Metabolite Profiling and Biological Activity Assessment of Anthers and Pollen Using UPLC-QTOF-MS.

is an important economic oil and medicinal crop. Its anthers are often used to make tea in China with beneficial effects on human health. However, the metabolite profiles, as well as potential biological activities of anthers and the pollen within anthers have not been systematically analyzed, which hinders the improvement of utilization.

Optimization of In Vitro Germination, Viability Tests and Storage of Pollen.

is an important woody oil crop mainly cross-pollinated. However, the low yield has become an important factor restricting the industrial development of Cross-pollination has become one of the important measures to increase the seed yield. Therefore, conservation of pollen with high vitality is crucial to ensure successful pollination of .

Cooperative Shielding of Bi-Electrodes via In Situ Amorphous Electrode-Electrolyte Interphases for Practical High-Energy Lithium-Metal Batteries.

Solid-state Li-metal batteries offer a great opportunity for high-security and high-energy-density energy storage systems. However, redundant interfacial modification layers, intended to lead to an overall satisfactory interfacial stability, dramatically debase the actual energy density. Herein, a dual-interface amorphous cathode electrolyte interphase/solid electrolyte interphase CEI/SEI protection (DACP) strategy is proposed to conquer the main challenges of electrochemical side reactions and Li dendrites in hybrid solid-liquid batteries without sacrificing energy density via LiDFOB and LiBF in situ synergistic conversion.

-Difluoroethylene Carbonate as an Electrolyte Additive for Microsized SiO@C Anodes.

Microsized SiO has been vigorously investigated as an advanced anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. However, its practical application is seriously hampered by its huge volume variation during the repeated (de)lithiation process, which destroys the microparticle structure and results in rapid capacity fading. Herein, we propose the usage of -difluoroethylene carbonate (DFEC) as an electrolyte additive to maintain the structural integrity of microsized SiO with a uniform carbon layer (SiO@C).

P3/O3 Integrated Layered Oxide as High-Power and Long-Life Cathode toward Na-Ion Batteries.

Low-cost and stable sodium-layered oxides (such as P2- and O3-phases) are suggested as highly promising cathode materials for Na-ion batteries (NIBs). Biphasic hybridization, mainly involving P2/O3 and P2/P3 biphases, is typically used to boost their electrochemical performances. Herein, a P3/O3 intergrown layered oxide (Na Ni Mn Ti O ) as high-rate and long-life cathode for NIBs via tuning the amounts of Ti substitution in Na Ni Mn Ti O (x = 0, 1/6, 1/3, 2/3) is demonstrated.

Steering elementary steps towards efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution via size-dependent Ni/NiO nanoscale heterosurfaces.

Alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), consisting of Volmer and Heyrovsky/Tafel steps, requires extra energy for water dissociation, leading to more sluggish kinetics than acidic HER. Despite the advances in electrocatalysts, how to combine active sites to synergistically promote both steps and understand the underlying mechanism remain largely unexplored. Here, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations predict that NiO accelerates the Volmer step while metallic Ni facilitates the Heyrovsky/Tafel step.

Air-Stable and High-Voltage Layered P3-Type Cathode for Sodium-Ion Full Battery.

The development of highly efficient and stable cathodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is strategically critical to achieving large-scale electrical energy storage. Creating air-stable and high-voltage layered cathodes for sodium-ion full batteries still remains a challenge. Herein, we describe a rational design and preparation of a stable P3-NaNiMgMnO cathode.

Cascade anchoring strategy for general mass production of high-loading single-atomic metal-nitrogen catalysts.

Although single-atomically dispersed metal-N on carbon support (M-NC) has great potential in heterogeneous catalysis, the scalable synthesis of such single-atom catalysts (SACs) with high-loading metal-N is greatly challenging since the loading and single-atomic dispersion have to be balanced at high temperature for forming metal-N. Herein, we develop a general cascade anchoring strategy for the mass production of a series of M-NC SACs with a metal loading up to 12.1 wt%.

Uniform Nucleation of Lithium in 3D Current Collectors via Bromide Intermediates for Stable Cycling Lithium Metal Batteries.

The conductive framework is generating considerable interest for lithium metal anodes to accommodate Li deposition, due to its ability to reduce electrode current density by increasing the deposition area. However, in most cases, the electroactive surface area is not fully utilized for the nucleation of Li in 3D current collectors, especially under high current densities. Herein, uniform nucleation of Li in the conductive skeleton is achieved by a two-step synergetic process arising from CuBr- and Br-doped graphene-like film.

Scalable solid-state synthesis of coralline-like nanostructured Co@CoNC electrocatalyst for Zn-air batteries.

A facile and scalable solid-state synthesis strategy is developed to produce hierarchical coralline-like nanostructured electrocatalysts with cobalt nanoparticles and Co-NX sites for efficient oxygen reduction reaction, opening up an avenue for the mass production of non-precious metal catalysts for metal-air batteries and fuel cells, etc.

Encased Copper Boosts the Electrocatalytic Activity of N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Hydrogen Evolution.

Nitrogen (N)-doped carbons combined with transition-metal nanoparticles are attractive as alternatives to the state-of-the-art precious metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we demonstrate a strategy for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) Cu-encased N-doped carbon nanotube arrays which are directly grown on Cu foam (Cu@NC NT/CF) as a new efficient HER electrocatalyst. Cu nanoparticles are encased here instead of common transition metals (Fe, Co, or Ni) for pursuing a well-controllable morphology and an excellent activity by taking advantage of its more stable nature at high temperature and in acidic or alkaline electrolyte.

Microbial-Phosphorus-Enabled Synthesis of Phosphide Nanocomposites for Efficient Electrocatalysts.

Transition-metal phosphides have recently been identified as low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts that are highly active for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Unfortunately, to achieve a controlled phosphidation of nonprecious metals toward a desired nanostructure of metal phosphides, the synthetic processes usually turned complicated, high-cost, and even dangerous due to the reaction chemistry related to different phosphorus sources. It becomes even more challenging when considering the integration of those active metal phosphides with the structural engineering of their conductive matrix toward a favorable architecture for optimized catalytic performance.

Simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferometry based on independent component analysis.

An independent component analysis-based simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferometry approach is proposed. By using a one-time phase-shifting procedure, the simultaneous phase-shifting operation of two illumination wavelengths can be implemented, and then the background intensity and two orthogonal independent components of each single wavelength can be separated from a sequence of simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferograms with random phase shifts. Subsequently, the wrapped phases of single wavelength can be calculated by above two orthogonal independent components; thus the unambiguous phase of synthetic wavelength can be achieved.

Dynamic phase measurement based on spatial carrier-frequency phase-shifting method.

Combining spatial carrier-frequency phase-shifting (SCPS) technique and Fourier transform method, from one-frame spatial carrier-frequency interferogram (SCFI), a novel phase retrieval method is proposed and applied to dynamic phase measurement. First, using the SCPS technique, four-frame phase-shifting sub-interferograms can be constructed from one-frame SCFI. Second, using Fourier transform method, the accurate phase-shifts of four sub-interferograms can be extracted rapidly, so there is no requirement of calibration for the carrier-frequency in advance compared to most existing SCPS methods.

Dual-wavelength interferometry based on the spatial carrier-frequency phase-shifting method.

From a single-frame dual-wavelength spatial carrier-frequency interferogram (SCFI), we propose a novel phase retrieval method of dual-wavelength interferometry (DWI). First, by continuously moving the intercepted area pixel-by-pixel in a single-frame SCFI along the horizontal and vertical directions, we construct a sequence of phase-shifting sub-interferograms. Second, the wrapped phases of each single wavelength can be retrieved from those phase-shifting sub-interferograms via the least-squares iteration algorithm.