Batteries are a key technology in modern society. They are used to power electric and hybrid electric vehicles and to store wind and solar energy in smart grids. Electrochemical devices with high energy and power densities can currently be powered only by batteries with organic liquid electrolytes. However, such batteries require relatively stringent safety precautions, making large-scale systems very complicated and expensive. The application of solid electrolytes is currently limited because they attain practically useful conductivities (10(-2) S cm(-1)) only at 50-80 °C, which is one order of magnitude lower than those of organic liquid electrolytes. Here, we report a lithium superionic conductor, Li(10)GeP(2)S(12) that has a new three-dimensional framework structure. It exhibits an extremely high lithium ionic conductivity of 12 mS cm(-1) at room temperature. This represents the highest conductivity achieved in a solid electrolyte, exceeding even those of liquid organic electrolytes. This new solid-state battery electrolyte has many advantages in terms of device fabrication (facile shaping, patterning and integration), stability (non-volatile), safety (non-explosive) and excellent electrochemical properties (high conductivity and wide potential window).

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The lithium diffusion pathway in the LGPS structure visualized through MEM analysis assisted in elucidating the conductivity pathway changes with temperature.

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We report the preparation of thick electrode all-solid-state lithium-ion cells in which a large geometric capacity of 15.7 mAh cm was achieved at room temperature using a 600 μm-thick cathode layer. The effect of ionic conductivity on the discharge performance was then examined using two different materials for the solid electrolyte. Furthermore, important morphological information regarding the tortuosity factor was electrochemically extracted from the capacity-current data. The effect of tortuosity on cell performance was also quantitatively discussed.

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Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2 and 4 have recently been identified as possible signal transducers for various bacterial ligands. To investigate the roles of TLRs in the recognition of periodontopathic bacteria by the innate immune system, a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) nuclear factor-B (NF-B)-dependent reporter cell line, 7.7, which is defective in both TLR2-and TLR4-dependent signaling pathways was transfected with human CD14 and TLRs. When the transfectants were exposed to freeze-dried periodontopathic bacteria, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Capnocytophaga ochracea, and Fusobacterium nucleatum, and a non-oral bacterium, Escherichia coli, all species of the bacteria induced NF-B-dependent CD25 expression in 7.7/huTLR2 cells. Although freeze-dried A. actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, and E. coli also induced CD25 expression in 7.7/huTLR4 cells, freeze-dried P. gingivalis did not. Similarly, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) extracted from A. actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, and E. coli induced CD25 expression in 7.7/huTLR4 cells, but LPS from P. gingivalis and C. ochracea did not. Furthermore, LPS from P. gingivalis and C. ochracea attenuated CD25 expression in 7.7/huTLR4 cells induced by repurified LPS from E. coli. LPS from P. gingivalis and C. ochracea also inhibited the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) from U373 cells, the secretion of IL-1␤ from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and ICAM-1 expression in human gingival fibroblasts induced by repurified LPS from E. coli. These findings indicated that LPS from P. gingivalis and C. ochracea worked as antagonists for human TLR4. The antagonistic activity of LPS from these periodontopathic bacteria may be associated with the etiology of periodontal diseases.

In mimicry of biological systems such as DNA, the fabrication of molecular assemblies and supramolecular arrays is one of the current research topics in supramolecular chemistry. 1 A wide variety of abiotic self-assembling systems such as catenanes and double helices have been described. 1 Additionally, artificial selfassembled receptors, where their substrate binding sites or cavities are organized by metal templation 2 or by self-association of monomeric ligands, 3 have been proposed to bind target substrates. The self-assembly of a receptor monolayer with a biomolecule such as ATP at the air-water interface has also been reported. 4 As a novel example of self-assembly for optical ion sensing, a K + ion-induced self-assembly has been described which consists of pyrene-tethered benzo-15-crown-5, γ-cyclodextrin, and K + ion. 5 This ternary complex, formed in water with high selectivity and sensitivity for K + , can be probed by pyrene dimer emission. 5 Thus, it is expected that the self-assembly of a chromophore-tethered receptor 6 by specific substrate binding offers a novel approach to the sensing of substrates in solution.Here we report a particularly simple self-assembling system for sensing of anions, with a pyrene-functionalized monoguanidinium receptor 1. The assembled system was quantitatively analyzed by means of 1 H NMR and fluorescence measurements. Although little attention has been paid to the structural analysis of such molecular assemblies, 7 determination of stoichiometry and structure is essential for understanding the photophysical origin of fluorescence and for making a rational design of a sensing system to distinguish structurally related substrates. The receptor 1 was found to self-assemble to form a 2:1 (host:guest) complex with high selectivity for biologically relevant pyrophosphate 8 (P 2 O 7 4-, PPi) in MeOH. From the complexation-induced changes in chemical shifts of the pyrenyl protons of 1, it is concluded that a sandwich-like ground-state pyrene dimer is present in the self-assembly. Formation of the self-assembly results in a remarkable change in the ratio of emission intensities of excimer to monomer due to the pyrenyl moiety of 1. It should be noted that only when the self-assembly is formed does 1 show a change in fluorescence spectrum. The present system, therefore, shows high selectivity for PPi that can promote formation of the self-assembly. In addition, calibration via ratiometry becomes possible by exploiting both monomer and excimer emissions. For anionic species, such emission ratio sensing has been known in only a few instances, 8b,9a despite its importance from a practical viewpoint.1 was synthesized by reacting 1-pyrenemethylamine hydrochloride with 3,5-dimethylpyrazole-1-carboxamidine nitrate in THF. Recrystallization from THF/MeOH gave 1 as nitrate salt. 10 The effect of anions on the fluorescence spectrum of 1 (8.0 × 10 -4 M) was examined in MeOH, 11 and the results are shown in Figure 1. Spectrum a was measured in the absence of anions, where 1 showed a structur...