Recover value metals from spent lithium-ion batteries via a combination of in-situ reduction pretreatment and facile acid leaching

The pretreatment of cathode material before leaching is crucial in the spent lithium-ion battery hydro-metallurgical recycling. Here research demonstrates that in-situ reduction pretreatment could dramatically improve the leaching efficiencies for valuable metals from cathodes. Specifically, calcination under 600 °C without oxygen using alkali treated cathode can induce in-situ reduction and collapse of oxygen framework, which is ascribed to the carbon inherently contained in the sample and promote the following efficient leaching without external reductants. The leaching efficiencies of Li, Mn, Co and Ni can remarkably reach 100%, 98.13%, 97.27% and 97.37% respectively. Characterization methods, such as XRD, XPS and SEM-EDS, were employed and revealed that during in-situ reduction, high valence metals such as Ni³⁺, Co³⁺, Mn⁴⁺ can be effectively reduced to lower valence states, conducive to subsequent leaching reactions. Moreover, leaching processes of Ni, Co and Mn fit well with the film diffusion control model, and the reaction barrier is in accordance with the order of Ni, Co and Mn. In comparison, it is observed that Li was leached with higher efficiency regardless of the various pretreatments. Lastly, an integral recovery process has been proposed and economic assessment demonstrates that in-situ reduction pretreatment increases the benefit with a negligible cost increase.

Capture and recover dissolved phosphorous from aqueous solutions by a designer biochar: Mechanism and performance insights

Excessive phosphorus (P) in marine and freshwater systems has been identified as a primary perpetrator for the harmful and nuisance algal blooms. In this study, a novel designer biochar was produced from sawdust biomass treated with lime sludge prior to pyrolysis. The adsorption of dissolved P on the designer biochar was comprehensively evaluated under different experimental conditions. It revealed that the removal of dissolved P by the designer biochar was more efficient than unmodified biochar, lime sludge, and their post-combination, suggesting that the pretreatment of biomass with lime sludge for the designer biochar production has a significantly synergic effect on enhancing P removal. Post-adsorption characterization and mathematical modeling analyses indicated that the adsorption of dissolved P on the designer biochar could be controlled by multiple mechanisms including physical and chemical adsorption. The precipitation reaction between P anions and metal ions on the surface of the designer biochar was identified as a predominant mechanism. The X-ray diffraction showed that the precipitation reaction generated a series of P fertilizer forms depositing onto the designer biochar. In addition, batch adsorption experiments showed that both initial solution pH and coexisting anions had a lesser effect on the P removal by the designer biochar. This study proposed that the designer biochar could be a promising sorbent to remove dissolved P, and the nutrient-captured biochar could be used as a fertilizer to recover nutrients.

Surgical treatment of traumatic thoracolumbar fractures: a retrospective review of 101 cases

PURPOSE

To evaluate the outcomes of vertebral stabilisation after acute traumatic thoracolumbar fractures, correlating the outcome with patient clinical data, type and location of fracture, presence of neurological damage, timing of surgical intervention and number of instrumented levels. The results have been evaluated also through the AO classification and AOSIS score.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of 101 patients with traumatic thoracolumbar injuries from T3 to L5 operated 2011-2016 by posterior or antero-posterior fixation. The demographic data, trauma dynamics, number and type of fractures, associated lesions, timing of surgery, hospital stay, AOSIS score, RKA, SF-36 and ODI scores, pre- and post-operative neurological condition (ASIA grade), possible complications and re-interventions were evaluated for each patient.

RESULTS

Fractures mainly involved the region between T11 and L2. The probability of medullary involvement increases with the increase in severity of the main fracture type with no relation with the vertebral region. Type B and C fractures were common in the thoracic region and rare in the thoracolumbar junction. ODI and SF-36 scores were significantly better in patients with a lower AOSIS score, specifically in lesions classified as type A, amyelic and with no comorbidity. No difference was found in the clinical scores between thoracic, thoracolumbar and lumbar fractures, nor between male and female patients. None of the 10 patients with ASIA A lesion at presentation achieved any degree of recovery: 50% of them had a thoracic lesion. Re-intervention rate was 15%. Hospital stay was significantly higher in patients with type C fractures, and complication rate was on average 14% (7% in type A fractures, 16% in B and 25% in C).

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirmed the validity of the posterior approach in the surgical treatment of thoracolumbar fractures. Outcomes and complication risks are related to fracture severity. Surgical treatment can be recommended even with an AOSIS score of two or three. The combined antero-posterior approach could be useful in cases with LSC > 8, especially in the thoracolumbar region. The degree of neurological recovery depends on fracture type, location, ASIA score and presence of comorbidities. Early intervention in myelic patients allows for a better prognosis. Level of evidence III retrospective case series.

Recovered Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Its Prognostic Impacts in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients with Reduced Ejection Fraction

It has been recently recognized that recovery of left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), termed "recovered EF", occurs in a proportion of heart failure patients with reduced EF (HFrEF), and is associated with better prognosis. However, the clinical characteristics of "recovered EF" have not been fully examined.Consecutive 567 patients hospitalized due to HFrEF (EF < 40% at 1st assessment at hospital discharge) were enrolled, and EF was re-assessed within half a year in an outpatient setting (2nd assessment). Among these HFrEF patients, 235 remained EF < 40% (reduced, rEF group), 82 changed to EF 40-49% (midrange, mrEF group), and 250 recovered to EF > 50% (preserved, pEF group "recovered EF" ) at the 2nd examination. Age was lower and body mass index and systolic blood pressure were higher in pEF than in rEF. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and usage of an implantable cardiac defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy were highest in pEF. Left ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVDd) was the smallest in the pEF group. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age, presence of AF, and lower levels of LVDd were predictors of "recovered EF". Kaplan-Meier analysis found that pEF presented the lowest cardiac event rate (P = 0.003) and all-cause mortality (P = 0.001). In multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses, pEF (versus rEF) was an independent predictor of both cardiac event rate (HR = 0.668, 95%CI 0.450-0.994, P = 0.046) and all-cause mortality (HR = 0.655, 95%CI 0.459-0.934, P = 0.019).Hospitalized HFrEF patients with recovered EF are associated with younger age, higher presence of AF, and better prognosis.

Using temperature-responsive zwitterionic surfactant to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses and recover cellulase by cooling

Some zwitterionic surfactants exhibit upper critical solution temperature (UCST) in aqueous solutions. For the zwitterionic surfactant solution mixed with cellulase, when its temperature is below UCST, the cellulase can be recovered by coprecipitation with zwitterionic surfactant. In this work, 3-(Hexadecyldimethylammonio) propanesulfonate (SB3-16) was selected to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses and recover the cellulase. After adding 2mmol/L of SB3-16, the enzymatic digestibility of eucalyptus pretreated by dilute acid (Eu-DA) and by sulfite (Eu-SPORL) increased from 27.9% and 35.1% to 72.6% and 89.7%, respectively. The results showed that SB3-16 could reduce the non-productive adsorption of cellulase on hydrophobic interface, while it did not significantly inhibit the activity of cellulase. For the solution contained 1wt% SB3-16 and 200mg protein/L CTec2 cellulase, 55.2% of protein could be recovered by cooling. The filter paper activity of the recovered cellulase was 1.93FPU/mg protein, which was 95.8% of its initial activity.

Triazolyl phenyl disulfides: 8-Amino-7-oxononanoate synthase inhibitors as potential herbicides

The chemical validation of a potential herbicide target was investigated with 8-amino-7-oxononanoate synthase (AONS, also known as 7-keto-8-aminopelargonate synthase, KAPAS) and triazolyl phenyl disulfide derivatives in vitro and in vivo. AONS activity was completely inhibited by these synthesized compounds, with an IC50 of 48 to 592μM in vitro. Forty five-day old Arabidopsis thaliana plants were completely killed by representative compound KHG23844 {N-(2-fluorophenyl)-3-(phenyldisulphanyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-carboxamide} at the application rate of 250gha(-1) of foliar treatment in greenhouse conditions. Foliar application of 1000gha(-1) KHG23844 induced 2.3-fold higher l-alanine accumulation in the treated A. thaliana plants. Foliar supplement of 1mM biotin at 1 and 2days before KHG23844 application effectively recovered the growth inhibition of A. thaliana plant treated with KHG23844. The results strongly suggested that representative compound KHG23844 and its derivatives are potential AONS inhibitors.