Pseudocapacitive Li+ storage boosts ultrahigh rate performance of structure-tailored CoFe2O4@Fe2O3 hollow spheres triggered by engineered surface and near-surface reactions
NANO ENERGY
Authors: Sun, Baoyu; Lou, Shuaifeng; Qian, Zhengyi; Zuo, Pengjian; Du, Chunyu; Ma, Yulin; Huo, Hua; Xie, Jingying; Wang, Jiajun; Yin, Geping
Abstract
Transition metal oxides are regarded as the promising anodes for lithium ion batteries owing to the high theoretical capacities. However, the mechanical and electrochemical degradations severely reduce the electrode lifetime and limit its practical application. Here, for the first time, a novel CoFe2O4@Fe2O3 nanocomposites combing dual Li-ions channels and stabilized hollow sphere architecture is reported. The unique transport mutes for lithium ion have been created by the design of surface holes and inner channels, offering extra lithium storage sites and accelerating its transport. Quantitative kinetic analysis reveals that the capacity based on hollow sphere hetemstructured NLCFs is governed by pseudocapacitance, especially at high current rates, exhibiting excellent rate performance and high specific capacity. Benefiting from the steady sphere hollow configuration and abundant ions channels, the NLCFs nanocomposites deliver excellent long-term stability (520 and 477 mAh g(-1) at 5 and 10 A g(-1) for 2000 cycles, respectively) with ultrahigh Coulombic efficiency (more than 99.5%). And the full cell can remain a reversible capacity of 516 mAh g(-1) at the current density of 1 A g(-1) after 500 cycles. This interesting dual lithium ion channels design opens a new avenue to build high-power LIBs for electrochemical energy applications.
Mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of dengue virus NS4A affect virus fitness and interactions with other non-structural proteins
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
Authors: Tan, Min Jie Alvin; Brown, Nancy G.; Chan, Kitti Wing Ki; Jin, Jocelyn Y.; Kong, Sean Yao Zu; Vasudevan, Subhash G.
Abstract
The dengue virus (DENV) replication complex is made up of its non-structural (NS) proteins and yet-to-be identified host proteins, but the molecular interactions between these proteins are not fully elucidated. In this work, we sought to uncover the interactions between DENV NS1 and its fellow NS proteins using a yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) approach, and found that domain II of NS1 binds to an N-terminal cytoplasmic fragment of NS4A. Mutations in amino acid residues 41 and 43 in this cytoplasmic region of NS4A disrupted the interaction between NS1 and the NS4A-2K-4B precursor protein. When the NS4A Y41F mutation was introduced into the context of the virus via a DENV2 infectious clone, this mutant virus exhibited impaired viral fitness and decreased infectious virus production. The NS4A Y41F mutant virus triggered a significantly muted transcriptional activation of interferon-stimulated genes compared to wild-type virus that is independent of NS4A's ability to antagonize type I interferon signalling. Taken together, we have identified a link between DENV NS1 and the cytoplasmic domain in NS4A that is important for its cellular and viral functions.