William Marsh Rice University

Arizona State University

Rafael Verduzco

Aditya Agrawal

Michael Wong

Paul K Westerhoff

Shahnawaz Sinha

Qilin Li

Alin Cristian Chipara

Sergio Garcia-Segura

Kuichang Zuo

Jeffrey G Jacot

Jun Kim

Amit Jain

Oluwatomiyin Adetiba

Rishabh Bansal

An electrode includes an electrically conductive substrate with a coating containing boron-doped diamond (BDD) nanoparticles. Fabricating the electrode can include dispersing BDD nanoparticles in a solvent to yield a suspension, coating a conductive substrate with the suspension, and drying the suspension to yield the electrode. In some cases, fabricating the electrode includes combining BDD nanoparticles with a polymeric resin precursor to yield a mixture including a metal oxide, coating a conductive substrate with the mixture to yield a coated substrate, and calcining the coated substrate to yield a metal oxide coating including BDD nanoparticles. In certain cases, fabricating the electrode includes combining powdered activated carbon with polymeric linkers to yield a polymeric precursor solution, combining BDD nanoparticles with the polymeric precursor solution to yield a mixture, coating a conductive substrate with the mixture to yield a coated substrate, and crosslinking the polymeric linkers to yield the electrode.

Nano-sized boron-doped diamond (BDD) enabled electrodes

A method of forming an electrode for capacitive deionization includes depositing an slurry onto a substrate, wherein the slurry comprises a porous material, a first crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer, and a crosslinker for the first crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer; annealing the slurry deposited on the substrate to create a crosslinked porous layer on the substrate; depositing an solution comprising an ion-exchange material, a second crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer, and a crosslinker for the second crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer onto the crosslinked porous layer; and optionally annealing and/or drying the solution on the crosslinked porous layer.

Electrodes for selective removal of multivalent ions through capacitive deionization

Responsive, biocompatible substrates are of interest for directing the maturation and function of cells in vitro during cell culture. This can potentially provide cells and tissues with desirable properties for regenerative therapies. The present disclosure provides a scalable approach to attach, align and dynamically load cells on responsive liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) substrates. Monodomain LCEs exhibit reversible shape changes in response to cyclic stimulus, and when immersed in an aqueous medium on top of, for example, resistive heaters, shape changes are fast, reversible and produce minimal temperature changes in the surroundings.

Responsive liquid crystal elastomers for enhanced cell sheet alignment

In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides methods of strengthening liquid crystal elastomers. In some embodiments, such methods include a step of placing the liquid crystal elastomer in an environment that applies dynamic stress to the liquid crystal elastomer. In further embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure also include a step of providing liquid crystal elastomers for placement in an environment that applies dynamic stress. In some embodiments, the liquid crystal elastomer is in a nematic phase before or during the application of dynamic stress. In some embodiments, the application of dynamic stress enhances the stiffness of the liquid crystal elastomer by more than about 10%. Further embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to liquid crystal elastomers that are made by the methods of the present disclosure.

Compression induced stiffening and alignment of liquid crystal elastomers

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Rafael Verduzco