Open Access

BackgroundMicroglia—the resident immune cells of the brain—are activated after brain lesions, e.g., cerebral ischemia, and polarize towards a classic “M1” pro-inflammatory or an alternative “M2” anti-inflammatory phenotype following characteristic temporo-spatial patterns, contributing either to secondary tissue damage or to regenerative responses. They closely interact with endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) residing in distinct niches of the adult brain. [...]

The quest towards increasing the energy density of traction battery technologies has led to the emergence and diversification of battery materials. The lithium sulfur battery (LSB) is in this regard a promising material for batteries due to its specific energy. [...]

The thermal stability of lithium ion batteries was studied by means of Accelerating Rate Calorimetry in Heat-Wait-Search operation on both electrode and cell level. Fresh and aged samples were investigated depending on the state-of-charge (SoC) of a 5 Ah pouch cell comprising mesocarbon microbeads and LiNi0.4Co0.2Mn0.4O2 as the anode and cathode materials. [...]

Several electrolytes of commercially available lithium ion batteries (LIBs) were analyzed by solid phase microextraction – gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS). The uptake and subsequent injection of the conducting salt LiPF6 into the GC system was prevented by using a headspace SPME setup. [...]

A method for the separation, identification and quantification of the ionic decomposition products of LiPF6 based organic electrolytes was developed. It employed the simultaneous coupling of two-dimensional ion chromatography (2D IC) with electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). [...]

Lithium metal as an electrode material possesses a native surface film, which leads to a rough surface and this has a negative impact on the cycling behavior. A simple, fast, and reproducible technique is shown, which makes it possible to flatten and thin the native surface film of the lithium‐metal anode. [...]

Quantitative electrolyte extraction from lithium ion batteries (LIB) is of great interest for recycling processes. Following the generally valid EU legal guidelines for the recycling of batteries, 50 wt % of a LIB cell has to be recovered, which cannot be achieved without the electrolyte; hence, the electrolyte represents a target component for the recycling of LIBs. [...]

The quantification of lithium ion battery electrolyte additives provides challenges in terms of methods and instrumentation. In this work, the detectability of the flame retardant additive tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphite (TTFPi) differs unusually when added to a standard electrolyte (1 M LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate (EC)[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]dimethyl carbonate (DMC) 1[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]1 wt%) using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). [...]

Antimony sulfide solar cells have demonstrated an efficiency exceeding 7% when assembled in an extremely thin absorber configuration deposited via chemical bath deposition. More recently, less complex, planar geometries were obtained from simple spin-coating approaches, but the device efficiency still lags behind. [...]

We report on the direct observation of lattice relaxation and Sn segregation of GeSn/Ge/Si heterostructures under annealing. We investigated strained and partially relaxed epi-layers with Sn content in the 5 at. [...]