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The selective recovery of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has engrossed significant scientific attention due to prompting environmental potential and addressing resource scarcity. Hereby, we propose an innovative and economically more environment friendly manganese sulfate roasting water leaching process to selectively recuperate lithium preferentially from spent LiCoO 2 batteries. Notably, it is found that manganese sulfate roasting agents can be recirculated thoroughly without SOx emission during the sulfation roasting process. To better understand the conversion mechanism of LiCoO 2 , the effects of numerous parameters including, roasting time, roasting temperature, and a molar ratio of MnSO 4 /LiCoO 2 during the recovering process were investigated. An exceptional recovery rate of 98.62% with a remarkable lithium selectivity of 99.35% by manganese sulfate leaching was achieved. This work proposes an environmentally friendly and promising strategy to extract lithium selectively from spent lithium cathodes without introducing SOx emission. [Display omitted] • A preferential selective extraction of Li+ from spent LiCoO 2 was proposed. • The conception of this study was based on waste.→ resources recovered. • MnSO 4 -driven sulfation reaction was elucidated for selective extraction of lithium. • An exceptional recovery rate of 98.62% with a remarkable lithium selectivity of 99.35% was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indium complexes are being used in many applications like catalysis, optoelectronics, sensors, solar cells, biochemistry, medicine, infrared (IR) mirrors and thin-film transistors (TFTs). In organometallic complexes of indium, it forms different types of complexes with single, double, triple and tetra linkages by coordinating with numerous elements like C, N, O and S and also with some other elements like Se and Ru. So, the present study comprises all the possible ways to synthesize the indium complexes by reacting with different organic ligands; most of them are N-heterocyclic carbenes, amines, amides and phenols. The commonly used solvents for these syntheses are tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, toluene, benzene, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and water. According to the nature of the ligands, indium complexes were reported at different temperatures and stirring time. Because of their unique characteristics, the organometallic chemistry of group 13 metal indium complexes remains a subject of continuing interest in synthetic chemistry as well as material science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of transparent thermoelectric materials, particularly at low processing temperature possesses a good promise for future power generation by renovating waste heat into electrical energy. The fabrication of invisible thermoelectric module is hindered by limited choices of appropriate p-type transparent thermoelectric materials so far. The present study deals with the growth and characterization of optically transparent p-type copper iodide (γ-CuI) thin films. Thermal annealing (maximum up to 200 °C) was performed to tune the electrical and optoelectronic properties for nurturing the thermoelectric performance. Annealing induced microstructural modifications instigated the preferential crystal growth by regulating the surface morphology. Low thermal conductivity is credited to strong phonon scattering leading to improved thermoelectric performance. Consequently, we attain a record Seebeck coefficient of ∼270 μV/K and power factor of ∼20 μW/(m·K2) that is almost two-order of magnitude higher as compared to conventional p-type transparent TE materials, indicating the potential of transparent γ-CuI thin films regarding its practical applicability in transparent thermoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are an eminent class of carbenes having a heterocyclic ring in which a divalent carbon atom is attached directly to a nitrogen atom. In the NHCs, the donation of lone pair is another important research in the dative bonding and not only in NHCs the dative bond plays a functionalized role in the other classes of complex formation like ylidones L → E ← L and carbones L → C ← L. M–NHC bond is L-M sigma-dative bond and NHCs are considered as strong sigma-donor ligands. The clear picture of the M–NHC bond can be better understood by M–NHC pi-interaction. M-L pi interaction is comprised of two steps. One is L → M sigma-donation and M → L π* back bonding. This dative donor nature of NHC and also its behavior in organoselenium is studied through DFT in which it's optimized structure, bond lengths, molecular vibrations are calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aloe vera is a medicinal plant widely used for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. Oodles studies are going on to evaluate the protective role of Aloe vera while treating it along with different adjuvants compounds/drugs or plants. Therefore, here we aimed to illuminate the combined effect of Aloe vera and Vitamin E against CCl4-induced toxicity. Rats treated with CCl4 displayed reduced body weight, impaired peripheral and cellular (serum/tissues) redox/defense system, abnormal liver function tests, and abnormal histology (liver/Brain); the effect was rescued by the Aloe vera (ethanolic extract) treatment. However, the adjuvant treatment of Vitamin E significantly enhanced the anti-toxic impact of Aloe vera by attenuating free radical production, boosting antioxidants enzyme activities, and improving liver and brain tissues histology. Our findings suggest that Vitamin E enhances the beneficial effects of Aloe vera and could be used as an adjuvant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Lithium was preferentially extracted from the s-LCO by a two-step (NH 4) 2 SO 4 roasting. • 98.75% of Li was selectively extracted, which was further prepared into battery-grade Li 2 CO 3 , and 99.32% of the Co was recovered as Co 3 O 4. • No impurity cations were introduced in the whole roasting process. • The recovered Li 2 CO 3 and Co 3 O 4 for the r-LCO. • The r-LCO exhibited great electrochemical performances. The recovery of lithium from spent lithium-ion batteries offers a significant way to alleviate the shortage of lithium resources. In this work, the preferential extraction of lithium from the spent LiCoO 2 (LCO) cathode through a two-step (NH 4) 2 SO 4 roasting was proposed, followed by regeneration LCO (r-LCO). Firstly, the LCO structure was destroyed, and parts of Li and Co were converted into Li 2 SO 4 and CoSO 4. At this time, the elemental sulfur was stored and recycled in the form of SO 4 2-. Secondly, CoSO 4 acted as a roasting agent and reacted with the residual LCO (R-LCO) to form water-soluble Li 2 SO 4 with the increase in temperature, while CoSO 4 was converted into water-insoluble Co 3 O 4. Lithium was preferentially extracted through the subsequent water-leaching. No impurity cations were introduced in the whole roasting process which had a high sulfur atom economy of 54.4%. Finally, the effects of key parameters such as roasting temperature, w(LCO)/w((NH 4) 2 SO 4), and holding time on preferential lithium extraction were investigated. The results showed that 98.75% of the lithium was preferentially extracted and then successfully prepared as battery-grade Li 2 CO 3. 99.32% of the Co was recovered in the form of Co 3 O 4. The r-LCO with excellent structure and electrochemical performances and a high-capacity retention of 91.6% at 1C after 150 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Synthesis of layered ZIF-8 through mix solution strategy. • Delamination of multilayers into single sheets. • Single 2D sheets showed improved electrochemical and optical performance. • ZIF-8 showed excellent photocatalytic performance for MB degradation compared with ZIF-8 crystals. Zeolitic Imidazole framework (ZIFs) have got an immense interest in many fields, due to its porous and functional structure with a tunable shape. The functional structure of ZIF-8 in 2D shape will combine both the characteristics of MOFs in 2D shape with unique properties. In this work, 2D thin Zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-8) has been prepared in a mixed solvent of water and methanol. The precursors of ZIF-8 in mixture solvent leads to a bulk multilayered ZIF-8 structure. Then the bulk layered ZIF-8 was delaminated into single sheets through physical sonication. The ZIF-8 sheets were investigated with different characterization techniques where, the hexagonal thin sheets with thickness around 200 to 250 nm in size, shows high stability with controlled morphological shape. ZIF-8 sheets show excellent performance for MB degradation and 94.05 % of dye has been removed as compared with 3D normal ZIF-8 crystals which only removed 67.7 % of MB dye. Furthermore, the optical and electrochemical performance shows that, the 2D ZIF-8 has better electrochemical values and confirm the effective separation of photo-generated charges, compared with ZIF-8 crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Growth of poly- Ge films on quartz glass via thermal evaporation method. • Annealing induced morphology evolution for preferential crystal growth. • Impact of heat treatment on the microstructural, electrical, and optical properties. • Better crystallinity in conjunction with reduction in localised band tail states confirmed by the red-shift in band gap. • Phase-inversion from amorphous-to-polycrystalline Germanium thin films. In this work, we present the sequential growth of metal–semiconductor bilayer structure on HF-treated textured glass substrates by thermal evaporation method. The process of aluminum-induced crystallization of amorphous germanium thin films was critically observed under heat treatment. Temperature assisted structural modifications triggered the nucleation phenomenon for controlled grain growth which transformed the nature of Ge-thin film from amorphous-to-polycrystalline. Interestingly, the electrical resistivity also decreased by subsequent annealing which promoted the conduction mechanism. Optical measurements indicated a dwindling in band tail states and related structural defects, leading to better crystallinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrus is one of the leading fruit crop capturing highest export share among the horticultural crops in Pakistan. However, the traditional marketing systems inhibit price transparency that affects the producers' abilities to respond to consumer demand. The present study is designed to do an assessment of complete value chain of citrus and to identify the major factors affecting the export of citrus from Pakistan. Data are collected through interviews and questionnaires and analyzed through value chain mapping and regression techniques. It is found that the citrus export sector is dominated by large well-established exporters whose profitability is based on a high volume, low margin business model. Export of Kinnow is primarily directed to low or middle-income countries from Pakistan as exporters have little competencies to compete in the developed world because of high protocols of quality attributes under Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement of WTO. In the regression model, positive and significant coefficients on marketing research and quality certification strengthen the case of investment on research and development and improving the quality of the product to enhance Kinnow exports from Pakistan. Moreover, research should focus on reducing the high post-harvest losses of about 20-40%, to improve the yield per hectare and to produce seedless varieties for commercial use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]