Fractal analysis relies on scale invariance and the concept of fractal dimension enables one to characterize and quantify the space filled by a geometrical set exhibiting complex and tortuous patterns. Fractal tools have been widely used in hydrology but seldom in the specific context of urban hydrology. In this paper, fractal tools are used to analyse surface and sewer data from 10 urban or peri-urban catchments located in five European countries. The aim was to characterize urban catchment properties accounting for the complexity and inhomogeneity typical of urban water systems. Sewer system density and imperviousness (roads or buildings), represented in rasterized maps of 2m × 2m pixels, were analysed to quantify their fractal dimension, characteristic of scaling invariance. The results showed that both sewer density and imperviousness exhibit scale-invariant features and can be characterized with the help of fractal dimensions ranging from 1.6 to 2, depending on the catchment. In a given area consistent results were found for the two geometrical features, yielding a robust and innovative way of quantifying the level of urbanization. The representation of imperviousness in operational semi-distributed hydrological models for these catchments was also investigated by computing fractal dimensions of the geometrical sets made up of the sub-catchments with coefficients of imperviousness greater than a range of thresholds. It enables one to quantify how well spatial structures of imperviousness were represented in the urban hydrological models.@en

High grain-boundary resistance, Li-dendrite formation, and electrode/Li interfacial resistance are three major issues facing garnet-based solid electrolytes. Herein, interfacial architecture engineering by incorporating 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (BMP-TFSI) ionic liquid into a garnet oxide is proposed. The “soft” continuous BMP-TFSI coating with no added Li salt generates a conducting network facilitating Li+ transport and thus changes the ion conduction mode from point contacts to face contacts. The compacted microstructure suppresses Li-dendrite growth and shows good interfacial compatibility and interfacial wettability toward Li metal. Along with a broad electrochemical window larger than 5.5 V and an Li+ transference number that practically reaches unity, LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2/Li and LiFePO4/Li solid-state batteries with the hybrid solid electrolyte exhibit superior cycling stability and low polarization, comparable to those with commercial liquid electrolytes, and excellent rate capability that is better than those of Li-salt-based ionic-liquid electrolytes.@en

Garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 solid electrolytes were commonly prepared by two steps solid-state reaction method, which undergoes high temperature over 1000 °C and thus inevitable for lithium volatilization and formation of secondary phases. Here, we propose a new intergrain architecture engineering of a solution method, to avoid high temperature sintering for preparing lithium halide (LiX) coated garnet-type solid electrolytes, which contain Al and Ta co-doped Li7La3Zr2O12 (Li6.75La3Zr1.75Ta0.25O12, LLZTO) synthesized at 900 °C with cubic structure. Owing to the increased relative density, the improved formability, and the altered ion transport mode from point to face conduction by LiX coating on LLZTO grains, LiX-coated LLZTO samples demonstrate a good Li dendrite suppression ability and a high ionic conductivity that is three orders of magnitude higher than pristine LLZTO. In another way, this result demonstrates the critical role of the grain boundaries on the ion transport for oxide superionic conductors. The present coating method provides a new strategy to prepare brittle solid electrolytes avoiding high temperature sintering.@en

Li6PS5X (X = Cl, Br, I) argyrodites possess high ionic conductivity but with rather scattered values due to various processing conditions. In this work, Li6PS5X solid electrolytes were prepared by solid-state sintering or mechanical alloying and optimized with or without excess Li2S. Solid-state sintering prefers excess Li2S, whereas mechanical alloying prefers stoichiometric Li2S to synthesize high-purity samples with high ionic conductivity. Solid-state sintering is also more suitable than mechanical milling for high ionic conductivity. Li6PS5Cl with the highest ionic conductivity among Li6PS5X was comprehensively characterized for electrochemical performance and air stability. MoS2/Li6PS5Cl all-solid-state batteries assembled with Li6PS5Cl-coated MoS2 as cathode and with Li6PS5Cl as solid electrolyte demonstrate high capacity and good cycling stability.@en

The goal of this study is to develop a vibration-based electromagnetic energy harvesting prototype that provides power to rail-side monitoring equipment and sensors by collecting wheel-rail vibration energy when the train travels. This technology helps power rail–side equipment in off-grid and remote areas. This article introduces the principle, modeling, and experimental test of the system, including (1) an electromagnetic energy harvesting prototype with DC-DC boost converter and lithium battery charge management function, (2) wireless sensor nodes integrated with accelerometer and temperature/humidity sensor, and (3) a vehicle-track interaction model that considers wheel out-of-roundness. Field test results, power consumption, Littlewood–Paley wavelet transform method, and feasibility analysis are reported. An application case of the technology is introduced: the sensor nodes of the wireless sensor network are powered by the electromagnetic energy harvester and lithium battery with DC-DC boost converter, thereby continuously monitoring the railway track state; based on the Littlewood–Paley wavelet analysis of measured railway track acceleration data, the abnormal signal caused by the wheel out-of-roundness can be detected.@en

An atrazine-degrading strain Arthrobacter sp. ZXY-2 was originally isolated from Jilin Pesticide Plant (China). Strain ZXY-2 demonstrated excellent atrazine degradation performance and saline tolerance. Here we report the complete genome sequence of strain ZXY-2 contained a circular chromosome and five circular plasmids encoding for the mechanism of salt adaptation and pollutant degradation.@en