scholarly journals Aerogels for Biomedical, Energy and Sensing Applications

Gels ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tayyab Noman ◽  
Nesrine Amor ◽  
Azam Ali ◽  
Stanislav Petrik ◽  
Radek Coufal ◽  
...  

The term aerogel is used for unique solid-state structures composed of three-dimensional (3D) interconnected networks filled with a huge amount of air. These air-filled pores enhance the physicochemical properties and the structural characteristics in macroscale as well as integrate typical characteristics of aerogels, e.g., low density, high porosity and some specific properties of their constituents. These characteristics equip aerogels for highly sensitive and highly selective sensing and energy materials, e.g., biosensors, gas sensors, pressure and strain sensors, supercapacitors, catalysts and ion batteries, etc. In recent years, considerable research efforts are devoted towards the applications of aerogels and promising results have been achieved and reported. In this thematic issue, ground-breaking and recent advances in the field of biomedical, energy and sensing are presented and discussed in detail. In addition, some other perspectives and recent challenges for the synthesis of high performance and low-cost aerogels and their applications are also summarized.

Author(s):  
Marcel Simsek ◽  
Nongnoot Wongkaew

AbstractNon-enzymatic electrochemical sensors possess superior stability and affordability in comparison to natural enzyme-based counterparts. A large variety of nanomaterials have been introduced as enzyme mimicking with appreciable sensitivity and detection limit for various analytes of which glucose and H2O2 have been mostly investigated. The nanomaterials made from noble metal, non-noble metal, and metal composites, as well as carbon and their derivatives in various architectures, have been extensively proposed over the past years. Three-dimensional (3D) transducers especially realized from the hybrids of carbon nanomaterials either with metal-based nanocatalysts or heteroatom dopants are favorable owing to low cost, good electrical conductivity, and stability. In this critical review, we evaluate the current strategies to create such nanomaterials to serve as non-enzymatic transducers. Laser writing has emerged as a powerful tool for the next generation of devices owing to their low cost and resultant remarkable performance that are highly attractive to non-enzymatic transducers. So far, only few works have been reported, but in the coming years, more and more research on this topic is foreseeable. Graphical abstract


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1005-1010
Author(s):  
Jian Wang ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Yucai Li ◽  
Shiwei Song

The electrochemical performance of the material depends heavily on the morphologies and structural characteristics of the material. Co3O4 samples show the remarkable electrochemical performance owing to the high porosity, appropriate pore size distribution and novel architecture and the effect of NH4F for morphology. Co3O4 nanowires grown on Ni foam have been synthesized through a facile hydrothermal approach, revealing large capacitance of 2178.4 mF cm−2 at the current density of 2 mA cm−2 and superior cycling stability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Qi ◽  
Zhang Chaoqun ◽  
Yang Weijun ◽  
Wang Qingwen ◽  
Ou Rongxian

Abstract On the basis of the world’s continuing consumption of raw materials, there was an urgent need to seek sustainable resources. Lignin, the second naturally abundant biomass, accounts for 15–35% of the cell walls of terrestrial plants and is considered waste for low-cost applications such as thermal and electricity generation. The impressive characteristics of lignin, such as its high abundance, low density, biodegradability, antioxidation, antibacterial capability, and its CO2 neutrality and enhancement, render it an ideal candidate for developing new polymer/composite materials. In past decades, considerable works have been conducted to effectively utilize waste lignin as a component in polymer matrices for the production of high-performance lignin-based polymers. This chapter is intended to provide an overview of the recent advances and challenges involving lignin-based polymers utilizing lignin macromonomer and its derived monolignols. These lignin-based polymers include phenol resins, polyurethane resins, polyester resins, epoxy resins, etc. The structural characteristics and functions of lignin-based polymers are discussed in each section. In addition, we also try to divide various lignin reinforced polymer composites into different polymer matrices, which can be separated into thermoplastics, rubber, and thermosets composites. This chapter is expected to increase the interest of researchers worldwide in lignin-based polymers and develop new ideas in this field.


2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taikyu Kim ◽  
Cheol Hee Choi ◽  
Pilgyu Byeon ◽  
Miso Lee ◽  
Aeran Song ◽  
...  

AbstractAchieving high-performance p-type semiconductors has been considered one of the most challenging tasks for three-dimensional vertically integrated nanoelectronics. Although many candidates have been presented to date, the facile and scalable realization of high-mobility p-channel field-effect transistors (FETs) is still elusive. Here, we report a high-performance p-channel tellurium (Te) FET fabricated through physical vapor deposition at room temperature. A growth route involving Te deposition by sputtering, oxidation and subsequent reduction to an elemental Te film through alumina encapsulation allows the resulting p-channel FET to exhibit a high field-effect mobility of 30.9 cm2 V−1 s−1 and an ION/OFF ratio of 5.8 × 105 with 4-inch wafer-scale integrity on a SiO2/Si substrate. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverters using In-Ga-Zn-O and 4-nm-thick Te channels show a remarkably high gain of ~75.2 and great noise margins at small supply voltage of 3 V. We believe that this low-cost and high-performance Te layer can pave the way for future CMOS technology enabling monolithic three-dimensional integration.


Author(s):  
Jifeng Wang ◽  
Qubo Li ◽  
Norbert Mu¨ller

A mechanical and optimal analyses procedure is developed to assess the stresses and deformations of Novel Wound Composite Axial-Impeller under loading conditions particular to centrifuge. This procedure is based on an analytical method and Finite Element Analysis (FEA, commercial software ANSYS) results. A low-cost, light-weight, high-performance, composite turbomachinery impeller from differently designed patterns will be evaluated. Such impellers can economically enable refrigeration plants using water as a refrigerant (R718). To create different complex patterns of impellers, MATLAB is used for creating the geometry of impellers, and CAD software UG is used to build three-dimensional impeller models. Available loading conditions are: radial body force due to high speed rotation about the cylindrical axis and fluid forces on each blade. Two-dimensional plane stress and three-dimensional stress finite element analysis are carried out using ANSYS to validate these analytical mechanical equations. The von Mises stress is investigated, and maximum stress and Tsai-Wu failure criteria are applied for composite material failure, and they generally show good agreement.


Author(s):  
Qiqi Sun ◽  
Qi Liu ◽  
Wen Gao ◽  
Chuanwang Xing ◽  
Jingshun Shen ◽  
...  

The cathodic photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor, is one of ideal systems for sensing applications owing to its advantages in the low-cost, simplicity of the detection and miniaturization of the sensors with...


Author(s):  
Jiawei Wu ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Xiaodong Wang ◽  
An'an Zhou ◽  
Zhenglong Yang

For the higher safety and energy density, solid-state electrolyte with better mechanical strength, thermal and electrochemical stability is a perfect choice. To improve the performance of PEO, usage of low-cost...


NANO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (05) ◽  
pp. 2050062
Author(s):  
Zhaolei Meng ◽  
Xiaojian He ◽  
Song Han ◽  
Zijian Hu

Carbon materials are generally employed as supercapacitor electrodes due to their low- cost, high-chemical stability and environmental friendliness. However, the design of carbon structures with large surface area and controllable porous structure remains a daunt challenge. In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) hybrid aerogel with different contents of MoS2 nanosheets in 3D graphene aerogel (MoS2-GA) was synthesized through a facial hydrothermal process. The influences of MoS2 content on microstructure and subsequently on electrochemical properties of MoS2-GA are systematically investigated and an optimized mass ratio with MoS2: GA of 1:2 is chosen to achieve high mechanical robustness and outstanding electrochemical performance in the hybrid structure. Due to the large specific surface area, porous structure and continuous charge transfer network, such MoS2-GA electrodes exhibit high specific capacitance, good rate capability and excellent cyclic stability, showing great potential in large-scale and low-cost fabrication of high-performance supercapacitors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 191949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Courtney ◽  
Luke M. Alvey ◽  
George O. T. Merces ◽  
Niamh Burke ◽  
Mark Pickering

With technologies rapidly evolving, many research institutions are now opting to invest in costly, high-quality, specialized microscopes which are shared by many researchers. As a consequence, the user may not have the ability to adapt a microscope to their specific needs and limitations in experimental design are introduced. A flexible work-horse microscopy system is a valuable tool in any laboratory to meet the diverse needs of a research team and promote innovation in experimental design. We have developed the Flexiscope; a multi-functional, adaptable, efficient and high-performance microscopy/electrophysiology system for everyday applications in a neurobiology laboratory. The core optical components are relatively constant in the three configurations described here: an upright configuration, an inverted configuration and an upright/electrophysiology configuration. We have provided a comprehensive description of the Flexiscope. We show that this method is capable of oblique infrared illumination imaging, multi-channel fluorescent imaging and automated three-dimensional scanning of larger specimens. Image quality is conserved across the three configurations of the microscope, and conversion between configurations is possible quickly and easily, while the motion control system can be repurposed to allow sub-micrometre computer-controlled micromanipulation. The Flexiscope provides similar performance and usability to commercially available systems. However, as it can be easily reconfigured for multiple roles, it can remove the need to purchase multiple microscopes, giving significant cost savings. The modular reconfigurable nature allows the user to customize the system to their specific needs and adapt/upgrade the system as challenges arise, without requiring specialized technical skills.


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