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Electrochemical properties of Li7La3Zr2normalO12 (LLZ) were investigated to reveal its availability as a solid electrolyte for all-solid-state rechargeable batteries with a Li metal anode. After calcination at 1230°C , a well-sintered LLZ pellet with a garnet-like structure was obtained, and its conductivity was 1.8×10−4Scm−1 at room temperature. The cyclic voltammogram of the Li/LLZ/Li cell showed that the dissolution and deposition reactions of lithium occurred reversibly without any reaction with LLZ. This indicates that a Li metal anode can be applied for an LLZ system. A full cell composed of a LiCoO2/LLZ/Li configuration was also operated successfully at expected voltage estimated from the redox potential of Li metal and LiCoO2 . Simultaneously, an irreversible behavior was observed at the first discharge and charge cycle due to an interfacial problem between LiCoO2 and LLZ. The discharge capacity of the full cell was 15μAhcm−2 . These results reveal that LLZ is available for all-solid-state lithium batteries.

Li0.35La0.55TiO3 (LLT) with a honeycomb structure, which has microsized holes on both sides of a membrane, was prepared as an electrolyte for three-dimensional all-solid-state rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. In this study, LiCoO2 and Li4Mn5normalO12 were used as cathode and anode materials, respectively, and their particles were fabricated by the sol–gel method, which provided not only small particles to inject into the microsized holes of the honeycomb electrolyte (0.6 and 0.3μm for LiCoO2 and Li4Mn5normalO12 , respectively) but also particles with high discharge capacities (98.6 and 90.2% of their theoretical capacities for LiCoO2 and Li4Mn5normalO12 , respectively). The impregnation of active material particles mixed with the precursor sol into the honeycomb holes provided a good contact between the LLT electrolyte and the active materials, which reduced the internal resistance of the cell and improved the discharge capacity. Accordingly, the LiCoO2/LLT/Li4Mn5normalO12 all-solid-state battery was successfully operated at 1.1 V with a discharge capacity of 7.3μAhcm−2 .

;Two types of red pigment, anthocyanins and betacyanins, never occur together in the same plant. Although anthocyanins are widely distributed in higher plants as flower and fruit pigments, betacyanins have replaced anthocyanins in the Caryophyllales. We isolated cDNAs encoding dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), which is the first enzyme committed to anthocyanin biosynthesis in the flavonoid pathway, from Spinacia oleracea and Phytolacca americana, plants that belong to the Caryophyllales. The deduced amino acid sequence of Spinacia DFR and Phytolacca DFR revealed a high degree of homology with DFRs of anthocyanin-producing plants. The DFR of carnation, an exception in the Caryophyllales that synthesizes anthocyanin, showed the highest level of identity. In the phylogenetic tree, Spinacia DFR and Phytolacca DFR clustered with the DFRs of anthocyanin-synthesizing dicots. Recombinant Spinacia and Phytolacca DFRs expressed in Escherichia coli convert dihydroflavonol to leucoanthocyanidin. The expression and function of DFR in spinach and pokeweed are discussed in relation to the molecular evolution of red pigment biosynthesis in higher plants.

(Hydroxypropyl)cellulose (HPC)/vinyl polymer networks were synthesized in film form from liquid-crystalline solutions of HPC in a mixed solvent of methacrylate monomer/methanol/water (2:1:2 in weight) containing cross-linking agents, via photopolymerization of the methacrylate monomer. Di(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacrylate (DEGMEM) or 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) was used as the polymerizing monomer, and tetra(ethylene glycol) diacrylate and glutaraldehyde were the cross-linkers for the monomers and HPC, respectively. The polymer composite films, HPC/PDEGMEM and HPC/PHPMA, prepared at ca. 60-70 wt % concentrations of HPC in the starting solutions, were iridescently colored due to the selective light reflection, originating from the cholesteric helical arrangement carried over successively into the network system. When the cholesteric films were immersed and swollen in water containing an inorganic neutral salt, their coloration and optical turbidity varied according to a strength of 'chaotropicity' of the impregnant ions. This ionic effect may be interpreted as essentially identical with that found formerly in the coexistent salt-sort dependence of the cholesteric pitch and lower critical solution temperature for HPC aqueous solutions. It is also demonstrated that visual appearance of the swollen networks can be changed by application of an electric potential of practical magnitude between both edges of the samples of rectangular shape.