations is strongly biased towards time series. Actual multivariate techniques for time series or hybrids of time series and point processes are scarcely addressed. Here, we present spectral analysis techniques which are able to analyse point processes as well as time series. Thereby, univariate, bivariate as well as multivariate techniques are discussed. Applications to simulated as well as real-world data reveal the abilities of the proposed techniques.     

Geometric Generalization of the Exponential Law

For the multivariate ℓ₁-norm symmetric distributions, which are generalizations of the n-dimensional exponential distribution with independent marginals, a geometric representation formula is given, together with some of its basic properties. This formula can especially be applied to a new developed and statistically well motivated system of sets. From that the distribution of a t-statistic adapted for the two-parameter exponential distribution and its generalizations is determined. Asymptotic normality of this adapted t-statistic is shown under certain conditions.     

Catalytic properties of MIL-101

A very high catalytic activity in the cyanosilylation reaction was observed for MIL-101, a chromium based metal-organic framework; moreover, MIL-101 is also a remarkably stable support for palladium in hydrogenation reactions, with significantly higher activity than e.g. palladium on activated carbon.