Chun-Ying Li

1. Introduction The rise of e-commerce and the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have reshaped consumer shopping behaviors, with a significant shift from physical stores to online platforms. In 2020, the online retail industry in the United States reached a revenue of USD 762.7 billion, marking a 98.9% increase from 2016 [].

Dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency impede the practical application of Li-metal batteries. As such, monitoring Li deposition and stripping in real-time is crucial to understanding the fundamental lithium growth kinetics. This work presents an operando optical microscopic technique that enables precise current density control and quantification of Li layer properties (i.e., thickness and porosity) to study Li growth in various electrolytes.

The EK is comprised of a group of post-mitotic cells, in contrast to the surrounding epithelium, where active proliferation takes place to support the continuous growth of the tissue5. This prompted us to ask whether proper regulation of cell proliferation is required for the formation of the EK. We focused on the incisor because it has a relatively simple structure compared with molars and contains only one EK.