Revealing how internal sensors in a smart battery impact the local graphite lithiation mechanism.

Smart batteries, i.e., equipped with internal and external sensors, are emerging as promising solutions to enhance battery state of health and optimize operating conditions.

Multi-scale characterization of lead-rich deposited particles originating from the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Fire is a major hazard for built heritage. The fire at Notre-Dame on April 15, 2019 completely destroyed the woodframe and the lead roof (about 285 tons) almost entirely melted due to high temperatures. A part of the molten lead escaped into the atmosphere in the form of aerosols while the majority remains within cathedral enclosure in the form of deposits, metallic remains, spatters etc.

Li iontronics in single-crystalline T-NbO thin films with vertical ionic transport channels.

The niobium oxide polymorph T-NbO has been extensively investigated in its bulk form especially for applications in fast-charging batteries and electrochemical (pseudo)capacitors. Its crystal structure, which has two-dimensional (2D) layers with very low steric hindrance, allows for fast Li-ion migration. However, since its discovery in 1941, the growth of single-crystalline thin films and its electronic applications have not yet been realized, probably due to its large orthorhombic unit cell along with the existence of many polymorphs.

Clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential in patients with venous thromboembolism.

Over the last decade, the concept of Clonal haematopoiesis of undetermined potential (CHIP) has emerged. Low frequency somatic mutations in hematopoietic cells can occur with age and might allow formation of clones in individuals with no characterized haematological pathology. These CHIP mutations are associated with an increased risk of cancer or atherothrombosis, and their prevalence are more and more studied in pathologies with an inflammatory component.

Operando monitoring of single-particle kinetic state-of-charge heterogeneities and cracking in high-rate Li-ion anodes.

To rationalize and improve the performance of newly developed high-rate battery electrode materials, it is crucial to understand the ion intercalation and degradation mechanisms occurring during realistic battery operation. Here we apply a laboratory-based operando optical scattering microscopy method to study micrometre-sized rod-like particles of the anode material NbWO during high-rate cycling. We directly visualize elongation of the particles, which, by comparison with ensemble X-ray diffraction, allows us to determine changes in the state of charge of individual particles.

Operando optical tracking of single-particle ion dynamics in batteries.

The key to advancing lithium-ion battery technology-in particular, fast charging-is the ability to follow and understand the dynamic processes occurring in functioning materials under realistic conditions, in real time and on the nano- to mesoscale. Imaging of lithium-ion dynamics during battery operation (operando imaging) at present requires sophisticated synchrotron X-ray or electron microscopy techniques, which do not lend themselves to high-throughput material screening. This limits rapid and rational materials improvements.

Charge Transfer Band Gap as an Indicator of Hysteresis in Li-Disordered Rock Salt Cathodes for Li-Ion Batteries.

Disordered rock salt cathodes showing both anionic and cationic redox are being extensively studied for their very high energy storage capacity. Mn-based disordered rock salt compounds show much higher energy efficiency compared to the Ni-based materials as a result of the different voltage hysteresis, 0.5 and 2 V, respectively.

Higher energy and safer sodium ion batteries via an electrochemically made disordered NaV(PO)F material.

The growing need to store an increasing amount of renewable energy in a sustainable way has rekindled interest for sodium-ion battery technology, owing to the natural abundance of sodium. Presently, sodium-ion batteries based on NaV(PO)F/C are the subject of intense research focused on improving the energy density by harnessing the third sodium, which has so far been reported to be electrochemically inaccessible. Here, we are able to trigger the activity of the third sodium electrochemically via the formation of a disordered NaV(PO)F phase of tetragonal symmetry (I4/mmm space group).

Time-Dependent Probability Density Functions and Attractor Structure in Self-Organised Shear Flows.

We report the time-evolution of Probability Density Functions (PDFs) in a toy model of self-organised shear flows, where the formation of shear flows is induced by a finite memory time of a stochastic forcing, manifested by the emergence of a bimodal PDF with the two peaks representing non-zero mean values of a shear flow. Using theoretical analyses of limiting cases, as well as numerical solutions of the full Fokker-Planck equation, we present a thorough parameter study of PDFs for different values of the correlation time and amplitude of stochastic forcing. From time-dependent PDFs, we calculate the information length ( L ), which is the total number of statistically different states that a system passes through in time and utilise it to understand the information geometry associated with the formation of bimodal or unimodal PDFs.