Energy production and storage have become key issues concerning our welfare in daily life. Present challenges for batteries are twofold. In the first place, the increasing demand for powering systems of portable electronic devices and zero-emission vehicles stimulates research towards high energy and high voltage systems. In the second place, low cost batteries are required in order to advance towards smart electric grids that integrate discontinuous energy flow from renewable sources, optimizing the performance of clean energy sources. Na-ion batteries can be the key for the second point, because of the huge availability of sodium, its low price and the similarity of both Li and Na insertion chemistries. In spite of the lower energy density and voltage of Na-ion based technologies, they can be focused on applications where the weight and footprint requirement is less drastic, such as electrical grid storage. Much work has to be done in the field of Na-ion in order to catch up with Li-ion technology. Cathodic and anodic materials must be optimized, and new electrolytes will be the key point for Na-ion success. This review will gather the up-to-date knowledge about Na-ion battery materials, with the aim of providing a wide view of the systems that have already been explored and a starting point for the new research on this battery technology.
ROS TRENDS in BiotechnologyFigure 3. Schematic representation of toxicology effect of multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) in bacterial biofilms. Monodisperse superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs (SPIONs; black spheres) are coated with silver (gray shell), gold (yellow shell), and silver ring-coated, gold-coated SPIONs; silver ring-coated SPIONs and silver ring-coated, gold-coated SPIONs have strong toxic effects on bacterial biofilms, by penetration into the biofilms. Both SPIONs cores and the intermediate gold shell have the capability to induce heat by applying alternative magnetic and laser fields, respectively; the produced heat can be used as additional means to escalate bacterial death using these NPs. The magnified section in the center illustrates the irreversible effects of NPs and their ions on the various parts of the bacteria. § DOI of original article: http://dx
Electrochemical energy storage is one of the main societal challenges to humankind in this century. The performances of classical Li-ion batteries (LIBs) with non-aqueous liquid electrolytes have made great advances in the past two decades, but the intrinsic instability of liquid electrolytes results in safety issues, and the energy density of the state-of-the-art LIBs cannot satisfy the practical requirement. Therefore, rechargeable lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have been intensively investigated considering the high theoretical capacity of lithium metal and its low negative potential. However, the progress in the field of non-aqueous liquid electrolytes for LMBs has been sluggish, with several seemingly insurmountable barriers, including dendritic Li growth and rapid capacity fading. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) offer a perfect solution to these safety concerns and to the enhancement of energy density. Traditional SPEs are dual-ion conductors, in which both cations and anions are mobile and will cause a concentration polarization thus leading to poor performances of both LIBs and LMBs. Single lithium-ion (Li-ion) conducting solid polymer electrolytes (SLIC-SPEs), which have anions covalently bonded to the polymer, inorganic backbone, or immobilized by anion acceptors, are generally accepted to have advantages over conventional dual-ion conducting SPEs for application in LMBs. A high Li-ion transference number (LTN), the absence of the detrimental effect of anion polarization, and the low rate of Li dendrite growth are examples of benefits of SLIC-SPEs. To date, many types of SLIC-SPEs have been reported, including those based on organic polymers, organic-inorganic hybrid polymers and anion acceptors. In this review, a brief overview of synthetic strategies on how to realize SLIC-SPEs is given. The fundamental physical and electrochemical properties of SLIC-SPEs prepared by different methods are discussed in detail. In particular, special attention is paid to the SLIC-SPEs with high ionic conductivity and high LTN. Finally, perspectives on the main challenges and focus on the future research are also presented.
Objective The goal of the current study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of copper nanoparticle (CuNP)-induced hepato-and nephrotoxicity by proteomic analysis that was phenotypically anchored to conventional toxicological outcomes. Methods We employed specialized proteomic techniques, namely two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry to analyze changes in protein expression in rat liver and kidney after 5 days of oral copper nanoparticles administration. Serum biochemical analyses and histopathological examinations of livers and kidneys of all rats were also performed. ResultsAll of the results indicated that the adverse effects observed in the rats treated with 100 mg/kg/d nanocopper were less than those induced by 200 mg/kg/d CuNPs. Exposure to CuNPs at a dose of 200 mg/kg/d for 5 d can induce overt hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity through a mechanism that mainly involves scattered dot hepatocytic necrosis and widespread renal proximal tubule necrosis. In addition, significantly elevated copper accumulation, decreased thiolgroups and elevated malondialdehyde levels were also observed in the liver and kidney tissues. The perturbed proteins identified in the rat livers and kidneys are mainly involved in the respiratory and energy metabolism, antioxidant defense, phase II metabolism, lipid metabolism, urea cycle, creatine biosynthesis, intracellular calcium homeostasis, and cytoskeletal organization. No abnormalities were identified in the liver and kidney tissues from the rats treated with 200 mg/kg microcopper. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage may be the initial events in the hepato-and nephrotoxicity of copper nanoparticles. The down-regulation of phase II metabolic enzymes in the liver and the decrease in calcium-binding proteins in the kidney appear to be specific modes of action in these target organs. Our findings offer new directions for future research aiming to identify specific biomarkers of the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of copper nanoparticles.
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