All solid-state supercapacitors were prepared using activated carbon, polymer electrolytes, i.e. Nafion and mediators, I-/I3-. The mediators have potential to provide high pseudocapacitance and to greatly reduce the internal resistance. Cyclic voltammetry studies were conducted to evaluate the specific energy, specific power and stability of the mediator-enhanced polymer electrolyte supercapacitors (MEPESCs). Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, surface area and porosimetry studies were conducted to examine the structural and chemical characteristics of the MEPESC electrodes. The results indicate that the leakage free MEPESCs not only provide high specific energy and power but also ease and flexibility for fabrication and packaging of energy storage devices. The results also suggest that the MEPESCs can be further improved by mitigating the aggregation/segregation of the mediators, eliminating the surface coating, promoting solvation of iodine ions, and reducing crossover of iodine.

Of the 46 donors included in this study, 89.1% were infected with HBV (41/46), including one (2.2%) window period infection, three (6.5%) recovered infections, and 37 (80.4%) occult HBV infections (OBIs). The S region of HBV was successfully amplified and sequenced for seven donors, five infected with Genotype B (71.4%), one with Genotype C (14.3%), and one with Genotype D (14.3%). Mutations in the S region were detected in four donors (57.1%) CONCLUSIONS: This is the first detailed study with multiple follow-up testing of the HBV infection status among blood donors who were tested negative for HBsAg and reactive for simultaneous NAT of HBV, HCV, and HIV. Most of these donors were infected with HBV with very low viral load. Our findings indicate that it is important to improve the sensitivity of NAT so as to decrease the residual risk of transfusion-transmitted HBV infection.

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