By Reuters Staff
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to borrow
almost 180 billion euros ($214.60 billion) next year, nearly double the amount
initially foreseen, as Berlin extends aid measures to mitigate impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on Europe’s biggest economy, lawmakers told Reuters on
Friday.
Germany’s parliamentary budget committee of
lawmakers agreed on the plans in the early hours of Friday after 17 hours of
talks, saying it is the second largest amount of net new borrowing in the
history of post-war Germany.
“The new borrowing is the right thing to do.
You cannot save your way through a crisis,” said Greens lawmaker Sven-Christian
Kindler.
Planned new debt of 179.82 billion euros for
next year compares to 96 billion euros initially envisaged by Finance Minister
Olaf Scholz in September.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has
taken unprecedented steps to help companies and small businesses get through
the crisis, freeing up billions of euros to prevent the economy shrinking
further. To fund the measures, it needs to borrow more than planned.
Parliament this year suspended Germany’s
debt brake in the constitution to allow the government to take on net new debt
of up to 218 billion euros to finance rescue and stimulus measures. However,
coalition sources have said it was unlikely to need the full amount.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-budget-debt/germany-plans-nearly-180-billion-euros-in-new-debt-for-2021-idUKKBN2870B3?il=0
In the real world, just how far off from economic
implosion are we? What happens after Christmas when thousands of North American
and European businesses close for good?
Below, a look at the
harsh reality outside of the deluded stock casinos. More stock mania anyone?
Bitcoins? Cruise lines? Airplanes?
L.A. Mansion Sale at $52 Million
Discount Exposes Luxury Reality Sophie Alexander and John Gittelsohn November
25, 2020
(Bloomberg)
-- After more than three years on the market, a Beverly Hills mansion initially
listed for $100 million has sold at less than half that price.
The 20,000-square-foot (1,900-square-meter) house -- dubbed
“Opus” in a flashy marketing campaign -- sold this week for $48.4 million,
including furniture, according to a Multiple Listings Service report . It’s the latest luxury Los Angeles property to go
for a steep discount in the midst of a pandemic that has left the area
partially locked down for months, deterred foreign buyers and kept out-of-state
investors away.
The market is particularly tough for so-called spec houses,
built by developers with lofty price expectations that have often proved
unrealistic.
“It was never worth that to begin with,” Jonathan Miller,
president of appraiser Miller Samuel, said of Opus’s original $100 million
price tag. “High-end properties are moving, but they’re not moving for prices
that are disconnected from the market.”
Spec homes with sky-high asking prices are outliers even within
the luxury market, where the bid-ask price spread has narrowed, properties
receive multiple offers, time on the market has plunged and other measures
indicate a shortage of supply, according to Miller.
Demand for luxury property has surged nationally -- in Los
Angeles, South Florida, the Hamptons and Greenwich, Connecticut, he said. But
spec houses priced above $100 million usually move for half or less the asking
price, if they sell at all.
“There’s a big gap between what the owners are willing to
sell for and buyers are willing to pay,” Mauricio Umansky, chief executive
officer of the Agency, said about developers of ultra-luxury homes. “They
didn’t underwrite correctly.”
Even sellers of non-spec houses have had to ratchet back
their price expectations. Before heading to prison for her part in the 2019
college scandal, actress Lori Loughlin sold her Bel Air mansion for $18.75 million, a nearly 50% drop from the $35
million she originally sought. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi asked $40
million for their Montecito home that sold for $33.3 million. Uber Technologies
Inc. co-founder Travis Kalanick purchased his $43 million Bel Air mansion at a
42% price cut this year.
More
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/la-mansion-sale-at-dollar52-million-discount-exposes-luxury-reality/ar-BB1bm4dy?ocid=uxbndlbing
German COVID-19 restrictions set
to last into 2021 November 26,
2020 9:50 AM By Reuters Staff
BERLIN
(Reuters) - Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the
coronavirus pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday,
while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March.
“Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions
which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start
of January, certainly for most parts of Germany,” Merkel told parliament.
Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states late on
Wednesday to extend and tighten the coronavirus lockdown until Dec. 20, but
ease rules over the Christmas holidays to let families and friends celebrate
together.
Merkel said the increase in coronavirus cases was still much too high
and the number of deaths a reason for concern.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,268
to 983,588, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases
showed on Thursday, while the death toll rose by 389 to 15,160.
Merkel’s chief of staff said rules limiting social contact might be
needed for longer.
“We have difficult winter months ahead of us. This will continue until
March,” Helge Braun told RTL television.
“After March, I am very optimistic because we will probably be able to
vaccinate more and more people and it will be easier to keep infection rates
low with the spring.”
Merkel said vaccines could arrive before Christmas.
Germany imposed a month-long “lockdown lite” on Nov. 2 to rein in a
second wave that is sweeping much of Europe. Bars and restaurants are closed
but schools and shops remain open.
From Dec. 1, private gatherings will be limited to five people. Over
Christmas, that number will rise to 10, not counting children, although
families are asked to avoid social contact for a week ahead of visits.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany/german-covid-19-restrictions-set-to-last-into-2021-idUKKBN2860MU
New lockdowns crush French,
German consumer confidence in November November 26,
2020 10:14 AM By Richard Lough , Riham
Alkousaa
PARIS/BERLIN
(Reuters) - French and German consumer confidence plunged in November as new
coronavirus restrictions crushed any prospect of a quick return to normal in
the euro zone’s two biggest economies, data published on Thursday showed.
Restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues have had to shutter
up this month in both countries under new restrictions to contain a new wave of
COVID-19 infections.
While retail shops have remained open in Germany, non-essential stores
had to close in France. They will be able to reopen on Saturday under strict
sanitary protocols.
The latest restrictions leave household demand pent-up heading into the
holiday season, pushing back prospects for a consumer-led economic recovery
into next year.
In France, which was put back under one the strictest lockdowns in
Europe on Oct. 30, consumer confidence fell this month to its lowest level
since December 2018, surpassing levels reached in March and April during a
first and even harsher lockdown.
France’s official stats agency, INSEE, said its consumer confidence
index fell four points to 90, worse than the average expectation in a Reuters
poll of economists for 92.
---- In Germany, consumer morale fell
further heading into December as a partial lockdown hit households’ income
expectations and their willingness to buy, a survey showed.
The GfK institute said its consumer sentiment index, based on a survey
of around 2,000 Germans, dropped to -6.7 in November from a revised -3.2 in the
previous month. The reading missed a Reuters forecast for a narrower drop to
-5.0.
GfK consumer expert Rolf Buerkl said although retail shops remained open
so far, the shutdown of restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues
since Nov. 2 clouded consumers’ mood. Rising cases of COVID-19 are increasing
uncertainty, so Germans are holding onto their money, Buerkl added.
“The hopes for a rapid recovery that arose in early summer have
definitely been dashed,” Buerkl said.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-economy-consumersentiment/new-lockdowns-crush-french-german-consumer-confidence-in-november-idUKKBN2860XR
Share of UK workers on furlough
at highest since June, as second lockdown hits November 26,
2020 9:51 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - The proportion of British workers on furlough has
jumped to its highest level since late June following the introduction of a
temporary four-week lockdown across England to reverse a second wave of COVID
cases, official figures showed on Thursday.
Businesses reported that 15% of staff on average were on furlough
between Nov. 2 and Nov. 15, up from 9% in the previous survey which covered the
second half of October, the Office for National Statistics said.
Britain’s government placed England under a four-week lockdown which
started on Nov. 5 which closed restaurants, pubs, non-essential retailers and
most other businesses open to the public.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak had intended to terminate the furlough
programme at the end of October, but the second wave of COVID cases forced him
to extend it until the end of March.
At its peak in May, the programme supported 8.9 million jobs - almost a
third of all employees - and it has been the single most expensive part of
Britain’s COVID economic support programme, costing 43 billion pounds ($57
billion) so far.
On Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that take-up
in November would rise to 21% of the workforce due to lockdowns in England and
other parts of the United Kingdom, before declining to 12% in early 2021 as
restrictions eased.
Without the programme, Britain would see a significantly bigger rise in
unemployment than the peak of 7.5% pencilled in for next year, the OBR said.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-furlough/share-of-uk-workers-on-furlough-jumps-to-highest-since-june-ons-idUKKBN2860VT?il=0
Fuller, Smith & Turner cuts
workforce by 20%, posts first-half loss November 26,
2020 7:28 AM
(Reuters) - British pub operator Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc said on
Thursday it had cut 20% of jobs since the start of this financial year and
reported a first-half loss of 22.2 million pounds hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company, which employed 4,957 according to its latest annual report,
said the adjusted pretax loss for the six months ended Sept. 26, compared with
a profit of 17.9 million pounds a year ago.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fuller-smith-results/fuller-smith-turner-cuts-workforce-by-20-posts-first-half-loss-idUKKBN2860JN
In other news, Reuters puts the
cart before the horse. With a year end Tesla stock bonanza expected on December
21, money is rotating back into high risk bets.
But with unemployment and
business failures set to soar in early 2021, massive global free Magic Money
Tree “money” is going to flow like Niagara.
Fiat currency turmoil lies ahead in
2021.
Have coronavirus vaccines killed
the gold rally? November 25,
2020 5:33 PM By Peter
Hobson
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold has tumbled from
record highs as investors, eyeing an end to the coronavirus pandemic, move
money to riskier assets.
But while some analysts now believe the rally has peaked, others say
prices may still have room to rise, at least for a while.
Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe investment, and investors
bought record amounts as the pandemic tore through the global economy.
Those purchases pushed prices from $1,500 an ounce in January to an
all-time high of $2,072 in August, and forecasters including Bank of America
said it could soon reach $3,000.
But the announcement of several highly effective coronavirus vaccines
this month has cemented expectations for an economic rebound, pressuring gold
down to $1,800.
“The gold and silver markets are running out of air,” said Julius Baer
analyst Carsten Menke. “As we expect a continued improvement of the economic
environment next year, safe-haven demand should fade.”
Investors pulled a record $4 billion from gold funds in the week to Nov.
18, said Bank of America. The bank has abandoned its $3,000 price target.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-gold-price-graphic/have-coronavirus-vaccines-killed-the-gold-rally-idUSKBN2852QF
Finally, 2021 is about to start where 2020 left off.
Disney to lay off about 32,000
workers in first half of 2021 November 26,
2020 6:23 AM
(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday it would lay off 32,000
workers, primarily at its theme parks, an increase from the 28,000 it announced
in September, as the company struggles with limited customers due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
The layoffs will be in the first half of 2021, the company said in a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Earlier this month, Disney said it was furloughing additional workers
from its theme park in Southern California due to uncertainty over when the
state would allow parks to reopen.
Disney’s theme parks in Florida and those outside the United States
reopened earlier this year without seeing new major coronavirus outbreaks but
with strict social distancing, testing and mask use.
Disneyland Paris was forced to close again late last month when France
imposed a new lockdown to fight a second wave of the coronavirus cases.
The company’s theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo remain open.
Disney
did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether the 28,000 layoffs
announced earlier were included in the latest figure, but a spokesperson for the
company confirmed to Variety that the figure includes the previously announced
number.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-disney-parks-layoffs/disney-to-lay-off-about-32000-workers-in-first-half-of-2021-idUKKBN2860FB
Exclusive: Foxconn to shift some
Apple production to Vietnam to minimise China risk November 26, 2020
10:09 AM By Yimou Lee
TAIPEI
(Reuters) - Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from
China at the request of Apple Inc, said a person with knowledge of the plan, as
the U.S. firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of a Sino-U.S.
trade war.
The development comes as the outgoing administration of U.S. President
Donald Trump encourages U.S. firms to shift production out of China. During
Trump’s tenure, the United States has targeted made-in-China electronics for
higher import tariffs, and restricted supplies of components produced using
U.S. technology to Chinese firms it deems a national security risk.
Taiwanese manufacturers, wary of being caught up in the tit-for-tat
trade war, have moved or are considering moving some production from China to
countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India.
Foxconn is building assembly lines for Apple’s iPad tablet and MacBook
laptop at its plant in Vietnam’s northeastern Bac Giang province, to come
online in the first half of 2021, the person said, declining to be identified
as the plan was private.
The lines will also take some production from China, the person said,
without elaborating how much production would shift.
“The move was requested by Apple,” the person said. “It wants to
diversify production following the trade war.”
Foxconn said in statement: “As a matter of company policy, and for
reasons of commercial sensitivity, we do not comment on any aspect of our work
for any customer or their products”.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, on Tuesday
announced a $270 million investment to set up a new subsidiary called FuKang
Technology Co Ltd - a move the person said was aimed at supporting the Vietnam
expansion.
The contract manufacturer also plans to make television sets at the
Vietnam plant for clients including Japan’s Sony Corp, with the beginning of
such production slated for late 2020 to early 2021, the person said. Sony
declined to comment.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-foxconn-vietnam-apple-exclusive/exclusive-foxconn-to-shift-some-apple-production-to-vietnam-to-minimise-china-risk-idUKKBN2860XN
Winter
Watch.
The Arctic winter sea-ice expansion and
northern hemisphere snow cover. From around mid-October, the northern
hemisphere snow cover usually rapidly expands, while the Arctic ice gradually
expands back towards its winter maximum.
Over simplified, a rapid expansion of
both, especially if early, can be a sign of a harsher than normal arriving northern
hemisphere winter. Perhaps more so in 2020-2021 as we’re in the low of the
ending sunspot cycle, which possibly also influenced this year’s record
Atlantic hurricane season.
Update: we seem to have started new sunspot cycle 25 this month ,
though it’s unlikely to affect 2020-2021s coming winter.
Northern Eur-Asia turned snowy fast in
mid-October. The Arctic sea ice
expansion was slow, and from a very low level at the end of September, but with
the vastly expanded snow cover, sea ice formation sped up.
With the Laptev sea ice virtually back
to normal, at the end of the third week of November I’m starting to think that
it will likely be a normal to slightly warmer winter ahead for western Europe.
The failure of the Kara Sea ice to
return to normal, leads me to bet on a warmer western European winter ahead.
Arctic
and Antarctic Sea Ice.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
https://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_asiaeurope.gif
“Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and
income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general
impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a
framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from
specific economic interventions. Government's main economic function is to
encourage and preserve a free market. When Alexander the Great visited the
philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes
is said to have replied: "Yes, stand a little less between me and the
sun." It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.”
Henry
Hazlitt, Economics
in One Lesson.
Covid-19 Corner This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
U.K. Takes Steps
to Get AstraZeneca Vaccine Approved Before EU By Alex Morales
November
27, 2020, 12:01 AM GMT
·
Government
invokes rule in attempt to skirt European regulator
·
Health Secretary Matt Hancock asked the U.K. medical
regulator to potentially bypass its European Union counterpart and approve the
supply of AstraZeneca Plc ’s
Covid vaccine to speed its deployment.
Until
the end of the year, when the U.K. exits a post-Brexit transition period,
vaccines there must be authorized by the European Medicines Agency. But on
Friday, Hancock said he invoked a special rule allowing Britain’s Medicines and
Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency to authorize a temporary supply of the vaccine Astra is
developing with Oxford University if the data is robust enough, after it showed
positive results in trials this week.
“We have formally asked the regulator to assess the
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it
meets rigorous safety standards,” Hancock said in a statement. “This letter is
an important step toward deploying a vaccine as quickly and safely as
possible.”
By speeding up the regulatory approval process, the U.K.
hopes to be able to begin its mass vaccination program next month . The government has
purchased 100 million doses of the shot in advance, and estimates 4 million of
them will be available by year end.
But Hancock’s action will also make a political point with
the U.K. close to completing its departure from the EU: that Brexit will enable
the government to act more nimbly in the country’s interest outside of the
bloc’s bureaucracy.
Developer
No. of Vaccine Doses Secured by U.K.
Oxford/AstraZeneca
100 million
GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur
60 million
Novavax
60 million
Valneva
60 million
BioNTech/Pfizer
40 million
Janssen
30 million
Moderna
5 million
Trial data earlier this week showed the Astra/Oxford vaccine stopped an
average of 70% of participants from falling ill, raising hopes authorities may
be able to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
But questions over some of the trial results prompted Pascal
Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer, to tell Bloomberg News on
Thursday that the company will probably conduct an additional global trial to
assess the vaccine’s efficacy.
More
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-27/u-k-takes-steps-to-get-astrazeneca-vaccine-approved-before-eu?srnd=premium-europe
South Korea braces for bed
shortages as coronavirus cases near nine-month high November 27, 2020 3:58 AM
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus
cases for the second consecutive day on Friday, a level unseen in nearly nine
months, as a third wave of infections spread nationwide, leaving authorities
scrambling to provide more hospital beds.
“The situation is extremely serious and acute, as all of the 17
metropolitan cities and provinces and especially all the 25 districts in Seoul
are reporting new cases,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on
COVID-19 responses.
The daily tally of 569 came a day after the numbers hit the highest
level since March 6, when South Korea was reeling from the first major COVID-19
outbreak outside China.
Of the latest cases, 525 were domestically transmitted and more than 64%
of those were from the Seoul metropolitan area, according to the Korea Disease
Control and Prevention Agency.
Authorities said the fresh wave is more difficult to trace and contain
than early outbreaks which were concentrated in a specific region or among a
certain religious group.
Alarmed by the countrywide spread and increasing number of cases
involving younger patients, Chung warned that daily infections could swell to
1,000 and there could be hospital bed shortages unless the contagion was
brought under control.
The health ministry said there are sufficient beds
available for now but it could face shortfalls if the current spike continues
for more than two weeks.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-braces-for-bed-shortages-as-coronavirus-cases-near-nine-month-high-idUKKBN28709K?il=0
Germany's confirmed coronavirus
cases rise by 22,806 - RKI November 27, 2020 4:20 AM
BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany
increased by 22,806 to 1,006,394, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for
infectious diseases showed on Friday.
The reported death toll rose by 426 to 15,586, the tally showed.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany-cases/germanys-confirmed-coronavirus-cases-rise-by-22806-rki-idUKKBN2870AA?il=0
FDA gives emergency approval for
test that detects COVID-19 immunity Nov. 25, 2020 /
10:38 AM
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Federal regulators have given emergency authorization for a new
type of antibody test that can precisely assess human levels of immunity
against COVID-19 ,
developers said Wednesday.
Kantaro Biosciences said the Food and Drug Administration has
granted emergency use authorization for its COVID-SeroKlir antibody test kit.
The company says it's demonstrated it can detect and measure levels of
coronavirus-specific neutralizing antibodies.
Kantaro officials say this "new generation" of
testing has a broad range of applications.
"It is a high-performing test that quantifies antibody
levels for individuals, which medical professionals and policymakers alike can
trust," Kantaro Chief Commercial Officer Sara Barrington said
RELATED HHS sends new
rapid molecular COVID-19 test to 5 states
"Having a numerical understanding of antibody levels
can be especially powerful for patients, enabling them to take control of their
health and enjoy some peace of mind during these uncertain times."
Kantaro is a joint venture between New York's Mount Sinai
Health System and British diagnostics company RenalytixAI.
The test kit, developed in New York City this spring, has
shown a 98.8% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity for detecting neutralizing
antibodies that are produced by the immune system to attack the novel
coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Kantaro said.
The two-step assay, which can be used in any laboratory and
without special equipment, was approved for use in the European Union last
month.
Kantaro said the test can accurately measure levels of
COVID-specific antibodies, as opposed to all antibodies in the body, and can
aid research of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The test, for instance, could determine whether people
already have high levels of neutralizing antibodies due to a previous exposure.
If so, they would not immediately need a vaccine, Mt. Sinai Chief Commercial
Officer Erik Lium told CNBC .
RELATED COVID-19 tests
getting more reliable, experts say
Kantaro said the test kits are being manufactured, through
a partnership with Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne, with a capacity to produce as
many as 10 million per month.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/11/25/FDA-gives-emergency-approval-for-test-that-detects-COVID-19-immunity/5361606312966/
Next, some vaccine links
kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most
informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.
World
Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines . https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines
NY
Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker . https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
Stanford
Website . https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132
Regulatory
Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker . https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
Some other useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
resource centre
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Rt Covid-19
https://rt.live/
Covid19info.live
https://wuflu.live/
Centers for Disease Control
Coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Technology Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC or DC
energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards.
Creating higher energy density
lithium-ion batteries for renewable energy applications Improving lithium-ion
battery performance, cell lifetime with graphene-coated nickel, cobalt,
aluminum nanoparticle cathodes Date:
November 24, 2020
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Lithium-ion batteries that function as high-performance power sources for
renewable applications, such as electric vehicles and consumer electronics,
require electrodes that deliver high energy density without compromising cell
lifetimes. Researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy
density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those
degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance.
In the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, by AIP
Publishing, researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy
density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those
degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance.
Their research could be valuable for many emerging
applications, particularly electric vehicles and grid-level energy storage for
renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.
"Most of the degradation mechanisms in LIBs occur at
the electrode surfaces that are in contact with the electrolyte," said
author Mark Hersam. "We sought to understand the chemistry at these
surfaces and then develop strategies for minimizing degradation."
The researchers employed surface chemical characterization
as a strategy for identifying and minimizing residual hydroxide and carbonate
impurities from the synthesis of NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum) nanoparticles.
They realized the LIB cathode surfaces first needed to be prepared by suitable
annealing, a process by which the cathode nanoparticles are heated to remove
surface impurities, and then locked into the desirable structures with an
atomically thin graphene coating.
The graphene-coated NCA nanoparticles, which were
formulated into LIB cathodes, showed superlative electrochemical properties,
including low impedance, high rate performance, high volumetric energy and
power densities, and long cycling lifetimes. The graphene coating also acted as
a barrier between the electrode surface and the electrolyte, which further
improved cell lifetime.
While the researchers had thought the graphene coating
alone would be sufficient to improve performance, their results revealed the
importance of pre-annealing the cathode materials in order to optimize their
surface chemistry before the graphene coating was applied.
While this work focused on nickel-rich LIB cathodes, the
methodology could be generalized to other energy storage electrodes, such as
sodium-ion or magnesium-ion batteries, that incorporate nanostructured
materials possessing high surface area. Consequently, this work establishes a
clear path forward for the realization of high-performance, nanoparticle-based
energy storage devices.
"Our approach can also be applied to improve the
performance of anodes in LIBs and related energy storage technologies,"
said Hersam. "Ultimately, you need to optimize both the anode and cathode
to achieve the best possible battery performance."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124111345.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29
Another weekend and another temper tantrum in the White
House? I wonder if they have a countdown calendar to January 20, high noon?
Someone send them one for Christmas. Have a great weekend everyone.
“There are men regarded today as brilliant
economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale
as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the
consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly,
as might the prodigal son of a warning father: "In the long run we are all
dead." And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the
ripest wisdom.”
Henry
Hazlitt, Economics
in One Lesson.
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