The electrochemical performance of LiFePO 4 in lithium cells is strongly dependent on the structure (disordered/graphene or D/G ratio) of the in situ carbon produced during synthesis from carbon-containing precursors. Addition of pyromellitic acid (PA) prior to final calcination results in lower D/G ratios, yielding a higher-rate material. Further improvements in electrochemical performance are realized when graphitization catalysts such as ferrocene are also added during LiFePO 4 preparation, although overall carbon content is still less than 2 wt. %.

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High power density is required to commercialize solid oxide fuel cells for vehicular applications. In this work, high performance of metal supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) is achieved via catalyst composition, electrode structure, and processing optimization. The full cell configuration consists of a dense ceramic electrolyte and porous ceramic backbones (electrodes) sandwiched between porous stainless steel metal supports. The conventional YSZ electrolyte and backbones are replaced with more conductive and thinner 10Sc1CeSZ ceramics. MS-SOFCs are co-sintered in a single step and subsequently infiltrated with nanocatalysts. Five categories of cathode catalysts are screened in full cells, including: perovskites, nickelates, praseodymium oxide, binary layered composites, and ternary layered composites. Various anode compositions are also tested. The conventional LSM cathode catalyst is replaced with more active Pr6O11 and the Ni content of the SDC-Ni anode is increased. The resulting cells achieve a peak power of 1.56, 2.0, and 2.85 W cm-2 at 700, 750, and 800 °C, respectively, with 3%H2O/H2 as fuel and 2 cathode exposed to air. Multiple cells show reproducible performance (Pmax=1.50 ± 0.06 W cm-2) and OCV (1.10 ± 0.02 V). The performance is further increased with cathode exposed to pure oxygen (2.0 W cm-2 at 700 °C).

There has been an ongoing quest for new biomedical materials for the repair and regeneration of large segmental bone defects caused by disease or trauma. Autologous bone graft (ABG) remains the gold standard for bone repair despite their limited supply and donor-site morbidity. The current tissue engineering approach with synthetically derived bone grafts requires a bioactive ceramic or polymeric scaffold loaded with growth factors for osteoinduction and angiogenesis, and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) for osteogenic properties. Unfortunately, this approach has serious drawbacks: the low mechanical strength of scaffolds, the high cost of growth factors, and a lack of optimal strategies for growth-factor delivery. Here, it is shown that, for the first time, a synthetic material alone can repair large bone defects as efficiently as the gold standard ABG. Through the use of strong and resorbable bioactive glass scaffolds, complete bone healing, and defect bridging can be achieved in a rabbit femur segmental defect model without growth factors or BMSCs. New bone and blood vessel formation, in both inner and peripheral scaffolds, demonstrates the excellent osteoinductive and osteogenic properties of these scaffolds similar as ABG.

Natural and synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds for potential load-bearing bone implants were fabricated by two methods. The natural scaffolds were formed by heating bovine cancellous bone at 1325°C, which removed the organic and sintered the HA. The synthetic scaffolds were prepared by freeze-casting HA powders, using different solid loadings (20-35 vol.%) and cooling rates (1-10°C/min). Both types of scaffolds were infiltrated with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The porosity, pore size, and compressive mechanical properties of the natural and synthetic scaffolds were investigated and compared to that of natural cortical and cancellous bone. Prior to infiltration, the sintered cancellous scaffolds exhibited pore sizes of 100 -300 µm, a strength of 0.4 -9.7 MPa, and a Young's modulus of 0.1 -1.2 GPa. The freeze-casted scaffolds had pore sizes of 10 -50 µm, strengths of 0.7 -95

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While many tissue-engineered constructs aim to treat cartilage defects, most involve chondrocyte or stem cell seeding on scaffolds. The clinical application of cell-based techniques is limited due to the cost of maintaining cellular constructs on the shelf, potential immune response to allogeneic cell lines, and autologous chondrocyte sources requiring biopsy from already diseased or injured, scarce tissue. An acellular scaffold that can induce endogenous influx and homogeneous distribution of native stem cells from bone marrow holds great promise for cartilage regeneration. This study aims to develop such an acellular scaffold using designed, channeled architecture that simultaneously models the native zones of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Highly porous, hydrophilic chitosan-alginate (Ch-Al) scaffolds were fabricated in three-dimensionally printed (3DP) molds designed to create millimeter scale macro-channels. Different polymer preform casting techniques were employed to produce scaffolds from both negative and positive 3DP molds. Macro-channeled scaffolds improved cell suspension distribution and uptake overly randomly porous scaffolds, with a wicking volumetric flow rate of 445.6 ± 30.3 mm(3) s(-1) for aqueous solutions and 177 ± 16 mm(3) s(-1) for blood. Additionally, directional freezing was applied to Ch-Al scaffolds, resulting in lamellar pores measuring 300 μm and 50 μm on the long and short axes, thus creating micrometer scale micro-channels. After directionally freezing Ch-Al solution cast in 3DP molds, the combined macro- and micro-channeled scaffold architecture enhanced cell suspension uptake beyond either macro- or micro-channels alone, reaching a volumetric flow rate of 1782.1 ± 48 mm(3) s(-1) for aqueous solutions and 440.9 ± 0.5 mm(3) s(-1) for blood. By combining 3DP and directional freezing, we can control the micro- and macro-architecture of Ch-Al to drastically improve cell influx into and distribution within the scaffold, while achieving porous zones that mimic articular cartilage zonal architecture. In future applications, precisely controlled micro- and macro-channels have the potential to assist immediate endogenous bone marrow uptake, stimulate chondrogenesis, and encourage vascularization of bone in an osteochondral scaffold.