Increase In Entropy Research Articles

Adsorption of cephalexin from aqueous solutions by MIL-101 (Fe) metal–organic framework

Adsorption using metal–organic structures is one of the methods of eliminating antibiotics that has shown promising results so far. In this study, to remove the antibiotic cephalexin from water, metal–organic structure MIL-101(Fe) was used. After making the adsorbent, adsorption tests were carried out to remove cephalexin from the aqueous solution in batch mode. The effect of parameters, including initial adsorbent dosage, initial cephalexin concentration, pH, time, and temperature on the adsorption was investigated. Kinetic data showed that the cephalexin adsorption on MIL-101(Fe) followed the pseudo-second-order model. The cephalexin adsorption isotherm was consistent with Langmuir model, and the maximum absorption capacity at 45 °C was 16.44 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the cephalexin adsorption on adsorbent is spontaneous, endothermic, and accompanied by an increase in entropy. Therefore, MIL-101(Fe) can be a promising adsorbent to remove cephalexin from aqueous solutions.

Effect of generator temperature on steam ejector performance in renewable refrigeration cycle considering wet steam model and dry steam model

The rise in global warming has led to an increased utilization of cooling systems. High energy consumption associated with common refrigeration cycles not only contributes to air pollution but also intensifies the consumption of fossil fuels. Consequently, the imperative to conserve energy has become paramount in today's world. One of the methods to decrease energy consumption involves employing systems capable of harnessing waste heat from industries, solar energy, and other sources. The ejector refrigeration cycle (ERC) stands as an example of such systems. In present study, the impact of elevating the generator temperature on various aspects such as flow behavior in the ejector, aerodynamic shocks, entrainment ratio (ER), and entropy production was examined. The investigation encompassed both wet steam model (WSM) and dry steam model (DSM). Based on the findings, it was observed that with an increase in generator temperature, the ER decreases while the production entropy increases. In the WSM, the liquid mass fraction (LMF) also experiences an increase. Additionally, the Mach number distribution in the DSM surpasses that of the WSM and the temperature drop in the DSM is greater compared to the WSM. With the rise in generator temperature from 388 K to 418 K, both the DSM and WSM exhibit a decrease in ER by 52.9% and 58.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the production entropy experiences a substantial increase of 180% and 206% for the DSM and WSM, respectively.

Aerodynamic performance and flow field losses analysis: A study on nozzle governing turbine with varied regulated nozzle stator installation angle

During the energy release process in compressed air energy storage (CAES) system, the air storage pressure gradually diminishes. To optimize turbine performance in this scenario, a judicious air distribution method becomes imperative. This study adopts single nozzle governing method and elucidates the variation in aerodynamic characteristics under rated output work conditions by manipulating regulated nozzle stator installation angle (RNSIA) and total inlet pressure under varying base pressure. When the RNSIA ranges from −10° to 4° under the base pressure of 10.0 MPa, the maximum specific work increment is 13.2 % and efficiency increment is 14.3 % compared with throttle governing. Meanwhile, the maximum specific work increment is 4.0 % and efficiency increment is 2.9 % compared with designed RNSIA. The proportion of throttle entropy increase to the system progressively rises from 5 % to 40 %, mirroring the trend in system entropy increase. To maintain output work requirements, it's advisable to appropriately decrease the RNSIA to boost inlet pressure of the regulated nozzle and mitigate throttling losses. Additionally, the reduction in the RNSIA within a certain range prolongs the duration of the energy release process in the CAES system, which effectively enhances the round-trip efficiency of the CAES system.

Effect of A-site rare-earth ions on structure and magnetic properties of novel (Ln0.2Gd0.2La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2)MnO3 (Ln = Eu, Ho, Yb) high-entropy perovskite ceramics

Single-phase high-entropy perovskite ceramics (Ln0.2Gd0.2La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2)MnO3 (Ln-GLNSMO HEPCs) have been synthesized using solid-state reactions. The effect of A-site rare-earth ions (Ln = Eu, Ho, Yb) on the structure and magnetic properties was systematically investigated. The results show that all samples are orthorhombic phases (with a space group of Pbnm) and exhibit a strong crystallization trend sintered at 1300 °C for 16 h. All the HEPCs are composed of irregular spherical particles with smooth surfaces and show obvious hysteresis effects at T = 5 K. The changing Mn–O bond distance, Mn–O–Mn bond angle and the increase of Mn4+ ion concentration enhance the double exchange effect of Mn3+-O2--Mn4+, leading to different magnetic interactions. The residual magnetization Mr (coercivity Hc) of the samples is significantly enhanced, which is increasing from 0.13 emu/g (16.34 Oe) to 3.17 emu/g (97.07 Oe) due to the increase of configuration entropy, lattice distortion and the double exchange effect (DE). In addition, there is a strong relationship between the magnetic properties and the average radius of the A-site ions, in which Ho-GLNSMO HEPCs have a high Ms magnetism. This work is a valuable reference for the magnetic regulation of high-entropy ceramics based on rare-earth and entropy-stabilized perovskite types.

Effect of ultrasound geometry on the production efficiency of damaged starch: Determining rheology parameters, and non-isothermal reaction kinetics

Present study investigates the effects of probe size geometry on thermodynamic kinetics, rheology, and microstructure of wheat and tapioca starch. Ultrasound treatment using different probe diameters (20 mm and 100 mm) significantly influenced the gelatinization process. Results showed reduced enthalpy (ΔH) and Gibbs energy (ΔG), indicating enhanced gelatinization efficiency. According to the results, using a 20 mm and 100 mm probe leads to a reduction of 52.7 % and 68.6 % in reaction enthalpy for wheat starch compared to native starch, respectively. Microstructure analysis revealed structural changes, with ultrasound treatment leading to granular fractures and a sheet-like structure with air bubbles. The rheological behavior of the starches is found to exhibit shear thinning behavior, with the Casson model providing the best fit for the experimental data. Moreover, rheology modeling using Herschel-Bulkley and power law models showed increased viscosity and shear stress in larger probes. Numerical simulation data demonstrated that probe size influenced ultrasonic pressure, sound pressure level, and thermal power dissipation density, affecting fluid motion and velocity field components. Moreover, the maximum dissipated power decreases from 8.43 to 0.655 mW/m3 with an increase in probe diameter from 20 to 100 mm. The average yield shear stress values are calculated as 3.36 and 3.14 for wheat and tapioca starches, respectively. The larger probe diameter leads to greater entropy increases, with tapioca starch showing a 4.72 % increase and wheat starch a 4.97 % increase, compared to 2.56 % and 3.11 %, respectively, with the smaller probe. Additionally, the Keller-Miksis model provided insights into bubble dynamics, revealing increased pressure and temperature with higher pressure amplitudes.

Secondary phase evolution of high-entropy ceramics under heavy-ion irradiation in high-temperature coupling-induced environment

The formation of new phases in high-entropy ceramics can be induced by both heavy-ion irradiation and annealing, meaning that these transitions can simultaneously occur under high-temperature irradiation. Consequently, the radiation resistance of high-entropy ceramics can involve complex mechanisms upon this coupled environment. In this study, the irradiation resistance of the high-entropy (ZrHfTiSn)O2 ceramic was investigated under heavy-ion irradiation at different temperatures. The results show that after irradiation, the secondary triclinic phase exists in all the ion-injected ranges. The triclinic phase can withstand irradiation, leading to dislocations that trigger a local increase in entropy and result in layered amorphization. Amorphization is accompanied by volume expansion that compresses adjacent regions, causing angular differences in the triclinic phase unit cell, and recrystallization of the amorphous region at 500 °C can release this compression. This study provides experimental data and theoretical support for further improving the radiation resistance of related materials.

Postnatal Development of Synaptic Plasticity at Hippocampal CA1 Synapses: Correlation of Learning Performance with Pathway-Specific Plasticity.

To determine the critical timing for learning and the associated synaptic plasticity, we analyzed developmental changes in learning together with training-induced plasticity. Rats were subjected to an inhibitory avoidance (IA) task prior to weaning. While IA training did not alter latency at postnatal day (PN) 16, there was a significant increase in latency from PN 17, indicating a critical day for IA learning between PN 16 and 17. One hour after training, acute hippocampal slices were prepared for whole-cell patch clamp analysis following the retrieval test. In the presence of tetrodotoxin (0.5 µM), miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) were sequentially recorded from the same CA1 neuron. Although no changes in the amplitude of mEPSCs or mIPSCs were observed at PN 16 and 21, significant increases in both excitatory and inhibitory currents were observed at PN 23, suggesting a specific critical day for training-induced plasticity between PN 21 and 23. Training also increased the diversity of postsynaptic currents at PN 23 but not at PN 16 and 21, demonstrating a critical day for training-induced increase in the information entropy of CA1 neurons. Finally, we analyzed the plasticity at entorhinal cortex layer III (ECIII)-CA1 or CA3-CA1 synapses for each individual rat. At either ECIII-CA1 or CA3-CA1 synapses, a significant correlation between mean α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid/N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (AMPA/NMDA) ratio and learning outcomes emerged at PN 23 at both synapses, demonstrating a critical timing for the direct link between AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic plasticity and learning efficacy. Here, we identified multiple critical periods with respect to training-induced synaptic plasticity and delineated developmental trajectories of learning mechanisms at hippocampal CA1 synapses.

A computational characterization of N-heterocyclic carbenes for catalytic and nonlinear optical applications

Abstract Very recently, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have found a wide range of applications in the fields of catalysis and nonlinear optics. Herein, we have employed 1,3-bis-(1(S)-benzyl)-4,5-dihydro-imidazol-based carbene as a reference molecule and substituted one H atom from each CH2 of the benzyl groups in both sides by CH3, NH2, and CF3 to study the thermodynamic and opto-electronic properties of NHCs theoretically. It was observed that the enthalpy (H), Gibb’s free energy (G), specific heat capacity (C v), and entropy (S) increase significantly in the presence of the electron-withdrawing groups compared to the electron-donating groups. The IR active in-plane bending vibrations of the CH (NHC) group are shifted to the higher frequency region for the considered substituted molecules compared to the reference carbene. The analysis of the electronic properties shows that the CH3-substituted carbene is more reactive for catalytic activities compared to other NHCs. The calculated nonlinear optical (NLO) properties reveal that the NH2-substituted NHC has the largest hyperpolarizability value whereas the CH3-substituted NHC has the largest dipole moment and polarizability among all, making them potential candidates for the development of NLO materials.

Realization of Fine-Tuning the Lattice Thermal Conductivity and Anharmonicity in Layered Semiconductors via Entropy Engineering.

Entropy engineering is widely proven to be effective in achieving ultra-low thermal conductivity for well-performed thermoelectric and heat management applications. However, no strong correlation between entropy and lattice thermal conductivity is found until now, and the fine-tuning of thermal conductivity continuously via entropy-engineering in a wide entropy range is still lacking. Here, a series of high-entropy layered semiconductors, Ni1- x(Fe0.25Co0.25Mn0.25Zn0.25)xPS3, where 0 ≤ x < 1, with low mass/size disorder is designed. High-purity samples with mixing configuration entropy of metal atomic site in a wide range of 0-1.61R are achieved. Umklapp phonon-phonon scattering is found to be the dominating phonon scattering mechanism, as revealed by the linear T-1 dependence of thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, fine tuning of the lattice thermal conductivity via continuous entropy engineering at metal atomic sites is achieved, in an almost linear dependence in middle-/high- entropy range. Moreover, the slope of the κ- T-1 curve reduces with the increase in entropy, and a linear response of the reduced Grüneisen parameter is revealed. This work provides an entropy engineering strategy by choosing multiple metal elements with low mass/size disorder to achieve the fine tuning of the lattice thermal conductivity and the anharmonic effect.

Dynamic Effect of Overscreening on Electrochemical and Thermal Properties of EDLC Electrodes during Charging/Discharging Cycles

Overscreening was commonly observed during charging/discharging cycles of electric double layer capacitors(EDLCs). This study presented a two-dimensional continuum electrochemical thermal model with a distribution function for concentration considering overscreening to investigate how overscreening affected the dynamic formation of electric double layer (EDL) near electrodes in macroscale. The results indicated that ion distribution was co-affected by EDL formation and overscreening near the electrode. Correspondingly, layered space charge density distribution resulted in a thicker diffuse layer, whose thickness was determined by the sum of co-ion and counter-ion diameters. Additionally, the diffuse layer capacitance was proportional to the reciprocal of counter-ion diameter, while the total capacitance was proportional to a linear combination of counter-ion and the larger ion diameters. Moreover, the shift from endothermic to exothermic for the total heat generation rate was dominated by heat of mixing, and was caused by the local ion mixing due to overscreening, resulting in local entropy increase. The results of this study can be used to further investigate the effect of overscreening on ion transient transport dynamic and heat generation rates.

Analysis of Thermal Mixing and Entropy Generation during Natural Convection Flows in Arbitrary Eccentric Annulus

The present study presents a computational investigation into the thermal mixing along with entropy generation throughout the natural convection flow within an arbitrarily eccentric annulus. Salt water is filled inside the eccentric annulus, in which the outer and inner cylinders have Tc and Th constant temperatures. The Boussinesq approximation is used to develop the governing equations for the natural convection flow, which are then solved on a structured quadrilateral mesh using the OpenFOAM software package (FOAM-Extend 4.0). The computational simulations are performed for Rayleigh numbers (Ra=103–105), eccentricity (ϵ=0,0.4,0.8), angular positions (φ=0∘,45∘,90∘), and Prandtl number (Pr=10, salt water). The computational results are visualized in terms of streamlines, isotherms, and entropy generation caused by fluid friction and heat transfer. Additionally, a thorough examination of the variations in the average and local Nusselt numbers, circulation intensity with eccentricities, and angular positions is provided. The optimal state of heat transfer is shown to be influenced by the eccentricity, angular positions, uniform temperature sources, and Boussinesq state. Moreover, the rate of thermal mixing and the production of total entropy increase as Ra increases. It is found that, compared to a concentric annulus, an eccentric annulus has a higher rate of thermal mixing and entropy generation. The findings show which configurations and types of eccentric annulus are ideal and could be used in any thermal processing activity where a salt fluid (Pr=10) is involved.

Configurational entropy of cerate ceramics regulating by multicomponent rare earth for enhanced thermophysical properties

Cerate is regarded as a promising material for the next-generation of thermal barrier coating due to its high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and low thermal conductivity. However, its thermal contraction within the temperature range of 473-673 K poses a significant challenge to its widespread application. The aim of this work is to improve the thermal contraction by regulating the configurational entropy of cerate ceramics. Six kinds of rare earth doped cerate ceramics with different configurational entropy were prepared. The results indicated that the phases of the as-prepared ceramics are all fluorite structures. With the increase of configurational entropy, the problem of thermal contraction is improved continuously. More importantly, the as-prepared (La1/8Sm1/8Yb1/8Y1/8Er1/8Eu1/8Nd1/8Gd1/8)2Ce2O7 (8RC) high entropy cerate ceramic demonstrates a near elimination of thermal contraction in the 473-673 K temperature range, and accompanied by high CTE, low thermal conductivity and good thermal stability, suggesting its potential application in the field of thermal barrier coating material.

Functionalization of a cast NaAl/binary ZnO/SiO2 nanohybrid with amine and Schiff base ligands as an adsorbent of divalent cations in water system.

Casting method was used to synthesize a novel sodium alginate nanohybrid functionalized with aminated ZnO/SiO2 Schiff base for adsorption of nickel (Ni2+) and copper (Cu2+) divalent cations in single and binary water systems. The cast Schiff base nanohybrids were investigated using FESEM, XRD, BET, FTIR, TGA, and XPS analyses. The influence of unfunctionalized binary ZnO/SiO2 nano oxides and aminated Schiff base ligands formed by the reaction between salicylaldehyde and O-phenylenediamine on the adsorption of Ni2+ and Cu2+ cations was evaluated. The results confirmed that the aminated Schiff base ligands led to a higher adsorption ability of the cast nanohybrids containing interaction of divalent cations with nitrogen and oxygen atoms, as well as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm for both cations followed a double-exponential model and the Redlich-Peterson model, respectively. The maximum monolayer capacity was found to be 249.8mg/g for Cu2+ cation and 96.4mg/g for Ni2+ cation. Thermodynamic analysis revealed an endothermic and spontaneous adsorption process with an increase in entropy. Furthermore, the synthesized Schiff base adsorbent could be easily reused over five times. The simultaneous adsorption in binary system exhibited a higher adsorption selectivity of the cast Schiff base nanohybrid for Cu2+ cation compared to Ni2+ cation. It was found that the removal percentages of Cu2+ and Ni2+ from industrial electroplating wastewater were 91.3 and 64.5%, respectively. Lastly, cost analysis of the synthesized nanohybrid was investigated.

Rational Design of a Circularly Permuted Flavin-Based Fluorescent Protein.

Flavin-based fluorescent proteins are oxygen-independent reporters that hold great promise for imaging anaerobic and hypoxic biological systems. In this study, we explored the feasibility of applying circular permutation, a valuable method for the creation of fluorescent sensors, to flavin-based fluorescent proteins. We used rational design and structural data to identify a suitable location for circular permutation in iLOV, a flavin-based reporter derived from A. thaliana. However, relocating the N- and C-termini to this position resulted in a significant reduction in fluorescence. This loss of fluorescence was reversible, however, by fusing dimerizing coiled coils at the new N- and C-termini to compensate for the increase in local chain entropy. Additionally, by inserting protease cleavage sites in circularly permuted iLOV, we developed two protease sensors and demonstrated their application in mammalian cells. In summary, our work establishes the first approach to engineer circularly permuted FbFPs optimized for high fluorescence and further showcases the utility of circularly permuted FbFPs to serve as a scaffold for sensor engineering.

Multi-objective optimization for impeller structure parameters of fuel cell air compressor using linear-based boosting model and reference vector guided evolutionary algorithm

As a pivotal part of cathode air supply system, centrifugal air compressors play a central position in ensuring efficient operations of onboard fuel cells. To improve the overall performance of compressors, comprehensive performance tests were conducted and an integrated simulation model was developed by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. On this basis, the prediction performance of Linear-based Boosting models was investigated, and multi-objective optimization of impeller structural parameters was carried out through the Reference Vector Guided Evolutionary Algorithm (RVEA). Simulation results indicate that the impeller of the original compressor exhibits significant entropy increase, insufficient gas compression and serious energy dissipation, highlighting considerable room for design optimization. The eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model with 29 estimators has superior generalization ability and prediction performance, making it the preferred Boosting model for the compressor. Multi-objective optimizations have strong universality and rationality, resulting in a well-distributed and diversified final non-dominated solution set. The isentropic efficiency and pressure ratio of the Max_σ solution are improved by 18.7% and 70.1%, while those of the Max_ηc solution are enhanced by 23.0% and 48.9%, respectively. After optimization, the gas experiences reduced shock loss, diminished entropy increase and enhanced flow stability. These findings can provide data support, theoretical basis and directional guidance for performance improvement of centrifugal air compressors.

Virtual Action Actor-Critic Framework for Exploration (Student Abstract)

Efficient exploration for an agent is challenging in reinforcement learning (RL). In this paper, a novel actor-critic framework namely virtual action actor-critic (VAAC), is proposed to address the challenge of efficient exploration in RL. This work is inspired by humans' ability to imagine the potential outcomes of their actions without actually taking them. In order to emulate this ability, VAAC introduces a new actor called virtual actor (VA), alongside the conventional actor-critic framework. Unlike the conventional actor, the VA takes the virtual action to anticipate the next state without interacting with the environment. With the virtual policy following a Gaussian distribution, the VA is trained to maximize the anticipated novelty of the subsequent state resulting from a virtual action. If any next state resulting from available actions does not exhibit high anticipated novelty, training the VA leads to an increase in the virtual policy entropy. Hence, high virtual policy entropy represents that there is no room for exploration. The proposed VAAC aims to maximize a modified Q function, which combines cumulative rewards and the negative sum of virtual policy entropy. Experimental results show that the VAAC improves the exploration performance compared to existing algorithms.

Numerical Study of the Gas–Solid Separation Performance of Axial Flow Cyclone Separators

Cyclone separators, which have a high separation performance, play a crucial role in mitigating the occurrence of dust explosion incidents. This study aims to improve the performance of an axial cyclone separator using the results of simulations employing the RNG k-ε model together with a user-defined function to simulate the wall collision process. The effectiveness of various structural modifications to the vortex tube has been addressed. Specifically, we found that increasing the number of blades, reducing the blade exit angle, and adopting L-shaped blades increase separation efficiency. Additionally, enlarging the guide vane and exhaust pipe diameters, as well as increasing the exhaust pipe inclination angle, contribute to an improved separation performance due to the developed tangential velocity and vortex cores. However, it also increases the pressure drop losses due to the increase in the turbulence pulsation entropy and the wall entropy, while the time-averaged entropy is found to be less significant. As a result, our study sheds light on the flow characteristics, the gas–solid separation process, and the energy loss mechanism in the cyclone separator.

Platinum on High-Entropy Aluminate Spinels as Thermally Stable CO Oxidation Catalysts

Thermal degradation is a leading cause of automotive catalyst deactivation. Because high-entropy oxides are uniquely stabilized at high temperatures via an increase in configurational entropy, these materials may offer new mechanisms for preventing the thermal deactivation of precious metal catalysts. In this work, we evaluated platinum loaded on simple and high-entropy aluminate spinels (MAl2O4, where M = Co, Cu, Mg, Ni, or mixtures thereof) in carbon monoxide oxidation before and after aging at 800 °C. Pt supported on all simple spinels showed significant deactivation after thermal aging compared to the fresh samples, with T90 increasing by at least 60 °C. However, Pt on high-entropy spinels had nearly the same or better activity after aging, with T90 increasing by only 6 °C at most. During aging and reduction, copper exsolved from the spinel supports and alloyed with platinum. This interaction promoted low temperature oxidation activity, presumably through weakened CO binding, but did not prevent deactivation. On the other hand, Co, Mg, and Ni constituents promoted stronger CO bonding, as evidenced by apparent negative order kinetics and poor activity at low temperatures. High-entropy spinels, containing a variety of active metals, displayed synergetic reactant adsorption capacity and cooperative effects with supported platinum particles, which collectively prevented thermal deactivation.

Recent Design Strategies for M‐N‐C Single‐Atom Catalysts in Oxygen Reduction: An Entropy Increase Perspective

AbstractRecently, a diverse array of novel metal‐nitrogen‐carbon (M‐N‐C) single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have rapidly evolve, particularly in the realm of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Despite the plethora of proposed design and improvement strategies for SACs, a comprehensive review systematically compiling the components in M‐N‐C from a unified perspective is notably absent. For the first time, a thorough examination of each component in M‐N‐C is conducted, focusing on the perspective of entropy increase in the active sites of SACs. For the single M‐N4 sites and the whole M‐N‐C system, an increase in entropy implies an elevated degree of disorder and chaos. Broadly, the entropy‐increasing modification of M (single mental sites) and guest groups entails an augmentation of chaos, with the most effective co‐catalytic synergy achieved by establishing multiple active sites through a “cocktail effect”. Concerning N (nitrogen and other heteroatoms) and C (carbon supports), the entropy increase modification induces heightened disorder, with symmetry breaking more likely to drive M‐N4 toward adsorbing oxygen molecules to attain an equilibrium symmetric structure. All these innovative design strategies have led to a remarkable improvement in the ORR activity and stability and offer a guiding criterion for the future preparation of SACs.

Controlled dissolution of a single ion from a salt interface

Interactions between monatomic ions and water molecules are fundamental to understanding the hydration of complex polyatomic ions and ionic process. Among the simplest and well-established ion-related reactions is dissolution of salt in water, which is an endothermic process requiring an increase in entropy. Extensive efforts have been made to date; however, most studies at single-ion level have been limited to theoretical approaches. Here, we demonstrate the salt dissolution process by manipulating a single water molecule at an under-coordinated site of a sodium chloride film. Manipulation of molecule in a controlled manner enables us to understand ion–water interaction as well as dynamics of water molecules at NaCl interfaces, which are responsible for the selective dissolution of anions. The water dipole polarizes the anion in the NaCl ionic crystal, resulting in strong anion–water interaction and weakening of the ionic bonds. Our results provide insights into a simple but important elementary step of the single-ion chemistry, which may be useful in ion-related sciences and technologies.