Solar batteries: a new material makes it possible to simultaneously absorb light and store energy

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

 

IMAGE: ALBERTO JIMÉNEZ, ONE OF THE RESEARCHERS WHO CARRIED OUT THE STUDY view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA

The collaborative effort between the University of Cordoba and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Germany) is making progress on the design of a solar battery made from an abundant, non-toxic and easily synthesized material composed of 2D carbon nitride

Solar energy is booming. The improvement of solar technology's capacity to capture as much light as possible, convert it into energy and make it available to meet energy needs is key in the ecological transition towards a more sustainable use of energy sources.

In the process between the collection of light by the solar cell and the on-demand use of energy of, for instance, household appliances, storage plays a crucial role since the availability of solar energy has an inherent intermittency. To facilitate this storage process and deal with problems such as the environmental impact of the extraction, recycling or scarcity of some of the materials necessary for conventional batteries (such as lithium), the concept of the 'solar battery' was born. Solar batteries combine the solar cells that capture light with the storage of its energy in one single device, which then allows the energy to be used when needed.

Alberto Jiménez-Solano, a researcher at the Department of Physics of the University of Cordoba, together with a team from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Stuttgart, Germany), has carried out a study in which he has explored the design characteristics of a solar battery made from a material based on 2D carbon nitride.

"In Professor Bettina V. Lotsch's group, at the Max Planck Institute, they had managed to synthesize a material capable of absorbing light and storing that energy for later use on demand," explains Alberto Jiménez-Solano, "and it occurred to us to use it to create a solar battery".

To do this, the team first had to find a way to deposit a thin layer of that material (2D potassium carbon nitride, poly(heptazine imide), K-PHI) creating a stable structure to start manufacturing a photovoltaic device due to the fact that that material is normally in powder form or in aqueous suspensions of nanoparticles.

That previous work has now allowed them to present this solar battery design whereby, combining optical simulations and photoelectrochemical experiments, they are able to explain the characteristics of this device's high performance when capturing sunlight and storing energy.

The physical structure of the device consists of "a high-transparency glass, which has a transparent conductive coating (to allow the transport of load), and a series of layers of semi-transparent materials (with different functionalities), and another conductive glass that closes the circuit," describes the researcher. It is essentially a kind of sandwich made from various layers whose thicknesses have been studied to maximize both the level of light absorption and storage. In this case, the system they propose can absorb light on both sides since it is semi-transparent. They found that rear lighting had certain advantages; something that they managed to elucidate "by creating an initial theoretical design in accordance with the experimental restrictions" since this basic science project will not remain only on paper, but will also explore the experimental limits, coming up with feasible designs for these solar batteries.

This device would feature great versatility, since it makes it possible to both to obtain a large, one-off current (such as that needed by photography flash), and a smaller current, which could be sustained over time (such as that needed by a mobile phone).

This project demonstrates the performance of this device, made from a harmless, abundant, environmentally sustainable material (extracted from urea) which is easy to synthesize. The next steps include continuing to study its operation in various situations outside the laboratory, and adapting it to different manufacturing possibilities and needs.

Reference:

Gouder, Andreas & Yao, Liang & Wang, Yang & Podjaski, Filip & Rabinovich, Ksenia & Jiménez-Solano, Alberto & Lotsch, Bettina. (2023). Bridging the Gap between Solar Cells and Batteries: Optical Design of Bifunctional Solar Batteries Based on 2D Carbon Nitrides. Advanced Energy Materials. 13. 10.1002/aenm.202300245

 

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JOURNAL

Advanced Energy Materials

DOI

10.1002/aenm.202300245 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Bridging the Gap between Solar Cells and Batteries: Optical Design of Bifunctional Solar Batteries Based on 2D Carbon Nitrides

Developing a nonflammable electrolyte to prevent thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries. Nonfluorinated, nonflammable electrolytes present a viable route to achieving thermally stable high-performance batteries.

- Tailoring the molecular structure of organic carbonates in commercial electrolytes reduces the fire hazard of batteries.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: MOLECULAR DESIGN STRATEGY FOR HIGH-FLASHPOINT ELECTROLYTE AND COMPARISON OF ROOM TEMPERATURE IGNITION PROPERTY view more 

CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology(KIST, President Seok-Jin Yoon) announced that a collaborative research team led by Dr. Minah Lee of the Energy Storage Research Center, Professor Dong-Hwa Seo of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST), and Drs. Yong-Jin Kim and Jayeon Baek of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology(KITECH) has developed a nonflammable electrolyte that does not catch fire at room temperature by tailoring the molecular structure of linear organic carbonate to prevent fire and thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries.

As the use of medium and large-scale lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage systems(ESS) expands, concerns about fires and explosions are growing. Fires in batteries occur when batteries are short-circuited due to external impacts, abuse or aging, and the thermal runaway phenomenon accompanied by a serial exothermic reactions makes it difficult to extinguish the fire and poses a high risk of personal injury. In particular, the linear organic carbonate used in commercial electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries has a low flash point and easily catches fire even at room temperature, which is a direct cause of ignition.

Until now, in order to reduce the flammability of the electrolyte, Intensive fluorination in the solvent molecules or highly concentrated salts has been widely adopted. As a result, the lithium-ion transport in the electrolyte was reduced or those were incompatible with commercial electrodes, limiting their commercialization.

By simultaneously applying alkyl chain extension and alkoxy substitution to the diethyl carbonate(DEC) molecule, a typical linear organic carbonate used in commercial lithium-ion battery electrolytes, the researchers developed a new electrolyte, bis(2-methoxyethyl) carbonate(BMEC), with enhanced flash point and ionic conductivity by increasing intermolecular interactions and the solvation ability. The BMEC solution has a flash point of 121°C, which is 90°C higher than that of the conventional DEC solution, and thus is not ignitable in the temperature range for conventional battery operation. BMEC can dissociate lithium salt stronger than its simple alkylated counterpart, dibutyl carbonate(DBC), solving the problem of slower lithium ion transport when reducing flammability by increasing intermolecular interaction. As a result, it retains more than 92% of the original rate capability of the conventional electrolyte while significantly reducing the fire hazards.

In addition, the new electrolyte alleviated 37% of combustible gas evolution and 62% of heat generation than those of the conventional electrolyte. The research team demonstrated the stable operation of 1Ah lithium-ion batteries over 500 cycles by combining the new electrolyte with a high nickel cathode and a graphite anode. They also conducted a nail-penetration test on a 70% charged 4Ah-level Li-ion battery and confirmed the suppressed thermal runaway.

Dr. Minah Lee of the KIST stated, "The results of this research provide a new direction for designing nonflammable electrolytes, which has been inevitably sacrificed the electrochemical property or economic feasibility." "The developed nonflammable electrolyte has cost competitiveness and excellent compatibility with high-energy density electrode materials, so it is expected to be applied to the conventional battery manufacturing infrastructure. Ultimately, it will accelerate the emergence of high-performance batteries with excellent thermal stability."

Dr. Jayeon Baek of KITECH stated, "The BMEC solution developed in this research can be synthesized by transesterification using low-cost catalysts and easily scaled up. In the future, we will develop the synthesis method using C1 gas (CO or CO2) to enhance its eco-friendliness further."

Nail-penetration test results of 4Ah pouch cells using conventional and new electrolyte

(Left) Electrolyte of a commercial lithium-ion battery (DEC) and a new electrolyte (BMEC) developed by a joint research team from KIST, KITECH, and KAIST (right).

CREDIT

Korea Institute of Science and Technology

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was supported by the the National Research Council of Science & Technology and the Mid-Career Research Progam of the National Research Foundation of Korea grant by the Korea government Ministry of Science and ICT(Minister Jong-Ho Lee). The research result was published in the latest issue of Energy & Environmental Science (IF 32.5, JCR top 0.4%), an international journal in the field of energy and environmental science.

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JOURNAL

Energy & Environmental Science

DOI

10.1039/d3ee00157a 

ARTICLE TITLE

Molecularly engineered linear organic carbonates as practically viable nonflammable electrolytes for safe Li-ion batteries

 

Physical activity can promote learning and wellbeing at secondary school

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND

A study led by the University of Eastern Finland suggests that adolescents who engage in active school transport and leisure-time physical activity perform better at secondary school than their inactive peers. Regular leisure-time physical activity, even in moderate doses, was also associated with lower odds of school burnout. The findings were published in the prestigious European Journal of Public Health.

The relationship of physical activity with learning and academic achievement is complex. However, prior studies have found that especially school-based physical activity, such as physical education, can improve classroom performance – particularly in mathematics. Despite this, few studies have examined the association between active school transport and educational outcomes. Regarding physical activity and school wellbeing, most of the previous evidence is focused on university-level students.

In the recently published study of over 34,000 adolescents, researchers observed that active school transport was associated with higher odds of high perceived academic performance and self-reported competency in academic skills. The association was even stronger for leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Similar to prior studies, the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and mathematical skills stood out.

“The results regarding active school transport were particularly intriguing as researchers are increasingly interested in the health benefits of travel-related walking and cycling. Being physically active before school could, for example, enhance concentration in classroom, explaining our observations. However, due to the cross-sectional design, our study cannot establish causality,” says Juuso Jussila, a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Eastern Finland.

“There were no surprises regarding the strong association between leisure-time physical activity and perceived academic achievement due to support from prospective and intervention studies. Although we do not know all the explanatory mechanisms, improved coordination and perceptual-motor skills, required in various team sports, for example, can at least partially explain these observations. Leisure-time physical activity is also typically more intense than active school transport, leading to increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor in our circulation and, thus, improvements in cognitive performance.”

Leisure-time physical activity was also inversely associated with school burnout. As little as 30 minutes of weekly moderate-to-vigorous activity was associated with 24% lower odds of school burnout. Adolescents who engaged in leisure-time physical activity for 4 to 6 hours a week had 46% lower odds of school burnout compared to their physically inactive peers. Both leisure-time physical activity and active school transport were also positively associated with school enjoyment.

“To the best of my knowledge, this was the first large-scale study to examine the association between physical activity and school burnout among adolescents. Leisure-time physical activity can be an effective way to disconnect from schoolwork and the potential stress related to it. If we can increase the amount leisure-time physical activity among youth, both learning and wellbeing benefits can be significant,” Jussila summarises.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the nationwide School Health Promotion study. Jussila works as a researcher in the Climate Nudge project, which is funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland.

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JOURNAL

European Journal of Public Health

DOI

10.1093/eurpub/ckad128 

ARTICLE TITLE

Are active school transport and leisure-time physical activity associated with performance and wellbeing at secondary school? A population-based study

 

Tiny surgical robots could transform detection and treatment of cancers

A tiny robot which can travel deep into the lungs to detect and treat the first signs of cancer has been developed by researchers at the University of Leeds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

 

VIDEO: DEMONSTRATION OF PHANTOM LUNG - NAVIGATION AND LOCALISATION USING MAGNETIC PERSONALISED TENTACLES view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF STORM LAB, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

The ultra-soft tentacle, which measures just 2 millimetres in diameter and is controlled by magnets, can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes and could transform the treatment of lung cancer. 

It paves the way for a more accurate, tailored, and far less invasive approach to treatment and has been developed by engineers, scientists and clinicians based at the STORM Lab in Leeds. 

The researchers tested the magnetic tentacle robot on the lungs of a cadaver and found that it can travel 37% deeper than the standard equipment and leads to less tissue damage. 

The results of their investigations, which were funded by the European Research Council, are published today in Nature Engineering Communications. 

Professor Pietro Valdastri, Director of the STORM Lab and research supervisor, said: “This is a really exciting development.  

“This new approach has the advantage of being specific to the anatomy, softer than the anatomy and fully-shape controllable via magnetics. These three main features have the potential to revolutionize navigation inside the body.” 

Lung cancer has the highest worldwide cancer mortality rate. In early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for around 84% of cases, surgical intervention is the standard of care. However, this is typically highly invasive and leads to the significant removal of tissue. This approach is not suitable for all patients and can have an impact on lung function.  

Lung cancer screening programmes have led to better survival rates but have also highlighted the urgent need to find non-invasive ways to diagnose and treat patients early.  

As well as improving navigation within the lungs during biopsies, the magnetic tentacle robot could pave the way for far less invasive treatment, allowing clinicians to target only malicious cells while allowing healthy tissue and organs to continue normal function. 

The report’s co-author, Dr Giovanni Pittiglio, who carried out the research while conducting his PHD at the University of Leeds’s School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, added: “Our goal was, and is, to bring curative aid with minimal pain for the patient.  

“Remote magnetic actuation enabled us to do this using ultra-soft tentacles which can reach deeper, while shaping to the anatomy and reducing trauma.” 

The team will now set about collecting all the data that will allow them to start human trials  

How magnetic tentacle robots can work together 

Researchers at the STORM Lab have also been investigating ways of controlling two independent magnetic robots so that they can work together in a confined area of the human anatomy, allowing one to move a camera and the other to control a laser to remove tumours.   

The devices are made of silicone to minimise tissue damage and are steered by magnets mounted on robotic arms outside the patient’s body. 

Using a replica of a skull, the team successfully trialled the use of two robots to carry out endonasal brain surgery, a technique which allows a surgeon to go through the nose to operate on areas at the front of the brain and the top of the spine. 

The researchers needed the magnetic robots to move independently of each other so that one could move the camera, while the other could direct a laser onto a tumour.  

Normally, two magnets placed closely together would attract each other, creating a challenge for the researchers. They overcame it by designing the bodies of the tentacles in a way that they can bend only in specific directions and by relocating the north and south poles in each magnetic robot tentacle.  

They were then able to simulate the removal of a benign tumour on the pituitary gland at the base of the cranium, proving for the first time ever that it is possible to control two of the robots in one confined area of the body. 

The findings of their research, which was jointly funded by the European Research Council and the Physical Sciences Research Council, is published today in Advanced Intelligent Systems.  

The paper’s lead author, Zaneta Koszowska, a researcher in the University of Leeds School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, said: “This is a significant contribution to the field of magnetically controlled robotics. 

“Our findings show that diagnostic procedures with a camera, as well as full surgical procedures, can be performed in small anatomical spaces.” 

Robotic platform for peripheral lung tumour intervention based on magnetic tentacles

A close up of the phantom lung and the magnetic tentacle robot

First demonstration of bimanual magnetic soft robots for skull-base surgery

CREDIT

STORM Lab, University of Leeds

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s44172-023-00098-9 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Magnetic personalized tentacles for targeted photothermal cancer therapy in peripheral lungs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jul-2023

SCI-FI-TEK

Fusion model hot off the wall 

Predicting molecular rotational temperature for enhanced plasma recombination

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KYOTO UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: ROTATIONAL TEMPERATURES OF HYDROGEN MOLECULES DESORBED FROM PLASMA-FACING SURFACE WAS MEASURED IN THREE DIFFERENT TOKAMAKS; THE INCREASES OF THE TEMPERATURE DUE TO COLLISIONAL-RADIATIVE PROCESSES IN THE PLASMAS WERE ALSO EVALUATED. view more 

CREDIT: KYOTOU GLOBAL COMMS/TAIICHI SHIKAMA

Kyoto, Japan -- Humans may never be able to tame the Sun, but hydrogen plasma -- making up most of the Sun's interior -- can be confined in a magnetic field as part of fusion power generation: with a caveat. 

The extremely high temperature plasmas, typically as high as 100 million degrees Celsius, confined in the tokamaks -- donut-shaped fusion reactors -- cause damage to the containment walls of these mega devices. Researchers inject hydrogen and inert gases near the device wall to cool the plasma by radiation and recombination, which is the reverse of ionization. Heat load mitigation is critical to extending the lifetime of future fusion device. 

Understanding and predicting the process of the vibrational and rotational temperatures of hydrogen molecules near the walls could enhance the recombination, but effective strategies have remained elusive. 

An international team of researchers led by Kyoto University has recently found a way to explain the rotational temperatures measured in three different experimental fusion devices in Japan and the United States. Their model evaluates the surface interactions and electron-proton collisions of hydrogen molecules.

"In our model, we targeted the evaluation on the rotational temperatures in the low energy levels, enabling us to explain the measurements from several experimental devices," adds corresponding author Nao Yoneda of KyotoU's Graduate School of Engineering. 

By enabling the prediction and control of the rotational temperature near the wall surface, the team was able to dissipate plasma heat flux and optimize the devices' operative conditions.

"We still need to understand the mechanisms of rotational-vibrational hydrogen excitations," Yoneda reflects, "but we were pleased that the versatility of our model also allowed us to reproduce the measured rotational temperatures reported in literature."

###

The paper "Spectroscopic measurement of increases in hydrogen molecular rotational temperature with plasma-facing surface temperature and due to collisional-radiative processes in tokamaks" appeared on 27 July 2023 in Nuclear Fusion, with doi: 10.1088/1741-4326/acd4d1
 
About Kyoto University
Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en

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JOURNAL

Nuclear Fusion

DOI

10.1088/1741-4326/acd4d1 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Spectroscopic measurement of increases in hydrogen molecular rotational temperature with plasma-facing surface temperature and due to collisional-radiative processes in tokamaks

 

Manchester scientists caught Hofstadter’s butterfly in one of the most ancient materials on Earth

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

 

IMAGE: GRAPHITE BUTTERFLY. IMAGE CREDIT: PROF. JUN YIN (CO-AUTHOR OF THE PAPER) view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE CREDIT: PROF. JUN YIN (CO-AUTHOR OF THE PAPER)

Researchers in the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at The University of Manchester have revisited one of the most ancient materials on Earth – graphite, and discovered new physics that has eluded the field for decades.

Despite being made entirely of layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern, natural graphite is not as simple as one may think. The manner in which these atomic layers stack on top of one another can result in different types of graphite, characterised by different stacking order of consecutive atomic planes.   The majority of naturally appearing graphite has hexagonal stacking, making it one of the most “ordinary” materials on Earth. The structure of graphite crystal is a repetitive pattern. This pattern gets disrupted at the surface of the crystal and leads to what's called 'surface states', which are like waves that slowly fade away as you go deeper into the crystal. But how surface states can be tuned in graphite, was not well understood yet.

Van der Waals technology and twistronics (stacking two 2D crystals at a twist angle to tune the properties of the resulting structure to a great extent, because of moiré pattern formed at their interface) are the two leading fields in 2D materials research. Now, the team of NGI researchers, led by Prof. Artem Mishchenko, employs moiré pattern to tune the surface states of graphite, reminiscent of a kaleidoscope with everchanging pictures as one rotates the lens, revealing the extraordinary new physics behind graphite.

In particular, Prof. Mishchenko expanded twistronics technique to three-dimensional graphite and found that moiré potential does not just modify the surface states of graphite, but also affects the electronic spectrum of the entire bulk of graphite crystal. Much like the well-known story of The Princess and The Pea, the princess felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds. In the case of graphite, the moiré potential at an aligned interface could penetrate through more than 40 atomic graphitic layers.

This research, published in the latest issue of Nature, studied the effects of moiré patterns in bulk hexagonal graphite generated by crystallographic alignment with hexagonal boron nitride. The most fascinating result is the observation of a 2.5-dimensional mixing of the surface and bulk states in graphite, which manifests itself in a new type of fractal quantum Hall effect – a 2.5D Hofstadter’s butterfly.

Prof. Artem Mishchenko at The University of Manchester, who has already discovered the 2.5-dimensional quantum Hall effect in graphite said: “Graphite gave rise to the celebrated graphene, but people normally are not interested in this ‘old’ material. And now, even with our accumulated knowledge on graphite of different stacking and alignment orders in the past years, we still found graphite a very attractive system – so much yet to be explored”. Ciaran Mullan, one of the leading authors of the paper, added: “Our work opens up new possibilities for controlling electronic properties by twistronics not only in 2D but also in 3D materials”.

Prof. Vladimir Fal’ko, Director of the National Graphene Institute and theoretical physicist at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, added: “The unusual 2.5D quantum Hall effect in graphite arises as the interplay between two quantum physics textbook phenomena – Landau quantisation in strong magnetic fields and quantum confinement, leading to yet another new type of quantum effect”.

The same team is now carrying on with the graphite research to gain a better understanding of this surprisingly interesting material.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-06264-5 

ARTICLE TITLE

Mixing of moiré-surface and bulk states in graphite

 

Researchers identify the bottleneck of dual-atom catalysts for CO₂ reduction

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: COMPARISON OF CO FARADAIC EFFICIENCY FOR VARIOUS DACS REPORTED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS. THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA WERE EXTRACTED FROM PREVIOUS LITERATURE. view more 

CREDIT: HAO LI ET AL.

Researchers at Tohoku University have unraveled the reasons behind the underperformance of a promising field of catalysis known as dual atom catalysts (DACs). Published in the prestigious journal ACS Catalysis on July 10, 2023, their findings shed light on the challenges faced by DACs in converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable multicarbon products.

Unlike traditional catalysts, metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) DACs have two isolated atom pairs that work in tandem to produce catalytic mechanisms. DACs could improve the efficiency and sustainability of catalytic processes, something essential for clean energy technologies.

DACs have been touted for their potential to convert CO2 into multicarbon products such as ethanol and ethylene. This is because of the presence of multimetal sites, which should enable carbon atoms to couple together (C-C coupling) easily, thus producing the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Yet, recent experiments have failed to reach this outcome, showing that almost no DAC could produce a high quantity of multicarbon products.

"Given the large expectations placed on DACs, we wanted to uncover the causes of this failure," says Hao Li, associate professor at Tohoku University's Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) and corresponding author of the paper. "To do so, we probed the surface states of typical homonuclear and heteronuclear DACs and explored the reaction mechanisms of the CO2RR using advanced theoretical calculations."

Pourbaix analyses demonstrated that, contrary to the conventional hypothesis that C-C coupling occurs at the surface of the DACs, CO prefers to occupy the bridge site between the two metals, hindering the subsequent C-C coupling. This makes it challenging for the Co2RR reaction to happen both in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics. According to models, DACs preferentially develop CO in the CO2 reaction, which matches what has been observed in experiments.

The researchers also discovered that double-side occupancy, i.e., where two molecules bind or occupy both sides of the carbon layer on the surface of the M-N-C DAC, becomes more favorable if the molecules can pass through a big gap in the carbon layer. This renders the formation of HCOOH more likely in the CO2RR.

Li and his team believe that their study provides essential understanding of the inner catalytic mechanisms of DACs and paves the way for future improvements. "Our analytical framework, which combines surface state analysis, activity modeling, and electronic structure analysis, has revealed why C-C coupling in the CO2RR remains difficult for DACs. Additionally, we have provided key insights into enhancing the catalyst's performance."

Further research and development based on these insights could lead to more effective and sustainable solutions for converting CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels.

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JOURNAL

ACS Catalysis

DOI

10.1021/acscatal.3c01768 

ARTICLE TITLE

Why Is C-C Coupling in CO2 Reduction Still Difficult on Dual-Atom Electrocatalysts?

 

Cost of translating consent documents may serve as a barrier to participation of members of underrepresented groups in clinical trials

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers say that relieving investigators of consent document translation costs could make studies more inclusive and results more accurate and generalizable

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES HEALTH SCIENCES

Cancer research centers conducting clinical trials could enroll more patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups by placing greater emphasis on relieving investigators of the costs of translating consent documents into languages other than English, according to a UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center study.

“We identified a readily addressable weakness in the clinical trial process, and we believe that overcoming this barrier, as we have begun to do, will ensure better representation of trial participants from traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, enabling researchers to provide more comprehensive, ‘generalizable’ study results,” said senior author of the study Dr. Edward Garon, a medical oncologist and a Director of the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program Area at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Consent documents presented to potential clinical trial participants are required to be in a language understandable to the patient, and studies sponsored by pharmaceutical companies – about 70% of all randomized cancer clinical trials – typically have budgets that cover the costs of translating documents into languages appropriate for participants. In studies that are not sponsored by drug companies or device makers, investigators often operate on a fixed, per-patient budget provided by a grant, often from philanthropic organizations or governmental groups. As a result, an unexpected cost, such as the cost of consent document translation, often reduces the funds available for other potentially important aspects of the research.

The UCLA research team, which published its findings in Nature, theorized that these additional costs could discourage investigators from recruiting patients for whom consent document translation would be required, contributing to the disproportionately low rates of participants from traditionally underrepresented groups in clinical trials. Researchers analyzed “consent events” – situations in which consent documents were signed – and compared those for industry-sponsored studies versus studies not sponsored by industry. Each “event” did not necessarily represent a single patient, because some participants signed consent documents for multiple trials.

Garon and colleagues evaluated potential differences in the two types of trials based on participant primary language and English proficiency, basing their findings on more than 12,000 consent events that included 9,213 participants in trials at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center between January 2013 and December 2018.

The differences were dramatic. The proportion of consent events for patients with limited English proficiency in studies not sponsored by industry was approximately half of that seen in industry sponsored studies. When patients from this group signed consent documents, the proportion of consent documents translated into the patient’s primary language in studies without industry sponsorship was approximately half of that seen in industry sponsored studies.

Among patients signing consent documents, 63.4% were non-Hispanic white, of whom only 1.6% had a primary language other than English. In contrast, 18.3% of participants from other racial and ethnic groups had a primary language other than English, the most common being Spanish with Chinese as the second most common.

“Results suggest that the cost of consent document translation in trials not sponsored by industry could be a potentially modifiable barrier to the inclusion of patients with limited English proficiency,” explained Dr. Maria Velez, a fellow in hematology and oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the lead author of the study.

“Removing this hurdle and increasing representation is important because efficacy, toxicity and clinical outcomes of a studied treatment may be different in different populations. Also, many studies focus on screening, prevention, survivorship, and quality of life issues – topics that can best be understood through the inclusion of a diverse patient population,” explained Dr. Beth Glenn, co-director for Community Outreach and Engagement at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-author of the study.

“In many respects, this work represents the importance of a collaborative environment among investigators focused on cancer care across a wide range of disciplines. Dr. Garon's research primarily focuses on clinical and translational studies while Dr. Glenn’s work focuses on engaging the population served by the Cancer Center. The published paper addresses a problem relevant to both investigators and integrates methodologies employed in both of their research efforts. Such cross-cutting efforts epitomize the power of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing cancer research and care,” noted Dr. Amy Cummings, Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Cummings, also a co-author, wrote an accompanying Clinical Brief for Nature.

“Although it is difficult to acknowledge that those of us involved in conducting clinical trials may bear some responsibility for the lack of enrollment of diverse populations, identifying the forces leading to these findings provides targets for improvement for ourselves and other cancer researchers,” explained Dr. Michael Teitell, director of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, also a co-author. “We have since launched a program to help independent investigators have access to translation funding that will be supported by the cancer center and run by Dr. Cummings in her JEDI role to help ensure this disparity is addressed.”

“I am very appreciative that the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center was willing to investigate its own practices in order to identify areas for improvement, and I also appreciate their role in addressing this problem for our investigators,” added Garon. “However, nobody believes that these findings are unique to our institution. At the national level, we have begun to engage stakeholders to ensure that this impediment will no longer discourage inclusive enrollment in clinical trials anywhere in the United States.”

Authors: Garon is senior author. Maria A. Velez, MD, is first author. Co-authors include Beth A. Glenn, PhD; Maria Garcia-Jimenez, MD; Amy L. Cummings, MD, PhD; Aaron Lisberg, MD; Andrea Nañez, MD; Yazeed Radwan, BS; Jackson P. Lind-Lebuffe, BS; Paige M. Brodrick, BS; Debory Y. Li, MS; Arjan Gower, MD; Maggie Lindenbaum, BS; Manavi Hegde, MS; Jenny Brook, MS; Tristan Grogan, MS; David Elashoff, PhD; and Michael A. Teitell, MD, PhD, all of UCLA. Co-author Maria J. Fernandez-Turizo, MD, is with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Funding: This study was funded by the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-06382-0 

ARTICLE TITLE

Consent document translation expense hinders inclusive clinical trial enrolment

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Aug-2023