Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Lattice architecture can provide channels for effective transportation of electrolyte inside the volume of material, while for the cube electrode, most of the material will not be exposed to the electrolyte. The cross-section view shows the silver mesh enabling the charge (Li+ ions) transportation to the current collector and how most of the printed material has been utilized.
Credit: Rahul Panat, Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering

Additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing, can be used to manufacture porous electrodes for lithium-ion batteries – but because of the nature of the manufacturing process, the design of these 3D printed electrodes is limited to just a few possible architectures...

The figure shows two views, frontal and lateral, of the image obtained by CT of the lungs of a mouse with fibrosis (grey areas) before and after receiving nano-therapy directed at senescent cells. Credit: Guillem Garaulet and Francisca Mulero, CNIO.

Scientists have designed a drug encapsulation system that selectively targets senescent cells. The study paves the way for therapeutic approaches to eliminate senescent cells in many diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and cancer.

Senescent cells are damaged cells that do not perform their normal roles anymore but that are not dead -hence they are commonly known as zombi cells. These cells interfere with the functioning of the tissue in which they accumulate...

A film deflects from a magnetic field when exposed to light.
Credit: SilkLab, Tufts University

Elastomeric composites can flex, grip, release, or rotate when exposed to lasers, diffuse light or sunlight. Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed magnetic elastomeric composites that move in different ways when exposed to light, raising the possibility that these materials could enable a wide range of products that perform simple to complex movements, from tiny engines and valves to solar arrays that bend toward the sunlight. The research is described in an article published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In biology, there are many examples where light induces movement or change – think of flowers and leaves turning toward sunlight...

Organic Mega Flow Battery Transcends Lifetime, Voltage Thresholds

Dubbed ‘Methuselah’, new molecule outlives previous chemistries. Researchers have demonstrated a new organic molecule that outlives and outperforms its predecessors, offering the longest-lasting high-performance organic flow battery to date. Nicknamed the Methuselah quinone – after the longest-lived Biblical figure – this molecule could usefully store and release energy many tens of thousands of times over multi-year periods. Organic flow batteries are a potentially safer, less expensive alternative to lithium ion batteries and vanadium flow batteries for large-scale renewable energy storage.

“We designed and built a new organic compound that can store electrical energy and also has a very long life before it decomposes,” sa...