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We report the crystal orientation tuning of LiFePO(4) nanoplates for high rate lithium battery cathode materials. Olivine LiFePO(4) nanoplates can be easily prepared by glycol-based solvothermal process, and the largest crystallographic facet of the LiFePO(4) nanoplates, as well as so-caused electrochemical performances, can be tuned by the mixing procedure of starting materials. LiFePO(4) nanoplates with crystal orientation along the ac facet and bc facet present similar reversible capacities of around 160 mAh g(-1) at 0.1, 0.5, and 1 C-rates but quite different ones at high C-rates. The former delivers 156 mAh g(-1) and 148 mAh g(-1) at 5 C-rate and 10 C-rate, respectively, while the latter delivers 132 mAh g(-1) and only 28 mAh g(-1) at 5 C-rate and 10 C-rate, respectively, demonstrating that the crystal orientation plays important role for the performance of LiFePO(4) nanoplates. This paves a facile way to prepare high performance LiFePO(4) nanoplate cathode material for lithium ion batteries.

More than LiP service: The adsorption of red phosphorus into porous carbon provides a composite anode material for lithium-ion batteries. The amorphous nano phosphorus, in the carbon matrix, shows highly reversible lithium storage with high coulombic efficiencies and stable cycling capacity of 750 mAh per gram composite.

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Due to low gas temperatures and high densities of active species, atmospheric-pressure glow discharges ͑APGDs͒ would have potential applications in the fields of plasma-based sterilization, gene mutation, etc. In this letter, the genetic effects of helium radio-frequency APGD plasmas with the plasmid DNA and oligonucleotide as the treated biomaterials are presented. The experimental results show that it is the chemically active species, instead of heat, ultraviolet radiation, intense electric field, and/or charged particles, that break the double chains of the plasmid DNA. The genetic effects depend on the plasma operating parameters, e.g., power input, helium flow rate, processing distance, time, etc.

Aims:  Avermectins are major antiparasitic agents used commercially in animal health, agriculture and human infections. To improve the fermentation efficiency of avermectins, for the first time a plasma jet generated by a novel atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) was employed to generate mutations in Streptomyces avermitilis. Methods and Results:  The APGD plasma jet, driven by a radio frequency (RF) power supply with water‐cooled and bare‐metallic electrodes, was used as a new mutation method to treat the spores of S. avermitilis. The plasma jet yielded high total (over 30%) and positive (about 21%) mutation rates on S. avermitilis, and a mutated strain, designated as G1‐1 with high productivity of avermectin B1a and genetic stability, was obtained. Conclusions:  Because of the low jet temperature, the high concentrations of the chemically reactive species and the flexibility of its operation, the RF APGD plasma jet has a strong mutagenic effect on S. avermitilis. Significance and Impact of the Study:  This is a proof‐of‐concept study for the use of an RF APGD plasma jet for inducing mutations in microbes. We have shown that the RF APGD plasma jet could be developed as a promising and convenient mutation tool for the fermentation industry and for use in biotechnology research.

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The bulky yet flexible substituent on the N-aryl moieties of α-diimine ligands may adopt different conformations and provide dynamic steric hindrance in the process of ethylene (co)polymerization.