Processing Myco-Composites Through Sustainable Additive Manufacturing

By Danila Merino, Community Board member.

In the ever-evolving landscape of materials engineering, researchers are pushing the boundaries of sustainability and functionality. One groundbreaking avenue of exploration is the integration of mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, into biocomposites. In this blog post, we delve into a recent study that harnesses the unique properties of mycelium through 3D printing and indirect inoculation, resulting in a material with enhanced mechanical strength and diverse applications.

Shen et al. formulated a biocomposite designed to offer mechanical robustness and compatibility with mycelium. To achieve this, the researchers ingeniously selected chitosan and cellulose and introduced leftover coffee grounds as a sustainable source of nutrients. This careful combination created a material that not only exhibited shear thinning behavior, ideal for 3D printing but also laid the foundation for mycelium colonization (Figure 1).

One distinguishing feature of this study is the use of indirect inoculation for mycelium colonization. Traditionally, direct inoculation involves mixing the inoculum with the composite material before printing. However, the researchers chose a different route, incubating printed samples on a bed of live mycelium. This indirect approach, although taking longer for full colonization, turned out to be more effective.

The study of the mechanical properties of biocomposites revealed a strong influence on the orientation of the 3D printing tool path and the alignment of the cellulose fibers. The authors printed parts of different shapes, and the mechanical properties were dependent on the printing design. However, the fully colonized material showed a notable increase in mechanical strength, surpassing previously reported mycelium composites.

 

Figure 1. (A) Keeping the solid:liquid ratio consistent, the introduction of spent coffee grounds augmented the rate of mycelium colonization up to a threshold (B) The optimized biocomposite displays shear-thinning characteristics, offering advantages for extrusion-based additive manufacturing. (C) Achieving a vertical resolution of approximately 2 mm. Adapted from DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01277H with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry

The influence of mycelium extended beyond mechanical properties to wettability and absorption characteristics. The fully colonized composite developed a smooth hydrophobic “skin,” demonstrating improved water contact angles. Under submerged conditions, the colonized compound demonstrated lower water absorption and volume swelling, attributed to the presence of hydrophobic mycelial hyphae.

The team explored the capabilities of mycelium to develop biosealed mycelium containers as self-sealing living boxes and the creation of flexible textile-like materials through precise 3D printing and mycelium colonization. By printing biocomposite panels with consistent gaps and allowing mycelium to cover them, flexible hinges were formed, enabling the creation of a material capable of bending and stretching in multiple directions.

In conclusion, the fusion of 3D printing, indirect inoculation, and mycelium colonization represents a leap forward in the field of sustainable biocomposites. The mechanical properties, wetting characteristics, and adaptability of the biocomposite open avenues for green alternatives in packaging, textiles, and more.

To find out more, please read:

Robust myco-composites: a biocomposite platform for versatile hybrid-living materials
Sabrina C. Shen, Nicolas A. Lee, William J. Lockett, Aliai D. Acuil, Hannah B. Gazdus, Branden N. Spitzerab  and Markus J. Buehler
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01277H


About the blogger


 

Dr. Danila Merino is the PI of the SusBioComp group at POLYMAT and a Materials Horizons Community Board member. Her research focuses on the development of new sustainable biocomposite materials derived from biomass specifically designed to protect and enhance agricultural and food systems with minimal environmental impact.

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Using a liquid-liquid interfacial route in the production of anodes for aqueous sodium-ion batteries

By Josh J Bailey, Community Board member.

To address the need for large-scale electrochemical energy storage (EES), much research attention has moved beyond Li-ion batteries due to safety and security-of-supply issues. Sodium, an alkali-metal which is much more abundant and well-distributed globally, is of keen interest as its mining process is cleaner and freer from ethical concern. Moreover, to avoid the high flammability of organic electrolytes, some researchers are looking towards aqueous sodium-ion batteries as a potential contender for future EES systems. This has the added benefit of increasing the ionic conductivity by as much as two orders of magnitude versus organic equivalents, potentially enabling higher rate capability. However, moving from traditional carbonate-based electrolytes to water means a narrowing of the electrochemical stability window and the need for electrodes to facilitate the intercalation and de-intercalation of hydrated cations. Given the smaller accessible voltage and the larger charge carrier, aqueous sodium-ion batteries are still plagued by low specific energy and limited lifespans.

Therefore, the development of new electrode materials to maximise specific capacity is an important research direction. For the anode material, much attention has been paid to the development of polyanionic materials, such as sodium superionic conductors (NASICON), but also carbon-based materials such as polypyrrole and polyimide systems. In recent work by Maria K. Ramos et al., however, the synthesis of a graphene-based composite thin-film was presented, incorporating two compounds that had been shown to have high capacities but suffered from low conductivity and significant volume changes.

Specifically, the researchers highlighted the difficulty of producing ternary thin-films by traditional fabrication routes (e.g., spin-coating, vapour deposition etc.), spurring the development of a liquid-liquid interfacial route (LLIR) for the self-assembly of materials at the interface of immiscible liquids to give a continuous network that can be deposited on any solid substrate. MoS2, known to facilitate the intercalation and de-intercalation of hydrated sodium ions, and non-toxic copper oxide nanoparticles with high theoretical specific capacity, were combined with graphene in this way to produce ternary films that were electrochemically characterised.

Interestingly, the researchers detailed three different thin-film preparation approaches using their LLIR method (Figure 1). The in-situ approach, whereby graphene oxide and Cu2+ were simultaneously reduced in a dispersion of MoS2, yielded a thin-film anode material that demonstrated a very high specific capacity of 1377 mA h g-1 (c.f. specific capacity of typical lithium-ion batteries is < 200 mA h g-1).

Figure 1: Schematic representation of the general steps for thin-film preparation of: (a) MoS2; (b) rGO/CuxO or rGO; (c) rGO/MoS2 and rGO/CuxO/MoS2 layer-by-layer; (d) rGO/MoS2 and rGO/CuxO/MoS2 mixing; and (e) rGO/MoS2 and rGO/CuxO/MoS2 by an in-situ method. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00982c with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In summary, the successful implementation of this in-situ liquid-liquid interfacial method for thin-film preparation provides encouragement for its use to produce other composite electrode materials, and a greater understanding of its scalability. The demonstration of such a high-capacity aqueous sodium-ion battery electrode should encourage greater exploration of this more sustainable, beyond-lithium EES technology.

To find out more, please read:

Nanoarchitected graphene/copper oxide nanoparticles/MoS2 ternary thin films as highly efficient electrodes for aqueous sodium-ion batteriesMaria K. Ramos, Gustavo Martins, Luiz H. Marcolino-Junior, Márcio F. Bergamini, Marcela M. Oliveira and Aldo J. G. Zarbin
Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 5521-5537, DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00982c


About the blogger


 

Dr Josh J Bailey is an Illuminate Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, focused on the implementation and optimisation of ionic liquids used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells and is a Materials Horizons Community Board member. He received his doctoral degree from University College London, UK, as part of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials, investigating electrode degradation in solid oxide fuel cells. His research interests span fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries, and flow batteries, both in terms of the design of novel electrodes, electrolytes, and membrane materials, as well as the study of materials degradation, with a view to improving performance and durability.

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Rebirth of biomass technology for functional materials through supramolecular upcycling

By Olga Guselnikova.

For a considerable period, the engine of progress was fuelled primarily by economic incentives. However, this paradigm has shifted due to increased awareness of the environmental consequences of society. Focus has turned towards embracing sustainability as a precursor to assimilating the fruits of progress into industry. This trend leverages the conversion of different waste feedstock like plastics, metals, etc, into new added value matter. The added value matter could be fuels, solvents, organic substrates, new polymers, and functional materials.

Embracing the notion that “the new is often the well-forgotten old,” the use of biomass as a feedstock for materials with practicable qualities has been revisited and revitalized. The biomass is feedstock mainly derived from agricultural and forestry resources, and animal resources. Compared to other waste feedstock, such as plastic, electronic, and construction waste, biomass already fits more within the sustainable economic strategy due to its natural origin. The other side of this coin is the insufficient mechanical properties of biomass-derived materials which leads to poor durability and recyclability of functional materials from biomass.

Recent work from Leixiao Yu, Lingyan Gao, Shengyi Dong and team suggests a supramolecular strategy to overcome these limitations. They reported the conversion of 6 types of biomass (cellulose, guar gum, sericin protein, chitin, corn protein and potato starch) to functional materials via copolymerization with thioctic acid (TA) to afford poly[TA-biomass]. The material formation is driven by hydrogen bonding between TA and the polar functional groups in the biomass. Despite such non-covalent forces being reversible and inherently weaker than covalent bonds, prepared materials are proven to be highly impact resistant. The prepared poly[TA-biomass] is highly adhesive and water-resistant, however, it could be fully depolymerized by simple ethanol treatment and involved in the next cycle of polymerization-utilization without any obvious decay in mechanical strength. This anticipates potential applications of poly[TA-biomass as anti-water, impact resistant materials. The team expanded the potential application directions to the biomedical field by demonstrating high biocompatibility, nontoxicity, and antimicrobial effects towards both gram-positive and negative bacteria, attributed to TA. For instance, the newly prepared poly[TA-biomass] may hold promise for smart packaging or wound healing materials.

Figure 1:Chemical structures of biomass (upper block,) and preparation of poly[TA-biomass]s via supramolecular approach – formation of hydrogen bonding hydrogen bonding between thioctic and the polar functional groups in the biomass (middle block) and key advantages of poly[TA-biomass]s materials. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01692g with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

This recent work is a perfect example of the “waste to wealth” approach, where materials chemistry assisted in transforming common feedstock into functional materials. Combining waste feedstock with a supramolecular strategy is a promising concept that can be broadened to the use of other types of feedstock (plastic, metal) and a broad family of non-covalent interactions (hydrogen bonding, π- π stacking, hydrophobic effects). At the moment, however, this research directs the attention of the community to biomass as a promising feedstock for functional materials design.

To find out more, please read:

A supramolecular approach for converting renewable biomass into functional materials
Yunfei Zhang, Changyong Cai, Ke Xu, Xiao Yang, Leixiao Yu, Lingyan Gao and Shengyi Dong
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01692G


About the blogger


 

Dr Olga Guselnikova is a member of the Materials Horizons Community Board. She recently joined the Center for Electrochemistry and Surface Technology (Austria) to work on functional materials as a group leader. Dr. Guselnikova received her PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia) in 2019. Her research interests are related to surface chemistry for functional materials. This means that she is applying her background in organic chemistry to materials science: plasmonic and polymer surfaces are hybridized with organic molecules to create high-performance elements and devices.

 

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Improving MoO2-based water-splitting electrocatalysts by incorporating Fe

By Shahid Zaman, Community Board member.

As we progress towards sustainable sources of energy, achieving efficient hydrogen generation through water splitting becomes increasingly vital. However, the challenges associated with electrode and membrane degradation due to corrosion in seawater hinder large-scale applications. While indirect seawater splitting through pre-desalination can circumvent corrosion issues, it introduces a drawback demanding additional energy input, rendering it economically less attractive. Therefore, the development of cost-effective water splitting electrocatalysts is essential for making the overall electrolysis process economically viable for widespread adoption and industrialization. Metal oxide electrocatalysts with active site engineering is a cutting-edge strategy to obtain high activity and durable catalysts for long-lasting performance under harsh saline conditions.

Recent work by Meng and team presents heterogeneous spin state molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) as a promising electrocatalyst to address the above critical challenges. Their novel approach involves the incorporation of Fe into MoO2 nanosheets on Ni foam (Fe-MoO2/NF) through a rapid carbothermal shocking method. This synthetic process facilitates the lattice dislocations, effectively exposing rich O vacancies and inducing a low-oxidation state in Mo sites, especially during the rapid Joule heating process. This results in the manipulation of spin states between Fe and Mo atoms. The resulting catalyst demonstrates remarkable performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline seawater.

The integration of heterogeneous spin states into MoO2 disrupts the d–d orbital coupling resulting in modified electronic configuration. This significantly affects the binding energy between the active sites and reaction intermediates, thereby enhancing the electrocatalytic activity. The catalytic activity of Fe–MoO2/NF is demonstrated by ultralow overpotentials recorded for both HER (17 mV@10 mA cm−2) and OER (310 mV@50 mA cm−2). Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits high selectivity in alkaline seawater splitting, showcasing its potential for efficient hydrogen production in challenging environmental conditions. To demonstrate the practical applicability of this newly developed electrocatalyst, the Fe–MoO2/NF is assembled into an anion exchange membrane seawater electrolyser that achieves a low energy consumption of 5.5 kW h m−3, emphasizing its practical application in renewable energy systems.

Figure 1: (A) Synthesis scheme of Fe–MoO2 /NF; SEM and TEM image along with HRTEM images and Schematic representations of lattice distortion formation mechanism of incorporated heterogeneous spin state (B) DFT analysis of the optimized models of MoO2, Fe–MoO2 and charge density difference plot of Fe–MoO2 (C) HER, OER and AEM electrolyzer polarization curves in saline water with long-term HER stability measurements in alkaline seawater solution. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01757E with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

An important aspect of this research is the successful coupling of Fe–MoO2/NF with a solar-driven electrolytic system, yielding a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 13.5%. This demonstrates the catalyst’s compatibility with solar energy, opening avenues for sustainable and clean hydrogen production. Theoretical insights into the electronic structure of Fe-incorporated MoO2, along with the abundance of oxygen vacancies, provides a deeper understanding of the catalytic mechanisms involved. Distortion of the Mo–O bonds, optimized through this method, plays a crucial role in enhancing the binding energy of adsorbed species during the electrochemical processes.

Looking forward, these findings hold significant promise for practical water splitting at a scalable level, especially in the context of solar-to-hydrogen production. The successful integration of Fe–MoO2/NF into a solar-driven electrolytic system is a critical step toward sustainable and eco-friendly widespread adoption and integration into large-scale hydrogen production systems. In the pursuit of practical water splitting for solar-to-hydrogen production on a larger scale, the key challenge lies in making the process economically viable and technologically feasible. Thus, the prospects for this work include optimizing the synthesis method and extending for other heterogeneous spin such as Ni and Co for seawater splitting, which might extend the versatility of the proposed strategy, offering a simple and efficient approach for efficient electrocatalysts. The simplicity and efficiency of the proposed strategy make it an attractive option for large-scale implementation. As the demand for green energy solutions and the reduction of carbon footprints continue to grow, the significance of advancements in water-splitting, especially saline water electrolysis driven by solar energy, cannot be overstated. This study adds to the growing body of evidence that renewable energy sources can be used to produce hydrogen, which will pave the ways towards a more greener and sustainable energy future.

To find out more, please read:

Rapid carbothermal shocking fabrication of iron-incorporated molybdenum oxide with heterogeneous spin states for enhanced overall water/seawater splitting
Jianpeng Sun, Shiyu Qin, Zhan Zhao, Zisheng Zhang and Xiangchao Meng
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01757E


About the blogger


 

Shahid Zaman is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec Trois-Rivières, Canada, and he is a Materials Horizons Community Board member. He received his Ph.D. in Material Physics and Chemistry from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Southern University of Science and Technology, China. Dr. Shahid’s current research interests are nanomaterials for electrocatalysis in proton exchange membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers.

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Towards a personalized therapy for peripheral nerve injuries

By Anna Stejskalova, Community Board Member.

Peripheral nerve injury is a common complication of surgical procedures and traumatic insults that can result in severe discomfort including chronic pain and sensory defects. Ensuring that the injured nerve regenerates is therefore critical for the long-term well-being of affected individuals. A promising therapeutic strategy to enhance regeneration is to target both the initial inflammation and subsequently promote axonal regrowth. How to deliver drugs sequentially and on time for each patient is a complex engineering challenge requiring innovative solutions.

Toward this end, Shan and the team developed a stimuli-responsive drug delivery scaffold for a dual drug delivery that makes it possible to target both inflammation and axonal sprouting sequentially. The team created a composite material that consists of a Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) shell that provides mechanical support to the regenerating axons and that can be loaded with the novel bioactive and stimuli-responsive scaffold.

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the structure and drug release process of the responsive cascade drug delivery scaffold (RCDDS) for peripheral nerve injury repair. (A) A brief illustration of the structure of the RCDDS implanted in SD rat. (B) Drug release process of the RCDDS and the corresponding repair stage. Vitamin B12 loaded in the hydrogel system can be adjustably released in the early stage by ultrasound to alleviate inflammation, while NGF loaded in alginate microspheres and PLGA nanoparticles can be gradually released from the RCDDS to promote axon regeneration one month after implantation. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01511D with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry

To achieve a staggered drug release profile, the team encapsulated vitamin B12 (vB12) with anti-inflammatory properties directly inside calcium crosslinked alginate hydrogel and used an additional multilevel encapsulation approach consisting of microspheres loaded with nerve growth factor (NGF)-adsorbed nanoparticles enabling their delayed release compared to vB12. The team then leveraged ultrasound as a stimulus to hierarchically open polymer chains in ultrasound-responsive calcium cross-linked alginate hydrogels.  The rate of release of both vB12 and NGF was not predetermined and could be tuned by changing ultrasound intensity thus enabling the adjustment of the delivery profiles based on the individual patient’s healing progress. Interestingly, the ultrasound treatment alone improved peripheral nerve regeneration by promoting the secretion of neurotrophins in rodent models. Taken together, Shan and colleagues developed a novel strategy to promote nerve repair which utilizes ultrasound as an easily administrable stimulus that makes it possible to adjust the treatment of injured peripheral nerves based on patient’s needs.

To find out more, please read:

A responsive cascade drug delivery scaffold adapted to the therapeutic time window for peripheral nerve injury repair
Yizhu Shan, Lingling Xu, Xi Cui, Engui Wang, Fengying Jiang, Jiaxuan Li, Han Ouyang, Tailang Yin, Hongqing Feng, Dan Luo, Yan Zhang and Zhou Li
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01511D

 


About the blogger


 

Anna Stejskalova is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Materials Horizons Community Board. Dr. Stejskalova’s research focuses on female reproductive health and preterm birth utilizing organs on a chips and advanced biomaterials.

 

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NestedAE: An Interpretable Machine Learning Architecture for Predicting the Multi-Scale Performance of Materials

By Wen Shi, Community Board Member.

Quantitative prediction of material function based on multi-scale modeling is of vital importance for not only systematic performance optimization, but also precise materials design. Due to the nonintuitive and nontrivial structure-property relationship across different length scales, a comprehensive characterization of the hierarchical behavior of functional materials still remains a formidable challenge to date. To deal with this burning issue, recently Hernandez et al. made full use of data science techniques and developed an interpretable neural network architecture, viz. NestedAE, to link and quantify material properties across various length scales.

In NestedAE, an autoencoder is used to represent each physical scale of the materials, and a series of autoencoders are connected. Thus, the successive transfer of ‘‘important’’ information from one scale to another can be realized by the latent space of each autoencoder. In contrast to the previous approaches, in NestedAE each autoencoder possesses a different architecture and it is trained upon its own data set. Moreover, both the latents from the previous autoencoder and the features from the data set are reconstructed by the autoencoder.

Figure 1: Unsupervised (A) and supervised (B) NestedAE architecture. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01484c with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry

To demonstrate the applicability of this newly developed machine learning architecture, Hernandez et al. employed NestedAE to compute the density-functional-theory bandgaps of metal halide perovskites based on their atomic and ionic properties. Furthermore, their power conversion efficiencies were also predicted. It was proven that the predicted results agreed well with the previous experimental observations, and its application on the metal halide perovskites established the correlation between the fundamental atomistic-level structural properties and the macroscopic device performance.

In summary, this computational study developed an interpretable machine learning architecture, NestedAE, to quantitatively predict the material properties at many length scales and to correlate the basic chemical structure and the macroscopic performance. These insightful results pioneer a new way for hierarchically optimizing and designing new functional materials.

To find out more, please read:

NestedAE: interpretable nested autoencoders for multi-scale materials characterization
Nikhil Thota, Maitreyee Sharma Priyadarshini, and Rigoberto Hernandez
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01484C

 


About the blogger


 

Wen Shi is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen University and he is a Materials Horizons Community Board member. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Tsinghua University in 2017. From 2017 to 2021, he worked as a scientist at Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. Dr. Shi’s current research interests are in theoretical computations and simulations of functional materials.

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Scientific Editor Guoping Chen elected as TERMIS-AP Chair Elect

We are delighted to share that Materials Horizons Scientific Editor Professor Guoping Chen (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan) has been elected as the TERMIS Chair Elect for the Asia-Pacific council in the last December election.

Check out the full new elected committee here

Professor Chen has started his new role as the TERMIS-AP Chair Elect on January 1st 2024 where he will serve for 3 years. He will then be promoted to the TERMIS-AP Chair from 2027 to 2029.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Guoping Chen for his new role!

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Leveraging AI for Water Electrolysis: How Machine Learning is Transforming Catalyst Discovery

By Raul A. Marquez, Community Board member.

Developing low-cost, earth-abundant catalysts is essential in the quest for green hydrogen production through electrochemical water splitting. However, screening and optimizing the performance of these materials has traditionally been a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Integrating innovative approaches such as machine learning in electrocatalysis presents a promising solution to expedite catalyst screening and discovery. Could these strategies be the game-changer in electrocatalysis design and testing? A recent study by Lim et al. suggests that combining machine learning with lab automation is ideal for identifying effective catalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions.

The central figures of this study are transition metal layered double hydroxide (LDH) catalysts known for their unique lamellar structure and tunable chemical compositions. By examining five metal components (Ni, Co, Fe, Mo, and W) at varying ratios, the study efficiently leveraged machine learning to explore different compositions and correlate experimental electrochemical performance. This approach followed a simple yet powerful machine learning optimization workflow (Figure 1) that utilized a small initial dataset, Bayesian Optimization, and three machine learning algorithms: the Gaussian Process Regression, Gradient Boosting, and Neural Networks.

Figure 1: Summary of machine learning optimization workflow. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00788J with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The neural networks proved most effective in predicting optimal catalyst compositions. The champion catalyst emerged as the molybdate-intercalated CoFe LDH, exhibiting overpotentials of 266 and 272 mV for the oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions, respectively, while maintaining a decent stability over 50 hours. What makes this particular combination stand out? Integrating molybdate is thought to disrupt the LDH’s turbostratic structure, thereby increasing the number of active sites. Interestingly, the study also noted an unexpected outcome: Ni, typically a critical component in high-performing water-splitting electrocatalysts, was frequently excluded by the model’s recommendations. Why does this occur? It is time for the electrocatalysis detectives to investigate!

An automated synthesis system also provided an effective platform for scaling up these materials without significantly altering their physical and chemical properties. This aspect highlights the potential for industrial application and sets a precedent for scaling up electrocatalytic materials in the field.

In summary, this study underscores the potential of integrating machine learning methods into experimental workflows. This approach expedites the optimization of electrocatalysis performance, marking a substantial advancement in developing efficient and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.

To find out more, check out the full publication:

Machine learning-assisted optimization of multi-metal hydroxide electrocatalysts for overall water splitting
Carina Yi Jing Lim, Riko I Made, Zi Hui Jonathan Khoo, Chee Koon Ng, Yang Bai, Jianbiao Wang, Gaoliang Yang, Albertus D. Handoko, and Yee-Fun Lim
Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 5022-5031 DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00788J

 


About the blogger


 

Raul A. Marquez is a Chemistry Ph.D. student working with Prof. C. Buddie Mullins at The University of Texas at Austin and a Materials Horizons Community Board member. His research focuses on understanding the chemical transformations of electrocatalytic materials and developing functional devices for energy storage and conversion technologies. Follow Raul’s latest research by following him on X (formerly Twitter): @ruloufo

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Visual observation for diagnosis of halitosis and screening of periodontitis based on a structural color hydrogel

By Jing Xie, Community Board member.

Currently, the staging and grading of periodontitis are the basis for effective treatment which relies on professional and complicated oral examinations. As such, there lacks an efficient strategy for the screening of periodontitis. Oral pathogens can produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) which cause halitosis, and which can also act as biomarkers for periodontitis. High-sensitivity detection of exhaled VSCs is urgently desired for promoting the point-of-care testing (POCT) of halitosis and screening of periodontitis. However, current detection methods often require bulky and costly instruments, as well as professional training, making them impractical for widespread detection.

To promote the POCT of VSCs, Hu et al. recently reported a structural color hydrogel for naked-eye detection of oral pathogens, diagnosis of halitosis, and screening of periodontitis (Figure 1). They employed a disulfide-containing molecule N,N-bis(acryloyl)-(L)-cystine (BISS) as a VSC-responsive crosslinker within a polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel network and introduced the hydrogel into a photonic crystal structure. The disulfide bonds in the hydrogel can be reduced to sulfhydryl groups by VSCs, leading to cleaved crosslinkers and thus a decreased crosslink density. As a result, the hydrogel swells, leading to a red shift of the Bragg diffraction wavelength, causing a corresponding change in the structural color of the photonic crystal. The structural color hydrogel is capable of linear detection of 0–1 ppm VSCs, which covers the typical concentration of VSCs exhaled by patients with periodontitis, and a limit of detection (LOD) of 61 ppb to H2S can be achieved. Via real-time and in-situ sensing of the VSCs produced by porphyromonas gingivalis, the proliferation process can be visually monitored, which shows consistent results with the commonly used turbidimetric method. On this basis, the structural color hydrogel is applied to detect exhaled VSCs of patients with halitosis, showing results consistent with the clinical diagnosis. By integrating hydrogels of various colors into a sensor array, the oral health conditions of patients with halitosis can be evaluated and distinguished, offering a risk assessment of periodontitis.

 

Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the structural color hydrogel for diagnosis of halitosis and screening of periodontitis. Exhaled VSCs reduce the disulfide bonds to sulfhydryl groups within the hydrogel network, leading to expansion and color shift of the hydrogel. A higher concentration of VSCs suggests severe halitosis and a higher risk of periodontitis. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01563g with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In summary, compared with the state-of-the-art detection methods, the structural color hydrogel has the potential for employment in low-cost, high-sensitivity, and high-accuracy point-of-care diagnosis of halitosis and screening of periodontitis without bulky instruments and power sources. This opens a door to an auxiliary diagnosis of periodontitis and has great significance for stomatology.

To find out more, please read:

A structural color hydrogel for diagnosis of halitosis and screening of periodontitis
Chuanshun Hu, Jieyu Zhou, Jin Zhang, Yonghang Zhao, Chunyu Xie, Wei Yin, Jing Xie, Huiying Li, Xin Xu, Lei Zhao, Meng Qin and Jianshu Li
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance article, DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01563g

 


About the blogger


 

Jing Xie is currently an Associate Professor at Sichuan University and a member of the Materials Horizons Community Board. Dr. Xie focuses on the exploration and preparation of polymer materials and their composites, with a focus on the biological domain, particularly within the context of bone-related ailments, including osteoarthritis, bone defects, and others.

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Materials Horizons 10th anniversary Community Spotlight; Meet some more of our esteemed Advisory Board Members!

Introducing the Materials Horizons Advisory Board – Part 3.

This year we are pleased to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Materials Horizons. We are so grateful to our fantastic community of authors, reviewers, Board members and readers and wanted to showcase just some of them in a series of ‘Community Spotlight’ blog articles.

In this ‘Community Spotlight’, we feature some more of the Advisory Board members who have supported Materials Horizons over the years. We have asked them what they like most about being on the journal’s Advisory Boards, about their recent publications and about their own insights into the future of materials chemistry. Check out their interview responses and related articles below.

Nan Zhang, Advisory Board Member

Hunan University, China

 

Nan Zhang is now a professor in the College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University. Her main research interests include the design and optical properties of metal-based composites for photocatalytic applications and their mechanism investigations

What does it mean to you to join the Advisory Board of Materials Horizons?

“Joining the Advisory Board of Materials Horizons is an opportunity to share my expertise and knowledge to a global community of experts in the area of materials science. It could also provide me with the chance to collaborate with other like-minded individuals and make a meaningful impact on the future of materials chemistry. Additionally, being a part of the Advisory Board of Materials Horizons could offer opportunities for networking and professional development, as well as exposure to new ideas and perspectives.”

 

What in your field are you most excited about?

“Regulation of the optical properties of metal nanostructures is an important aspect of photocatalysis, as it can significantly affect the efficiency and selectivity of photocatalytic reactions, which is one of my research interests. To regulate the optical properties of metal nanostructures in photocatalytic systems, we employ various techniques such as surface engineering, material synthesis, and optoelectronic design.”

Why do you feel that researchers should choose to publish their work in Materials Horizons?

“Materials Horizons is well-suited for publishing work that explores the properties, applications, and development of new materials. Materials Horizons has a large and diverse readership, including researchers, students, and industry professionals in the field of materials chemistry. This indicates that authors who publish their work in the journal can reach a wide audience and engage with other experts in the field. Moreover, Materials Horizons has a dedicated team of experienced editors who provide thorough and constructive feedback to authors throughout the publication process, facilitating authors to benefit from expert support and guidance in improving their research and preparing it for publication.”

 

Check out some of Nan Zhang’s latest research here:

A study on the role of plasmonic Ti3C2Tx MXene in enhancing photoredox catalysis
Guanshun Xie, Chuang Han, Fei Song, Yisong Zhu,a Xuanyu Wang, Jialin Wang, Zhenjun Wu, Xiuqiang Xie and Nan Zhang.

Nanoscale, 2022,14, 18010-18021. DOI: 10.1039/D2NR05983E

 

 Electrostatically confined Bi/Ti3C2Tx on a sponge as an easily recyclable and durable catalyst for the reductive transformation of nitroarenes

Changqiang Yu, Linfen Peng, Yisong Zhu, Guanshun Xie, Zhenjun Wu, Xiuqiang Xie and Nan Zhang
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021,9, 19847-19853. DOI: 10.1039/D1TA02736K

 

Rising from the horizon: three-dimensional functional architectures assembled with MXene nanosheets

Fei Song, Guohao Li, Yisong Zhu, Zhenjun Wu, Xiuqiang Xie and Nan Zhang
J. Mater. Chem. A
, 2020,8, 18538-18559. DOI: 10.1039/D0TA06222G

 

 

Vincent Rotello, Advisory Board Member

University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

 

Vincent Rotello is the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1985 from Illinois Institute of Technology, and his Ph. D. in 1990 in Chemistry from Yale University. He was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1990-1993,  and joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 1993. He has been the recipient of the NSF CAREER and Cottrell Scholar awards, as well as the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, the Sloan Fellowships. He has received the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award in 2023, in 2016 he was awarded the Transformational Research and Excellence in Education Award presented by Research Corporation, the Bioorganic Lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the Australian Nanotechnology Network Traveling Fellowship, the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship for Distinguished Researchers. (2016) and the Langmuir Lectureship (2010). He is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and of the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.). He is also recognized in 2014, 2015, 2018-2022 by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate as “Highly Cited Researcher”

His research program focuses on using synthetic organic chemistry to engineer the interface between the synthetic and biological worlds, and spans the areas of devices, polymers, and nanotechnology/bionanotechnology, with over 650 peer-reviewed papers published to date. He is actively involved in the area of bionanotechnology, and his research includes programs in delivery, imaging, diagnostics and nanotoxicology.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Materials Horizons?

“I really enjoy watching MH grow and mature. I was around when the concept for MH was developed, and was involved in the brainstorming that identified a new and interesting name with “materials” in the title–not an insignificant challenge! I have been engaged with the journal all through the process of the first issue, the first impact factor, and watching the reputation (and IF) of the journal take its place in the forefront of materials science.”

What do you think of Materials Horizons as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

MH is amongst my very favourite places to publish, and we’re always proud when one of our papers is accepted.  The journal features an excellent combination high impact and rigor, traits that are increasingly becoming difficult to find in one place.

Check out some of Vince Rotello’s latest research here:

Antimicrobial polymer-siRNA polyplexes as a dual-mode platform for the treatment of wound biofilm infections

Taewon Jeon, Jessa Marie V. Makabenta,  Jungmi Park, Ahmed Nabawy, Yagiz Anil Cicek, Sarah S. Mirza, Janelle Welton, Muhammad Aamir Hassan,  Rui Huang,  Jesse Mager and Vincent M. Rotello
Mater. Horiz.
, 2023,10, 5500-5507. DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01108A

 

Selective treatment of intracellular bacterial infections using host cell-targeted bioorthogonal nanozymes

Joseph Hardie, Jessa Marie Makabenta, Aarohi Gupta, Rui Huang, Roberto Cao-Milán,  Ritabrita Goswami, Xianzhi Zhang, Parvati Abdulpurkar, Michelle E. Farkas and Vincent M. Rotello
Mater. Horiz.
, 2022,9, 1489-1494. DOI: 10.1039/D1MH02042K

 

Erythrocyte-mediated delivery of bioorthogonal nanozymes for selective targeting of bacterial infections

Akash Gupta, Riddha Das, Jessa Marie Makabenta, Aarohi Gupta, Xianzhi Zhang, Taewon Jeon, Rui Huang, Yuanchang Liu, Sanjana Gopalakrishnan, Roberto-Cao Milána and Vincent M. Rotello

Mater. Horiz., 2021,8, 3424-3431. DOI: 10.1039/D1MH01408K

 

Aldo Zarbin, Advisory Board Member

Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil

 

Aldo José Gorgatti Zarbin is graduated (1990), Master (1993) and PhD (1997) in Chemistry. He is full professor at Department of Chemistry of Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in Brazil. Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), former President of the Brazilian Chemical Society (2016-2018), permanent member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology of Nanomaterials for Life (INCT NanoVida). His main scientific interests are the synthesis, characterization, study of properties and applications of different nanomaterials, as carbon nanotubes, graphene, 2D-materials, metal nanoparticles and conducting polymer-based nanocomposites; their processing as thin films and their application in energy (batteries, supercapacitor, photovoltaics, electrochromic), sensors and catalysis.

 

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Materials Horizons?

“First of all it is a great honor being member of the Advisory Board of this prestigious Journal. Personally, it represents the recognition of the quality of the science that I have been developing, which is very significant.  I really like the contact with the people in the editorial office, who are always very kind, and being able to share opinions and give reports on the high quality articles that are submitted to the journal. It is a privilege to read in advance the best that has been produced in this fascinating area of knowledge.”

 

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

Materials chemistry is the pathway to solve some of the major problems that currently afflict us. I see materials chemistry concerning about the social relevance of science as a whole, improving the welfare of the people, aiming sustainability and looking for ways to reduce the poverty and the social inequality. For example, I see a strong a development on the synthesis and processing of novel (or old ones with a new guise) materials to improve the efficiency of processes such as CO2 capture and conversion, solar photovoltaic conversion, green hydrogen generation, high-capacity batteries, aqueous-environment operating devices, etc; materials for health (implants, drug-deliver, artificial skin); materials to detoxify the environment; materials to make potable water, etc.”

Some of Aldo Zarbin’s latest research can be found here:

A tunable color palette of electrochromic materials achieved through an ingenious stacking of ordinary conducting polymers

Victor H. R. Souza, Ariane Schmidt and Aldo J. G. Zarbin
J. Mater. Chem. A
, 2023,11, 18853-18861. DOI: 10.1039/D3TA02860G

 

Prussian blue and its analogues as functional template materials: control of derived structure compositions and morphologies

Behnoosh Bornamehr, Volker Presser, Aldo J. G. Zarbin, Yusuke Yamauchi and Samantha Husmann
J. Mater. Chem. A
, 2023,11, 10473-10492. DOI: 10.1039/D2TA09501G

 

Nanoarchitected graphene/copper oxide nanoparticles/MoS2 ternary thin films as highly efficient electrodes for aqueous sodium-ion batteries

Maria K. Ramos, Gustavo Martins, Luiz H. Marcolino-Junior, Márcio F. Bergamini, Marcela M. Oliveira and Aldo J. G. Zarbin

Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 5521-5537. DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00982C

 

Uttam Manna, Advisory Board Member

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India

Uttam Manna, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), is currently an associate professor at Department of Chemistry—and affiliated with Centre for Nanotechnology and Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Science and Technology in Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG). He completed his Integrated PhD from IISc Bangalore in 2011. He pursued his post-doctoral research from University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He is recognized as an emerging investigator by Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2018), Chemical Communications (2020), Nanoscale (2021) and Chemical Society Reviews (2022). In 2023, Chemical Communications journal also recognized him as a pioneering investigator. He received the CRSI Bronze Medal for the year 2023. He is also a recipient of the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers in 2021.

His research team is interested in designing functional and durable coatings embedded with bio-inspired wettability through the strategic association of robust and facile chemical approaches for energy, environment and health related different applications—including efficient oil/water separation, improving performance of water splitting, self-cleaning, chemical sensing, programmed release of small molecule, anticounterfeiting, no-loss liquid transport, strain sensing, joule heating etc.

 

What do you think of Materials Horizons as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

I found Materials Horizons is one of the finest journals to publish research related to material chemistry—as this journal publishes research works on diverse topics of material chemistry. I found researchers from various scientific and engineering backgrounds publishing their exciting and fresh research ideas in this journal. Thus, this journal is widely recognized by the community of material chemistry. I would definitely mention here that the ‘New Concepts’ section of the article in the journal, really helps to quickly recognize the novelty and design principle of the published research works. This journal is a perfect home for seminal research works on materials chemistry.

 

Could you provide a summary of your most recent Materials Horizons publication?

“In the published communication (Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 2204), we have introduced a self-cleanable multilevel anticounterfeiting interface through covalent chemical modulation of physically unclonable and chemically reactive coating. We have spatially selectively modulated a dual chemically reactive coating—following 1,4-conjugate addition reaction and Schiff-base reaction to achieve an extremely water repellent pattern interface embedded with distinct water adhesion property and fluorescence property. The selective chemical modulation controls the fraction of contact area between water and chemically modified interface. Eventually this principle provided a facile basis to naked-eye visualization of hidden patterns on water exposure—and it disappears immediately after removal of the pattern interface from water exposure.”

Read some of Uttam Manna’s research here:

Design of a self-cleanable multilevel anticounterfeiting interface through covalent chemical modulation

Manideepa Dhar, Ufuoma I. Kara, Supriya Das, Yang Xu, Sohini Mandal, Robert L. Dupont, Eric C. Boerner, Boyuan Chen, Yuxing Yao, Xiaoguang Wang and Uttam Manna

Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 2204-2214. DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00180F

 

Dually reactive multilayer coatings enable orthogonal manipulation of underwater superoleophobicity and oil adhesion via post-functionalization

Angana Borbora, Robert L. Dupont,  Yang Xu, Xiaoguang Wang and Uttam Manna
Mater. Horiz.
, 2022,9, 991-1001. DOI: 10.1039/D1MH01598B

 

Abrasion tolerant, non-stretchable and super-water-repellent conductive & ultrasensitive pattern for identifying slow, fast, weak and strong human motions under diverse conditions

Supriya Das, Rajan Singh, Avijit Das, Sudipta Bag, Roy P. Paily and Uttam Manna
Mater. Horiz.
, 2021,8, 2851-2858. DOI: 10.1039/D1MH01071A

 

Shannon Yee, Advisory Board Member

Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Dr. Shannon Yee is an Associate Professor at the G.W.W. School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Yee joined Georgia Tech in 2014 directly from his PhD at the University of California Berkeley.  Amid his studies, he joined the US. Dept. of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) during its inaugural year as the first ARPA-E Fellow.  Dr. Yee completed his MS in Nuclear Engineering in 2008 and his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2007, both from The Ohio State University. In 2008, he was awarded a prestigious Hertz Fellowship.  In 2015, Dr. Yee was selected for an AFOSR Young Investigator Award to develop polymer thermoelectrics.  Dr. Yee is the recipient of the 2017 American Society of Mechanical Engineering Pi-Tau-Sigma Gold Medal award for “outstanding contributions to the field of Mechanical Engineering in the first decade of one’s career.”  In 2019, Shannon was selected for an ONR Young Investigator Award to develop polymer thermal switches.  Most recently, Dr. Yee has been directing the Generation 2 Reinvent the Toilet (G2RT) program, and was recognized as one of Bill Gate’s Heroes in the Field in 2021.  Additionally, he has been instrumental at Georgia Tech is helping to establish The New York Climate Exchange and is currently serving as the co-chair for Research, Technology, and Commercialization efforts, coordinating a global community of academic, corporate, and non-profit institutions to address climate change.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Materials Horizons?

“I enjoy connecting with research colleagues and supporting the dissemination of knowledge through the Materials Horizons publication. “

What do you think of Materials Horizons as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

“Materials Horizons is unique. It provides a platform to share materials chemistry developments that enable new technologies.“

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

“I see materials chemistry evolving to embrace the opportunity of providing designer materials with custom electronic, thermal, optical, and mechanical properties.”

In your opinion, how could members of the community be more involved with the journal?

“Members of the materials chemistry community can be more involved with the journal through engaging in the publication discourse.”

Some of Shannon Yee’s latest research can be found here:

Effects of film thickness on electrochemical properties of nanoscale polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) thin films grown by oxidative molecular layer deposition (oMLD)

Katrina G. Brathwaite, Quinton K. Wyatt, Amalie Atassi, Shawn A. Gregory, Eric Throm, David Stalla, Shannon K. Yee, Mark D. Losego and Matthias J. Young
Nanoscale
, 2023,15, 6187-6200. DOI: 10.1039/D3NR00708A

 

Inducing planarity in redox-active conjugated polymers with solubilizing 3,6-dialkoxy-thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes (DOTTs) for redox and solid-state conductivity applications

Sandra L. Pittelli, Shawn A. Gregory, James F. Ponder, Jr, Shannon K. Yee and John R. Reynolds
J. Mater. Chem. C
, 2020,8, 7463-7475. DOI: 10.1039/D0TC00914H

 

Electron transport in a sequentially doped naphthalene diimide polymer

Khaled Al Kurdi, Shawn A. Gregory, Samik Jhulki, Maxwell Conte, Stephen Barlow, Shannon K. Yee and Seth R. Marder
Mater. Adv.
, 2020,1, 1829-1834. DOI: 10.1039/D0MA00406E

 

David Mecerreyes, Advisory Board Member 

University of the Basque Country, Spain

Graduated from the University of the Basque Country in 1994. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in Polymer Chemistry under de supervision of Dr. Robert Jèrôme in 1998 from University of Liege (Belgium). He carried out a post-doctoral at IBM Almaden Research Center and Stanford University (USA) working in the team of Dr. James L. Hedrick and Prof. Craig Hawker. In 2001 he joined CIDETEC where he was in charge of the Nanomaterials Unit. In January 2011, he got an Ikerbasque Research Professorship at POLYMAT/University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

Prof. David Mecerreyes is a creative polymer chemist and has pioneered important topics in polymer and materials science such as ring-opening polymerization (PhD times), polymer brushes and single-chain nanoparticles (post-doc times), porous PBI proton conducting membranes, poly(ionic liquid)s and polymer electrolytes for batteries (last years). He has published more than 300 scientific articles in polymer, chemistry and materials journals and delivered more than 70 invited lectures around the world.

 

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Materials Horizons?

“To me it is a honor and very prestigious to be part of the Advisory Board. I love the opportunity to directly participate in the development of the journal and contribute with our best articles coming from our group as well as to have a close view of the current advances in materials science and applications.”

What do you think of Materials Horizons as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

I believe Materials Horizons is “the place” to publish impactful and breakthrough articles. In particular, articles where new materials chemistry directions and concepts are demonstrated.”

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

“I see that research in polymers and materials chemistry will be more and more important in the next 10 years. The research interests will  be related to the societal needs in areas such as health, energy and environment. I see an evolution of the current research topics in circular economy, sustainability of materials. I believe that the performance and the applications of the materials will be even more important factor in the future.“

In your opinion, how could members of the community be more involved with the journal?

“It is a simple but difficult question to answer. I guess that the members of the community should see the journal present and close to them and in an interactive way through congress participation as well as the social media.”

Could you provide a summary of your most recent Materials Horizons publication?

“We recently published an article entitled Direct ink writing of PEDOT eutectogels as substrate-free dry electrodes for electromyography DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00310H. Here we showed the development of mixed ionic electronic conductive materials based on Deep eutectic solvents DES and poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). We called this new materials eutectogels which are biocompatible, cost-effective, easy to make and show high ionic and electronic conductivity values.
Due to the rheological properties of these eutectogels we showed the direct printing of electrodes for electrophysiology, called eutectic-tattoos (Eutecta2). The obtained Eutecta2 electrodes were self-standing, stable after drying, and reusable, as well as 3D printable in custom shapes.”

 

Check out some of David Mecerreyes’ latest research here:

 

Direct ink writing of PEDOT eutectogels as substrate-free dry electrodes for electromyography

Ana Aguzin, Antonio Dominguez-Alfaro, Miryam Criado-Gonzalez, Santiago Velasco-Bosom, Matías L. Picchio, Nerea Casado, Eleni Mitoudi-Vagourdi, Roque J. Minari, George G. Malliaras and David Mecerreyes
Mater. Horiz.
, 2023,10, 2516-2524. DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00310H

 

Dual redox-active porous polyimides as high performance and versatile electrode material for next-generation batteries

Nicolas Goujon, Marianne Lahnsteiner, Daniel A. Cerrón-Infantes,  Hipassia M. Moura, Daniele Mantione, Miriam M. Unterlass and David Mecerreyes
Mater. Horiz.
, 2023,10, 967-976. DOI: 10.1039/D2MH01335E

 

Self-healable dynamic poly(urea-urethane) gel electrolyte for lithium batteries

Fermin Elizalde, Julia Amici, Sabrina Trano,  Giulia Vozzolo, Robert Aguirresarobe, Daniele Versaci, Silvia Bodoardo, David Mecerreyes, Haritz Sardon and Federico Bella

J.Mater. Chem. A, 2022,10, 12588-12596. DOI: 10.1039/D2TA02239G

 

We hope you have enjoyed meeting our Advisory board members. 

 

Or to read more of our community spotlight blog, return to the home page here

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