Flexible fiber-shaped supercapacitors (FSSCs) are recently of extensive interest for portable and wearable electronic gadgets. Yet the lack of industrial-scale flexible fibers with high conductivity and capacitance and low cost greatly limits its practical engineering applications. To this end, we here present pristine twisted carbon fibers (CFs) coated with a thin metallic layer via electroless deposition route, which exhibits exceptional conductivity with ∼300% enhancement and superior mechanical strength (∼1.8 GPa). Subsequently, the commercially available conductive pen ink modified high conductive composite fibers, on which uniformly covered ultrathin nickel-cobalt double hydroxides (Ni-Co DHs) were introduced to fabricate flexible FSSCs. The synthesized functionalized hierarchical flexible fibers exhibit high specific capacitance up to 1.39 F·cm in KOH aqueous electrolyte. The asymmetric solid-state FSSCs show maximum specific capacitance of 28.67 mF·cm and energy density of 9.57 μWh·cm at corresponding power density as high as 492.17 μW·cm in PVA/KOH gel electrolyte, with demonstrated high flexibility during stretching, demonstrating their potential in flexible electronic devices and wearable energy systems.

Petrological, fauna] and floral infomiation derived from a new drill core taken in the Yangtze delta, coupled with data from borings recovered earlier, record a marked transition to wanner, wetter conditions which resulted in widespread inundation of the delta about 4000 years ago. Also identified for that time on the delta plain is a m;\jor discontinuity between the Neolithic Liangzhu and Bronze age Maqiao cultures. The cultural discontinuity is indicated by: (1) absence of in HUU material between the two at -4000 yc B.P.; (2) missing Maqiao material in strata above many Liangzhu sites; (3) less sophisticated Maqiao material than in the older Neolithic phase; and (4) notably fewer Maqiao sites in more restricted areas of the delta plain. It is of note that the change from the Liangzhu to the younger Maqiao does not show an increasingly complex cultural advancement of the type generally associated with the foundation of Chinese civilization. We propose that this cultural discontinuity w;is caused by the interplay of increased environmental stress and new population migrations into the delta.

Portable fiber supercapacitors with high-energy storage capacity are in great demand to cater for the rapid development of flexible and deformable electronic devices. Hence, we employed a 3D cellular copper foam (CF) combined with the graphene sheets (GSs) as the support matrix to bridge the active material with nickel fiber (NF) current collector, significantly increasing surface area and decreasing the interface resistance. In comparison to the active material directly growing onto the NF in the absence of CF and GSs, our rationally designed architecture achieved a joint improvement in both capacity (0.217 mAh cm/1729.413 mF cm, 1200% enhancement) and rate capability (87.1% from 1 to 20 mA cm, 286% improvement), which has never been achieved before with other fiber supercapacitors. The in situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) microcompression test demonstrated its superior mechanical recoverability for the first time. Importantly, the assembled flexible and wearable device presented a superior energy density of 109.6 μWh cm at a power density of 749.5 μW cm, and the device successfully coupled with a flexible strain sensor, solar cell, and nanogenerator. This rational design should shed light on the manufacturing of 3D cellular architectures as microcurrent collectors to realize high energy density for fiber-based energy storage devices.

No abstract

Climatic changes in the Yangtze Delta have played an important role in the emergence, persistence and collapse of civilization. Archaeological excavations in the region over many years have demonstrated that there are several layers of fine sand or organic mud that interrupt the consecutive culture strata in a number of Neolithic culture sites. Continuous biostratigraphical and sedimentological records from the Maqiao cultural site, Shanghai, suggest that the fine sand and organic mud units resulted from expansion of water bodies both by sea-level fluctuations and from increased flooding during cold and humid episodes of Holocene climates. The absence of human settlement from 7240 BP to 5320 BP in the region was mainly caused by higher sea levels resulting from a warm and humid climate. The Neolithic cultures developed under conditions of lower and more stable sea level as well as warmer and dryer climates between about 4410 BP and 3250 BP. A flood-induced lake expansion interrupted the civilization in the region at about 4200 BP. Later, higher water tables and expansion of lakes between 3250 BP and AD 618 under a cold and moist climate temporarily terminated settlement on the delta. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, beginning at about AD 618, the region again became suitable for human settlement under conditions of more favourable climate and lower water tables.