The microbial reduction of sulfate to sulfide coupled to organic matter oxidation followed by the transformation of sulfide back to sulfate drives a dynamic sulfur cycle in a variety of environments. The oxidative part of the sulfur cycle in particular is difficult to constrain because the eight electron oxidation of sulfide to sulfate occurs stepwise via a suite of biological and chemical path...

The population genome of an uncultured bacterium assigned to the Campylobacterales (Epsilonproteobacteria) was reconstructed from a metagenome dataset obtained by whole-genome shotgun pyrosequencing. Genomic DNA was extracted from a sulfate-reducing, m-xylene-mineralizing enrichment culture isolated from groundwater of a benzene-contaminated sulfidic aquifer. The identical epsilonproteobacteria...

dielectric elastomer actuators, [ 17 ] and memristors. [ 18 ] Liquidphase gallium–indium alloys are popular for this “microfl uidics” approach to stretchable electronics since they are nontoxic and form an oxide layer [ 19–22 ] that aids in microcontact printing, [ 23 ] electrode alignment, [ 24 ] and 3D printing. [ 25 ] Finally, a common approach to stretchable electronics is to embed thin fi ...

We study the adhesion between an elastomer of cross-link index, P, and a flat solid surface where polymer chains of polymerisation index, N, have been end-grafted. To understand the adhesive feature of such a system, one has to study both the origin of the grafted layer interdigitation with the network and the end-grafted chain extraction out of the elastomer when it separates from the solid su...

A hydrostatically coupled dielectric elastomer (HCDE) actuator consists of two membranes of a dielectric elastomer, clamped with rigid circular rings. Confined between the membranes is a fixed volume of a fluid, which couples the movements of the two membranes when a voltage or a force is applied. This paper presents a computational model of the actuator, assuming that the membranes are neo-Hoo...

Cephalopods can display dazzling patterns of colours by selectively contracting muscles to reversibly activate chromatophores--pigment-containing cells under their skins. Inspired by this novel colouring strategy found in nature, we design an electro-mechano-chemically responsive elastomer system that can exhibit a wide variety of fluorescent patterns under the control of electric fields. We co...

Lithium-sulfur batteries (Li-S batteries) have attracted intense interest because of their high specific capacity and low cost, although they are still hindered by severe capacity loss upon cycling caused by the soluble lithium polysulfide intermediates. Although many structure innovations at the material and device levels have been explored for the ultimate goal of realizing long cycle life of...