Porous Ti4O7 Particles with Interconnected‐Pore Structure as a High‐Efficiency Polysulfide Mediator for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Multifunctional Ti₄O₇ particles with interconnected‐pore structure are designed and synthesized using porous poly(styrene‐b ‐2‐vinylpyridine) particles as a template. The particles can work efficiently as a sulfur‐host material for lithium–sulfur batteries. Specifically, the well‐defined porous Ti₄O₇ particles exhibit interconnected pores in the interior and have a high‐surface area of 592 m² g^?1; this shows the advantage of mesopores for encapsulating of sulfur and provides a polar surface for chemical binding with polysulfides to suppress their dissolution. Moreover, in order to improve the conductivity of the electrode, a thin layer of carbon is coated on the Ti₄O₇ surface without destroying its porous structure. The porous Ti₄O₇ and carbon‐coated Ti₄O₇ particles show significantly improved electrochemical performances as cathode materials for Li–S batteries as compared with those of TiO₂ particles.     

Ethanol‐Dispersed Polymer Nanofibers as a Highly Selective Cell Isolation and Release Platform for CD4+ T Lymphocytes

A novel cell isolation and release platform using electrospun polystyrene‐poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) (PS‐PSMA) nanofibers is presented. Ethanol treatment of PS‐PSMA nanofibers, employed for the purpose of sterilization, significantly increases their inter‐fiber space for both antibody conjugation and subsequent cell separation. For the selective isolation of CD4⁺ T cells from heterogeneous mixtures of mouse lymph nodes, capture efficiencies of up to 100% are achieved while maintaining cellular integrity and viability. Once captured, CD4⁺ T lymphocytes can also be released from the NF scaffolds, further demonstrating its potential functionality as an immune cell‐supporting and releasing matrix. This is the first demonstration of lymphocyte‐culture scaffolds enabling selective isolation, accommodation, and sustained release of CD4⁺ T cells for the purpose of cell therapies.     

Mesoporous Silicon‐PLGA Composite Microspheres for the Double Controlled Release of Biomolecules for Orthopedic Tissue Engineering

In this study, poly(dl ‐lactide‐co‐glycolide)/porous silicon (PLGA/pSi) composite microspheres, synthesized by a solid‐in‐oil‐in‐water (S/O/W) emulsion method, are developed for the long‐term controlled delivery of biomolecules for orthopedic tissue engineering applications. Confocal and fluorescent microscopy, together with material analysis, show that each composite microsphere contained multiple pSi particles embedded within the PLGA matrix. The release profiles of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)‐labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC‐BSA), loaded inside the pSi within the PLGA matrix, indicate that both PLGA and pSi contribute to the control of the release rate of the payload. Protein stability studies show that PLGA/pSi composite can protect BSA from degradation during the long term release. We find that during the degradation of the composite material, the presence of the pSi particles neutralizes the acidic pH due to the PLGA degradation by‐products, thus minimizing the risk of inducing inflammatory responses in the exposed cells while stimulating the mineralization in osteogenic growth media. Confocal studies show that the cellular uptake of the composite microspheres is avoided, while the fluorescent payload is detectable intracellularly after 7 days of co‐incubation. In conclusion, the PLGA/pSi composite microspheres offer an additional level of controlled release and could be ideal candidates as drug delivery vehicles for orthopedic tissue engineering applications.     

Design and Implementation of 256‐Point Radix‐4 100 Gbit/s FFT Algorithm into FPGA for High‐Speed Applications

The third‐party FFT IP cores available in today's markets do not provide the desired speed demands for optical communication. This study deals with the design and implementation of a 256‐point Radix‐4 100 Gbit/s FFT, where computational steps are reconsidered and optimized for high‐speed applications, such as radar and fiber optics. Alternative methods for FFT implementation are investigated and Radix‐4 is decided to be the optimal solution for our fully parallel FPGA application. The algorithms that we will implement during the development phase are to be tested on a Xilinx Virtex‐6 FPGA platform. The proposed FFT core has a fully parallel architecture with a latency of nine clocks, and the target clock rate is 312.5 MHz.     

Synthesis of Nanostructured PbO@C Composite Derived from Spent Lead‐Acid Battery for Next‐Generation Lead‐Carbon Battery

Lead‐carbon batteries could provide better performance on high‐rate partial‐state‐of‐charge (HRPSoC) cycles than lead‐acid batteries (LABs), making them promising for the new‐generation of hybrid electric vehicles. The addition of carbon allotropes to the negative active material (NAM) could induce a significant improvement to the battery performance. Herein, an environmentally friendly strategy is demonstrated to prepare lead oxide and carbon (PbO@C) composite by pyrolyzing the lead citrate precursor derived from the spent lead paste of LABs. When the PbO@C composite is used as an additive to the NAM of lead‐carbon batteries, the utilization efficiency of the NAM is improved from 56.9% to 72.5%, and the cycle life of the cell in HRPSoC is tremendously extended by four times compared with the control one. The enhancement in battery performance is attributed to the hydrophilic carbon in the composite, which acts as a 3D electroosmotic pump facilitating electrolyte diffusion, and hindering the tendency to excess sulfation during the HRPSoC operation. This proposed research provides a sustainable and scalable strategy to recycle the discarded/spent LABs into high‐performance lead‐carbon batteries.     

One‐Step Synthesis of CoS‐Doped β‐Co(OH)2@Amorphous MoS2+x Hybrid Catalyst Grown on Nickel Foam for High‐Performance Electrochemical Overall Water Splitting

Developing efficient and economical electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction with readily available metals is one of the main challenges for large scale hydrogen/oxygen production. This study reports one step synthesis of cobalt and molybdenum hybrid materials for high performance overall water splitting. The binder‐free CoS‐doped β‐Co(OH)₂@amorphous MoS_2+x is coated on nickel foam (NF) to form 3D networked nanoplates that have large surface area and high durability for electrochemical reactions. The catalytic activity of electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution is mainly attributed to the unsaturated sulfur site of amorphous MoS_2+x. Meanwhile, the CoS‐doped β‐Co(OH)₂ plays the major role in oxygen evolution. CoS‐doped β‐Co(OH)₂ and aMoS_2+x are strongly bound to each other due to CoS_x bridging. This CoS? Co(OH)₂@aMoS_2+x/NF hybrid exhibits excellent catalytic activity and stability for overall water splitting. For over 100 000 s the cell voltage required to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm^–2 is only 1.58 V, which is remarkably low among the commercially available electrocatalysts. The findings open up an easy and inexpensive method of large scale fabrication of bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.     

Dual‐Functional Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/MnO2 Nanoellipsoids for Enhancement of Neurite Outgrowth and Exocytosed Biomolecule Sensing in PC12 Cells

Dual‐functional MnO₂‐decorated poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT/MnO₂) nanoellipsoids are fabricated for enhancement of neurite outgrowth during differentiation and real‐time monitoring of PC12 cells. The PEDOT nanoellipsoids are prepared by chemical oxidation polymerization in reverse microemulsion and the MnO₂ domains on the surface of the PEDOT are formed by redox deposition. A PC12 cell is used as a model cell for neuronal differentiation. The morphology, differentiation efficiency, average neurite length, expression level of DMT1, phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and viability of PC12 cells upon the exposure of the PEDOT/MnO₂ nanoellipsoids are examined. The PEDOT/MnO₂ nanoellipsoids facilitate neurite outgrowth in proportion to the dose of the nanoellipsoids, and MnO₂ domains play a pivotal role in facilitation effects on cell differentiation. The PEDOT/MnO₂ nanoellipsoids represent low toxicity in the cells due to biocompatible PEDOT matrix. Moreover, the PEDOT/MnO₂ nanoellipsoids are further applied as a transducer material for label‐free real‐time monitoring of PC12 cells. The exocytosed catecholamines from living cells are successfully detected. The dual‐functionalized PEDOT/MnO₂ nanoellipsoids may be used in tissue engineering related to the development and monitoring of mammalian nervous systems.     

Surface Features of Recombinant Spider Silk Protein eADF4(κ16)‐Made Materials are Well‐Suited for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Cardiovascular diseases causing high morbidity and mortality represent a major socioeconomic burden. The primary cause of impaired heart function is often the loss of cardiomyocytes. Thus, novel therapies aim at restoring the lost myocardial tissue. One promising approach is cardiac tissue engineering. Previously, it is shown that Antheraea mylitta silk protein fibroin is a suitable material for cardiac tissue engineering, however, its quality is difficult to control. To overcome this limitation, the interaction of primary rat heart cells with engineered Araneus diadematus fibroin 4 (κ16) (eADF4(κ16)) is investigated here, which is engineered based on the sequence of ADF4 by replacing the glutamic acid residue in the repetitive unit of its core domain with lysine. The data demonstrate that cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells attach well to eADF4(κ16) films on glass coverslips which provide an engineered surface with a polycationic character. Moreover, eADF4(κ16) films have, in contrast to fibronectin films, no hypertrophic effect but allow the induction of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Finally, cardiomyocytes grown on eADF4(κ16) films respond to pro‐proliferative factors and exhibit proper cell‐to‐cell communication and electric coupling. Collectively, these data demonstrate that designed recombinant eADF4(κ16)‐based materials are promising materials for cardiac tissue engineering.     

Overcoming the Unfavorable Kinetics of Na3V2(PO4)2F3//SnPx Full‐Cell Sodium‐Ion Batteries for High Specific Energy and Energy Efficiency

In this work, a full‐cell sodium‐ion battery (SIB) with a high specific energy approaching 300 Wh kg^?1 is realized using a sodium vanadium fluorophosphate (Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃, NVPF) cathode and a tin phosphide (SnP_x) anode, despite both electrode materials having greatly unbalanced specific capacities. The use of a cathode employing an areal loading more than eight times larger than that of the anode can be achieved by designing a nanostructured nanosized NVPF (n‐NVPF) cathode with well‐defined particle size, porosity, and conductivity. Furthermore, the high rate capability and high potential window of the full‐cell can be obtained by tuning the Sn/P ratio (4/3, 1/1, and 1/2) and the nanostructure of an SnP_x/carbon composite anode. As a result, the full‐cell SIBs employing the nanostructured n‐NVPF cathode and the SnP_x/carbon composite anode (Sn/P = 1/1) exhibit outstanding specific energy (≈280 Wh kg^?1_{(cathode+anode)}) and energy efficiency (≈78%); furthermore, the results are comparable to those of state‐of‐the‐art lithium‐ion batteries.