BINA

TiO2 material has gained significant attention for large‐scale energy storage due to its abundant, low‐cost, and environmentally friendly properties, as well as the availability of various nanostructures. Phosphorus doping has been established as an effective technique for improving electronic conductivity and managing the slow ionic diffusion kinetics of TiO2. In this study, non‐doped and phosphorus doped TiO2 materials were synthesized using sodium alginate biopolymer as chelating agent. The prepared materials were evaluated as anode materials for Lithium‐Ion Batteries (LIBs). The electrodes exhibit remarkable electrochemical performance, including a high reversible capacity of 235 mAh g‐1 at 0.1C and excellent first coulombic efficiency of 99%. An integrated approach, combining Operando XRD and Ex‐situ XAS, comprehensively investigates the relationship between phosphorus doping, material …

Background Machine learning (ML) has gained significant attention for classifying immune states in adaptive immune receptor repertoires (AIRRs) to support the advancement of immunodiagnostics and therapeutics. Simulated data are crucial for the rigorous benchmarking of AIRR-ML methods. Existing approaches to generating synthetic benchmarking datasets result in the generation of naive repertoires missing the key feature of many shared receptor sequences (selected for common antigens) found in antigen-experienced repertoires. Results We demonstrate that a common approach to generating simulated AIRR benchmark datasets can introduce biases, which may be exploited for undesired shortcut learning by certain ML methods. To mitigate undesirable access to true signals in simulated AIRR datasets, we devised a simulation strategy (simAIRR) that constructs …

Micro- and Nano-particles are elemental for many current and developing technologies. Specifically, these particles are being extensively used in biological studies and applications, including imaging, drug delivery and therapeutics. Recent advances have led to the development of multifunctional particles, which have the potential to further enhance their effectiveness, enabling novel applications. Therefore, many efforts are devoted to produce well-defined particles for specific needs. However, conventional fabrication methodologies utilized to develop particles are time consuming, making it extremely challenging to fine-tune properties of the particles for multifunctional applications. Herein, we present a simple and facile method to fabricate dome-shaped micron and nano particles by a robust physical route. The presented method enables to design particles with a vast range of materials, sizes and compositions …

Although non-alkaline rechargeable Zn–air batteries (RZABs) are promising for energy storage, their chemistry is still underdeveloped and unclear. It was suggested that using Zn(OAc)2 or Zn(OTf)2 aqueous solutions as electrolytes enables reversible, corrosion-free charge–discharge processes, but the anodic stability of carbon in these cells has remained poorly studied. We report that CO2 evolution is manifested during the oxygen evolution reaction in non-alkaline RZABs, which is associated with the corrosion of carbon scaffolds. This corrosion is observed for different electrolyte compositions, such as Zn(OAc)2, ZnSO4 and Zn(OTf)2 solutions of various concentrations. The corrosion rate decreases when the overpotentials during the oxygen evolution reaction are lower. This study underlines the importance of addressing the anodic instability of carbon in non-alkaline RZABs.

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) has come of age, but a reliable and easy-to-use tool for calibrating evanescent-wave penetration depths is missing. We provide a test-sample for TIRF and other axial super-resolution microscopies for emitter axial calibration. Our originality is that nanometer(nm) distances along the microscope’s optical axis are color-encoded in the form of a multi-layered multi-colored transparent sandwich. Emitter layers are excited by the same laser but they emit in different colors. Layers are deposited in a controlled manner onto a glass substrate and protected with a non-fluorescent polymer. Decoding the penetration depth of the exciting evanescent field, by spectrally unmixing of multi-colored samples is presented as well. Our slide can serve as a test sample for quantifying TIRF, but also as an axial ruler for nm-axial distance measurements in single-molecule localization …

The characterization of ultrathin transparent films is paramount for various optoelectronic materials, coatings, and photonics. However, characterizing such thin layers is difficult and it requires specialized clean‐room equipment and trained personnel. Here, a contact‐less, all‐optical method is introduced and validated for characterizing nanometric transparent films using far‐field optics. A series of nanometric, smooth, and homogeneous layered samples are fabricated first, alternating transparent spacer and fluorescent layers in a controlled manner. Fluorescence radiation pattern originating from the thin fluorophore layers is then recorded and analyzed and quantitative image analysis is used to perform in operando measurements of the refractive index, film homogeneity and to estimate axial fluorophore distances at a sub‐wavelength scale with a precision of a few of nanometers. The results compare favorably to …

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is considered the bottleneck reaction in fuel cells. Its sluggish kinetics requires the use of scarce and expensive platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts. Significant efforts have been invested in trying to find a PGM‐free catalyst to replace Pt for this reaction or reduce its loadings. One interesting family of materials that has shown great promise in doing so is aerogels, which are based on covalent frameworks. The aerogels’ high surface area and porosity enable good mass transport and high catalyst utilization that is expected to lower PGM loadings or replacing them completely. This review summarizes recent research in this field, introducing methods of using aerogels as cathodes for ORR, from carbon to metal aerogels. The catalytic sites vary from nanoparticles to atomically dispersed metal ions embedded in carbon aerogels that form all‐in‐one platform which can serve as both …

Droplet‐based lab‐on‐a‐chip systems offer vast possibilities in the manipulation, guidance, tracking, and labeling of individual droplet‐based bioreactors. One of the targeted application scenarios is in drug discovery where millions of unique codes are required, which is out of reach for current technologies. Here, a concept for the realization of multiparametric codes, where information is stored in distinct physical and chemical parameters, is proposed and validated. Exemplarily, the focus is on the use of impedance and magnetic sensing by monitoring ionic concentration as well as magnetic content per droplet and droplet volume. Codes based on aqueous ferrofluid droplets are prepared using a tubing‐based millifluidic setup and consist of up to six droplets of different combinations of volumes and magnetic concentration. It is demonstrated that a droplet chain of three single droplets of different volumes with nine …

T-cell diversity is crucial for producing effective receptors that can recognize the pathogens encountered throughout life. A stochastic biological process known as VDJ recombination accounts for the high diversity of these receptors, making their analysis challenging. We present a new approach to sequence encoding and analysis, based on the Lempel-Ziv 76 algorithm (LZ-76). By creating a graph-like model, we identify specific sequence features and produce a new encoding approach to an individual's repertoire. We demonstrate that this repertoire representation allows for various applications, such as generation probability inference, informative feature vector derivation, sequence generation, and a new measure for diversity estimation.

A sustainable future based on hydrogen fuel rests its faith on the rapid advancement of non-precious metal catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We demonstrate the efficient utilisation in the analysis of a large compositional space of binary NiFe and ternary NiFeV alloys for OER using a combinatorial method. We fabricated a gradient library of these multi metal alloys using physical vapor deposition and characterised them using high-throughput techniques. The electrocatalytic OER activity was studied using an automated electrochemical scanning droplet cell (SDC) set up designed in our lab. From the overpotential (@10mA/cm2) heatmaps of the libraries, the compositional regime of interest is funnelled down to 10-15% of Fe and 85-90 % of Ni for the NiFe alloy and 1-3% V, 10-15% Fe, and 80-90% Ni for the NiFeV alloy with their overpotential values falling between 320 – 330 mV. Due to its oxidation …

The realization of lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries has been impeded by parasitic reactions that cause cell component degradation, often accompanied by the release of CO2 gas during oxidation reactions. The use of halide-based redox mediators (RMs) like LiBr and LiI has been proposed as a strategy to reduce overpotentials during oxygen evolution reactions and thus suppress the subsequent evolution of CO2. However, there is a scarcity of research examining the effectiveness of these RMs in the direct mitigation of parasitic reactions. In this study, we investigated the evolution of CO2 during the oxidation processes using an online electrochemical mass spectrometer. The results show that cells without RMs exhibited high overpotentials and significant CO2 evolution from the first charging cycle. In contrast, the addition of 50 mM LiI to the electrolyte resulted in a delay in CO2 evolution, observed only after …

Ultrasonic irradiation of molten metals in liquid media causes dispersion of the metals into suspensions of micro- and nanoparticles that can be separated. This is applicable mainly to low-mp elemental metals or alloys, but higher mp elemental metals or alloys were also reported. Among metals, mercury and gallium exhibit especially-low melting points and are thus considered as liquid metals (LMs). Sonication of mercury in aqueous solutions of certain metal ions can cause simultaneous reduction of the ions and reactions between the metals. Gallium can be melted and sonicated in warm water, as well as in aqueous solutions of various solutes such as metal ions and organic compounds, which opened a wide window of interactions between the gallium particles and the solutes. Sonication of molten metals in organic liquids, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400, forms carbon dots (C-dots) doped with …

As described in part 1, a unique thermodynamic behavior was observed for solutions of magnesium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide) in 1,2-dimethoxyethane. These solutions display phase characteristics that are strongly dependent on temperature: between 287 and 373 K, the solutions separate into two immiscible phases (i.e., upper and lower), with different electrolyte concentrations, volumes, and densities. The driving forces for phase separation are explained by statistical thermodynamics on the basis of the conformers’ populations. By means of Raman spectroscopy analyses, we calculated the conformers’ distributions and individual conformers’ entropies, revealing a considerable increase in the entropy of the dilute upper phase with temperature. This increase is due to the combination of a decrease in salt concentration and an increase in the population of entropically favored TTT, TTG, TGG, and TGG …

Micro- and nano-particles are elemental for many current and developing technologies. Specifically, these particles are being used extensively in biological studies and applications, which include imaging, drug delivery and therapeutics. Recent advances have led to the development of multifunctional particles, which have the potential to further enhance their effectiveness, enabling novel applications. Therefore, many efforts have been devoted to producing well-defined particles for specific needs. However, the conventional fabrication methodologies used to develop particles are time consuming, making it extremely challenging to fine-tune the properties of the particles for multifunctional applications. Herein, we present a simple and facile method to fabricate dome-shaped micron- and nano-sized particles via a robust physical route. The presented method enables particles to be designed using a vast range of …

Imaging and microscopy have played a very important role in biological research. In this commentary, we have provided a summary of the development of different imaging modalities and quantitative techniques as an introduction. We have briefly described the technique Statistical Parametrization of Cell Cytoskeleton (SPOCC) and evaluated it against similar techniques available. We have also discussed the advantages, short comings and future prospective of SPOCC both technically and biologically.

EPR in-cell spin-labeling was applied to CueR in E. coli. The methodology employed a Cu(II)-NTA complexed with dHis. High resolved in-cell distance distributions were obtained revealing minor differences between in-vitro and in-cell data. This methodology allows to study structural changes of any protein in-cell, independent of size or cellular system

T-cell diversity is crucial for producing effective receptors that can recognize the pathogens encountered throughout life. A stochastic biological process known as VDJ recombination accounts for the high diversity of these receptors, making their analysis challenging. We present a new approach to sequence encoding and analysis, based on the Lempel-Ziv 76 algorithm (LZ-76). By creating a graph-like model, we identify specific sequence features and produce a new encoding approach to an individual's repertoire. We demonstrate that this repertoire representation allows for various applications, such as generation probability inference, informative feature vector derivation, sequence generation, and a new measure for diversity estimation.

Emerging energy storage systems based on abundant and cost-effective materials are key to overcome the global energy and climate crisis of the 21st century. Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries (RMB), based on Earth-abundant magnesium, can provide a cheap and environmentally responsible alternative to the benchmark Li-ion technology, especially for large energy storage applications. Currently, RMB technology is the subject of intense research efforts at laboratory scale. However, these emerging approaches must be placed in a real-world perspective to ensure that they satisfy key technological requirements. In an attempt to bridge the gap between laboratory advancements and industrial development demands, herein, we report the first non-aqueous multilayer RMB pouch cell prototypes and propose a roadmap for a new advanced RMB chemistry. Through this work, we aim to show the great unrealized …

The glass transition temperature is a key parameter of polymer coating layers that protect optical fibers, and it affects the proper function of the fibers in their service environment. Established protocols for glass transition temperature measurements are destructive, require samples of specific geometries, and may only be carried out offline. In this work, we report the non-destructive measurement of the glass transition temperature of an acrylate polymer coating layer over a working standard fiber. The method is based on forward stimulated Brillouin scattering. Large decrease in the modulus of the coating layer above the glass transition temperature manifests in narrowing of the modal linewidths in the forward Brillouin scattering spectrum. The transition temperature agrees with standard dynamic mechanical analysis of samples made of the same polymer. The protocol can be useful for coating materials research and …

Samples of H6TPPS J aggregates and bundles, deposited on glass and aligned under nitrogen flow, were measured in a 2-photon microscopy setup. Changes in the polarization state of the incoming laser have shown a difference in the resulting 2-photon scanning of the same measured sample, revelling otherwise hidden features. In addition, tracing the response of certain areas under different polarisation can provide information about the arrangement of the dipoles in that area. This shows the significant role of polarisation in 2-photon measurement, and the need to consider such effects in the microscopy of biological samples.

Chaos, namely exponential sensitivity to initial conditions, is generally considered a nuisance, inasmuch as it prevents long‐term predictions in physical systems. Here, an easily accessible approach to undo deterministic chaos and tailor ray trajectories in arbitrary 2D optical billiards by introducing spatially varying refractive index therein is presented. A new refractive index landscape is obtained by a conformal mapping, which makes the trajectories of the chaotic billiard fully predictable and the billiard fully integrable. Moreover, trajectory rectification can be pushed a step further by relating chaotic billiards with non‐Euclidean geometries. Two examples are illustrated by projecting billiards built on a sphere as well as the deformed spacetime outside a Schwarzschild black hole, which respectively lead to all periodic orbits and spiraling trajectories remaining away from the boundaries of the transformed 2D billiards …