Lithium Ion Battery Materials as Tunable, Redox Non-Innocent Catalyst Supports

The development of general strategies for the electronic tuning of a catalyst’s active site is an ongoing challenge in heterogeneous catalysis. To this end, herein we describe the application of Li-ion battery cathode and anode materials as redox non-innocent catalyst supports that can be continuously modulated as a function of lithium intercalation. A zero-valent nickel complex was oxidatively grafted onto the surface of lithium manganese oxide (LixMn2O4) to yield isolated Ni(II) occupying the vacant interstitial octahedral site in the Li diffusion channel on the surface and subsurface of the spinel structure (Ni/LixMn2O4). The activity of Ni/LixMn2O4 for olefin hydrogenation, as a representative probe reaction, was found to increase monotonically as a function of support reductive lithiation. Simulation of Ni/LixMn2O4 reveals the dramatic impact of surface redox states on the viability of the homolytic oxidative addition mechanism for H2 activation. Catalyst control through support lithiation was extended to an organotantalum complex on LixTiO2, demonstrating the generality of this phenomenon.

To Be #Celts Today

The aim of this chapter is to define the characters of the online neo-Celtic Italian society, especially their religious beliefs, through the observation of their activities on blogs and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Social media became, in fact, the main diffusion channel for these religions, replacing forums and other kinds of online communities as virtual places where people are allowed to interact with others who share their own spirituality. Within neo-paganism, some groups belonging to this religion started, during the last decade, identifying themselves with a more specific name, that is neo-Celtic instead of neo-pagan, that clearly defines the group as a part of pre-Christian cultural heritage. In this chapter, the author will attempt to define the characteristics of these neo-pagan groups focussing on their self-constructed identity and their relationship with the larger society.

Structural and electronic properties of LiMnO2 doped with transition metals: A first-principles study

A spin density functional calculations of structural and electronic properties of LiMnO2 doped with several transition metals (Sc, V and Tc) are reported. The physical properties of LiMnO2 material are sensitive with the transition-metal dopants. Transition metal dopants enhance the lattice parameters and volumes, thus increasing the Li diffusion channel. The computations underscore that d orbitals of transition metals are located around the Fermi level. V doping in LiMnO2 demonstrates the enhancement in the electronic conductivity due to the volumetric expansion. Finally, these results deliver a valuable information for the transition-metal doped LiMnO2 cathode materials to improve the performance of lithium batteries.

Direct observation of one-dimensional disordered diffusion channel in a chain-like thermoelectric with ultralow thermal conductivity

Structural disorder, highly effective in reducing thermal conductivity, is important in technological applications such as thermal barrier coatings and thermoelectrics. In particular, interstitial, disordered, diffusive atoms are common in complex crystal structures with ultralow thermal conductivity, but are rarely found in simple crystalline solids. Combining single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction, the maximum entropy method, diffuse scattering, and theoretical calculations, here we report the direct observation of one-dimensional disordered In1+ chains in a simple chain-like thermoelectric InTe, which contains a significant In1+ vacancy along with interstitial indium sites. Intriguingly, the disordered In1+ chains undergo a static-dynamic transition with increasing temperature to form a one-dimensional diffusion channel, which is attributed to a low In1+-ion migration energy barrier along the c direction, a general feature in many other TlSe-type compounds. Our work provides a basis towards understanding ultralow thermal conductivity with weak temperature dependence in TlSe-type chain-like materials.

Structural transitions permitting ligand entry and exit in bacterial fatty acid binding proteins

Fatty acid (FA) transfer proteins extract FA from membranes and sequester their ligand to facilitate its movement through the cytosol. While detailed views of soluble protein-FA complexes are available, how FA exchange occurs at the membrane has remained unknown. Staphylococcus aureus FakB1 is a prototypical bacterial FA transfer protein that binds palmitate within a narrow, buried tunnel. Here, we determine the conformational change from this closed state to an open state that engages the phospholipid bilayer. Upon membrane binding, a dynamic loop in FakB1 that covers the FA binding site disengages and folds into an amphipathic helix. This helix inserts below the phosphate plane of the bilayer to create a diffusion channel for the FA to exchange between the protein and the membrane. The structure of the bilayer-associated conformation of FakB1 has local similarities with mammalian FA binding proteins and provides a general conceptual framework for how these proteins interact with the membrane to promote lipid transfer.

B2B Networking, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability

While the benefits and advantages of using renewable energies are remarkable, and their prices have been decreasing dramatically and are expected to fall further, the diffusion and adoption of renewable energies still lag fossil energies. This paper improves our understanding regarding the role of the interrelationship among businesses (as an example of B2B networking amongst parent and subsidiary firms). Furthermore, it demonstrates the way/s that such interrelationships can contribute to the diffusion and adoption of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies. This study describes four diffusion channels in the interrelated firms which can help with promoting and using renewable and sustainable energies. The paper also reports the actual share of each diffusion channel contributing to implementing sustainable energy-efficient technologies in practice. The findings suggest that parent organisations enforce the majority (over 50%) of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies implemented in a B2B environment. In comparison, inter-subsidiary relationships are responsible for less than 30% of the implemented sustainable and energy-efficient technologies in organisations. The findings are in line with the forced perspective theory. They could, to some degree, explain the differences in the levels of implementation of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies in practice. These findings can help practitioners prioritise the diffusion channels when they want to facilitate the implementation of new technologies in their organisations. While some organisations may expect a more successful implementation of innovations initiated by subsidiaries than those enforced by parent organisations, the levels of success of the adoption of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies are not examined in this study. Further research is recommended to investigate the extent of association between different diffusion channels and the levels of success in terms of the adoption of innovation. We did not find similar studies to compare the results, which could be one of the limitations of this study.

The Impact of Subscription Reciprocity on Charitable Content Creation and Sharing: Evidence from Twitter on Giving Tuesday

Social broadcasting sites have grown from an information diffusion channel to a public medium that facilitates public conversations of charitable social movements. Two mechanisms foster user participation in charitable social movements: content creation and content sharing. Users can create original content to express their attitude of giving and promote their most valued nonprofit organizations, enriching the depth of the conversation. They can also share others’ content to expedite the diffusion of high-quality content, expanding the breadth of the discussion. This paper investigates the impact of reciprocal and nonreciprocal followees (i.e., a followee is an account to which other users subscribe) on followers’ decisions to create and share content. Analyzing the charitable movement of Giving Tuesday on Twitter, we find that original charitable content creation is prompted by reciprocal followees’ participation but not nonreciprocal followees’ participation in this movement. We also find that charitable content sharing is evoked by both reciprocal and nonreciprocal followees, with nonreciprocal followees having a greater impact. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.