Layered composite membranes based on porous PVDF coated with a thin, dense PBI layer for vanadium redox flow batteries

A commercial porous polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (pore size 0.65 μm, nominally 125 μm thick) is spray coated with 1.2–4 μm thick layers of polybenzimidazole. The area resistance of the porous support is 36.4 mΩ cm2 in 2 M sulfuric acid, in comparison to 540 mΩ cm2 for a 27 μm thick acid doped polybenzimidazole membrane, and 124 mΩ cm2 for PVDF-P20 (4 μm thick blocking layer). Addition of vanadium ions to the supporting electrolyte increases the resistance, but less than for Nafion. The expected reason is a change in the osmotic pressure when the ionic strength of the electrolyte is increased, reducing the water contents in the membrane. The orientation of the composite membranes has a strong impact. Lower permeability values are found when the blocking layer is oriented towards the vanadium-lean side in ex-situ measurements. Cells with the blocking layer on the positive side have significantly lower capacity fade, also much lower than cells using Nafion 212. The coulombic efficiency of cells with PVDF-PBI membranes (98.4%) is higher than that of cells using Nafion 212 (93.6%), whereas the voltage efficiency is just slightly lower, resulting in energy efficiencies of 85.1 and 83.3%, respectively, at 80 mA/cm2

Computational design of high strength high-entropy alloys

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Vanadium-containing high-entropy alloy design by using an atomistic simulation and thermodynamic calculation

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Effect of FCC stability on FCC to BCC transformation in novel VCoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy

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중온 어닐링에 의한 재결정 단일 FCC 상을 갖는 새로운 CoMnNiCu 고엔트로피 합금 개발

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Tailoring the Morphology of Supraparticles by Primary Colloids with Different Shapes, Sizes and Dispersities

Surface-templated evaporation driven (STED) method is a promising method to fabricate supraparticles with various sizes, porosities, and shapes by drying colloidal dispersion drops on liquid repellent surfaces. Until now, for the method, only spherical shaped colloidal particles have been used as primary colloids. Here, we introduce six different shapes of nano-colloidal dispersions for the STED method: nanocubics, nanoplates, nanosheets, coffin-shaped nanoparticles (NPs), spherical NPs, and aggregates of NPs. It is confirmed that the shape and size of the primary colloids have little effect for drying the dispersion drop when a single component colloidal dispersion is dried. For heterogeneous supraparticles with composite material assembly, still the shape of the colloids has no influences, while the size and dispersity play roles for tuning the morphology of the supraparticles. From the results, we propose a way to fabricate homogeneous mixture, core/shell, and Janus core/shell structures of the supraparticles depending on the size and dispersity of the mixture colloidal dispersion. Indeed, knowledge on the effects of types of colloids would be of great importance for tailoring supraparticles

Tailoring the Morphology of Supraparticles by Primary Colloids with Different Shapes, Sizes and Dispersities

Surface-templated evaporation driven (STED) method is a promising method to fabricate supraparticles with various sizes, porosities, and shapes by drying colloidal dispersion drops on liquid repellent surfaces. Until now, for the method, only spherical shaped colloidal particles have been used as primary colloids. Here, we introduce six different shapes of nano-colloidal dispersions for the STED method: nanocubics, nanoplates, nanosheets, coffin-shaped nanoparticles (NPs), spherical NPs, and aggregates of NPs. It is confirmed that the shape and size of the primary colloids have little effect for drying the dispersion drop when a single component colloidal dispersion is dried. For heterogeneous supraparticles with composite material assembly, still the shape of the colloids has no influences, while the size and dispersity play roles for tuning the morphology of the supraparticles. From the results, we propose a way to fabricate homogeneous mixture, core/shell, and Janus core/shell structures of the supraparticles depending on the size and dispersity of the mixture colloidal dispersion. Indeed, knowledge on the effects of types of colloids would be of great importance for tailoring supraparticles

Hybrid Optoplasmonic Structures and Materials: from New Physics to New Functionalities

We develop hybrid optoplasmonic architectures to tailor resonant energy transfer between trapped photons, plasmons, quantum emitters and elementary heat carriers for emission manipulation, radiative cooling, imaging, and ultrasensitive detection.United States. Department of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Science. Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (Award No. DE - FG02 - 02ER45977)United States. Department of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Science. Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (Award No. DE - SC0010679

A Novel Multi-Component Formulation Reduces Inflammation In Vitro and Clinically Lessens the Symptoms of Chronic Eczematous Skin

Long-term treatments for inflammatory skin diseases like atopic dermatitis or eczema can cause adverse effects. Super Protein Multifunction (SPM) was investigated as a potential treatment for managing skin inflammation by monitoring the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines induced using LPS and poly(I:C)/TNFα in HaCaT keratinocytes and Hs27 fibroblasts as measured via RT-PCR. SPM solution was also assessed for its effect on cytokine release, measured using ELISA, in a UVB-irradiated 3D human skin model. To evaluate the efficiency of SPM, 20 patients with mild eczematous skin were randomized to receive SPM or vehicle twice a day for three weeks in a double-blind controlled trial. In vitro studies showed SPM inhibited inflammation-induced IL-1β, IL-6, IL-33, IL-1α, TSLP, and TNFα expression or release. In the clinical study, the SPM group showed significant improvements in the IGA, PA, and DLQI scores compared to the vehicle group. Neither group showed significant differences in VAS (pruritus). Histological analysis showed reduced stratum corneum thickness and inflammatory cell infiltration. The results suggest that SPM may reduce inflammation in individuals with chronic eczematous skin