Quantitative FIB/SEM tomogram analysis of closed and open porosity of spheroidized graphite anode materials for LiBs applications.

The electrochemical behaviour of rounded graphite particles as anode material in a lithium-ion battery strongly depends on the particle properties. The spheroidization process directly affects these properties, including the open porosity that determines the extent of direct contact between liquid electrolyte and carbon surface. Therefore, the quantification of the proportion between open and closed pores is of great interest.

The Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach: elaborating ex ante knowledge in the field of urban mobility.

Background: In response to climate change challenges, a main policy emphasis is on transitioning the energy system from high- to low-carbon energy supply. The German energy transition is first and foremost based on political decisions and interventions. These decisions need to be assessed ex ante to ensure a good governance approach to energy policies, for which this paper introduces the Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach (IPPA).

Electrospun PVA/CuONPs/Bitter Gourd Nanofibers with Improved Cytocompatibility and Antibacterial Properties: Application as Antibacterial Wound Dressing.

Antibacterial and cyto-compatible tricomponent composite electrospun nanofibers comprised of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), copper II oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs), and (bitter gourd, MC) extract were examined for their potential application as an effective wound dressing. Metallic nanoparticles have a wide range of applications in biomedical engineering because of their excellent antibacterial properties; however, metallic NPs have some toxic effects as well. The green synthesis of nanoparticles is undergoing development with the goal of avoiding toxicity.

InO:H-Based Hole-Transport-Layer-Free Tin/Lead Perovskite Solar Cells for Efficient Four-Terminal All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells.

Narrow-band gap (NBG) Sn-Pb perovskites with band gaps of ∼1.2 eV, which correspond to a broad photon absorption range up to ∼1033 nm, are highly promising candidates for bottom solar cells in all-perovskite tandem photovoltaics. To exploit their potential, avoiding optical losses in the top layer stacks of the tandem configuration is essential.

Bioreplicated coatings for photovoltaic solar panels nearly eliminate light pollution that harms polarotactic insects.

Many insect species rely on the polarization properties of object-reflected light for vital tasks like water or host detection. Unfortunately, typical glass-encapsulated photovoltaic modules, which are expected to cover increasingly large surfaces in the coming years, inadvertently attract various species of water-seeking aquatic insects by the horizontally polarized light they reflect. Such polarized light pollution can be extremely harmful to the entomofauna if polarotactic aquatic insects are trapped by this attractive light signal and perish before reproduction, or if they lay their eggs in unsuitable locations.

Nanoparticle Wetting Agent for Gas Stream-Assisted Blade-Coated Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules.

Lab-scale perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have recently reached power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 25.2%. However, a reliable transfer of solution processing from spin coating to scalable printing techniques and a homogeneous deposition on large substrate sizes is challenging also caused by dewetting of the perovskite precursor solution on highly hydrophobic subjacent materials.

Universal Nanoparticle Wetting Agent for Upscaling Perovskite Solar Cells.

Solution-processed perovskite solar cells reach efficiencies over 23% on lab-scale. However, a reproducible transfer of these established processes to upscaling techniques or different substrate surfaces requires a highly controllable perovskite film formation. Especially, hydrophobic surfaces cause severe dewetting issues.

Influence of the Molecular Weight of Poly-Acrylic Acid Binder on Performance of Si-Alloy/Graphite Composite Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

In this study Si-alloy/graphite composite electrodes are manufactured using water-soluble poly-acrylic acid (PAA) binder of different molecular weights (250, 450 and 1250 kg mol). The study aims to assess the behavior of the different binders across all the steps needed for electrodes preparation and on their influence on the electrodes electrochemical behavior. At first, rheological properties of the water-based slurries containing Si-alloy, graphite, conductive carbon and PAA are studied.

Importance of Reaction Kinetics and Oxygen Crossover in aprotic Li-O2 Batteries Based on a Dimethyl Sulfoxide Electrolyte.

Although still in their embryonic state, aprotic rechargeable Li-O2 batteries have, theoretically, the capabilities of reaching higher specific energy densities than Li-ion batteries. There are, however, significant drawbacks that must be addressed to allow stable electrochemical performance; these will ultimately be solved by a deeper understanding of the chemical and electrochemical processes occurring during battery operations. We report a study on the electrochemical and chemical stability of Li-O2 batteries comprising Au-coated carbon cathodes, a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-based electrolyte and Li metal negative electrodes.

Assembly and electrochemical characterization of nanometer-scale electrode|solid electrolyte interfaces.

A technique is herein described for the assembly and characterization of nanometer-scale metal electrode|solid electrolyte interfaces of variable dimensions. The specific system examined in this work involves a sharp Pt tip attached to the piezo-driven head of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) allowing the tip to be inserted into (or retrieved from) a Nafion membrane placed normal to the direction of tip travel. The actual Pt|Nafion area of contact was determined by coulometric analysis of the characteristic voltammetric features of Pt, using the tip as the working electrode and a much larger Pt gauze attached to the other side of the Nafion as a counter-reference electrode, yielding for some of the interfaces examined values equivalent to as low as 35 000 Pt surface atoms.

Neural network scheme for the retrieval of total ozone from Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment data.

A novel approach to retrieving total ozone columns from the ERS2 GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment) spectral data has been developed. With selected GOME wavelength regions, from clear and cloudy pixels alike plus orbital and instrument data as input, a feed-forward neural network was trained to determine total ozone in a one-step inverse retrieval procedure. To achieve this training, ground-based total ozone measurements from the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Data Center (WOUDC) for the years 1996-2000, supplemented with Dobson-corrected Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data to provide global coverage, were collocated with GOME ground pixels into a training data set.