Facile preparation of flexible porous carbon fibers as self-supporting sulfur cathode hosts for high-performance Li-S batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to be prospective candidates of high-energy-storage systems due to their high theoretical specific capacity. However, poor electrical conductivity, severe polysulfide shuttle effect and low sulfur utilization generally cause inferior electrochemical performance, hence hindering the practical development.  In this study, common makeup cotton derived self-supporting porous carbon fibers (SPCFs) are prepared by a facile simultaneous activation/pyrolysis process accompanied by the effectively regulation of a KHCO activator.

Risk assessment of fluoride and arsenic in groundwater and a scenario analysis for reducing exposure in Inner Mongolia.

In contrast to Mongolia, family-owned land in Inner Mongolia is separated by fences, preventing the free movement of nomads and leading people to rely heavily on the same source of groundwater for their domestic water needs. Therefore, it is important to clarify groundwater quality and understand the associated human health concerns. To evaluate the risks of drinking groundwater to human health in Inner Mongolia, we examined groundwater quality by field surveys, a human health risk analysis, and a scenario analysis.