Iridium oxohydroxide thin coatings have been prepared by a dynamic oxidation electrodeposition method from complex oxalate solutions that induce template effects in the final coating at the nanoscale. The preparation method induces the formation of a oxohydroxide with reproducible stoichiometry and sponge-like quasiamorphous open structure, high ionic mobility, and significant behavior as compared with other reported iridium oxides as derived from X-ray diffraction, XPS, and TGA. Reproducible mixed valence states are also observed and a local rutile structure that allows ion exchange and facile redox changes. Rather significant is the large affinity for organic compounds observed and the behavior as substrate for cell culture, the best observed to date. Optimal cell response seems to be related to such open structure, which suggests this coating as ideal for devices implanted in the nervous system.

Innovative neurostimulation therapies require improved electrode materials, such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polymers or IrO mixed ionic-electronic conductors and better understanding of how their electrochemistry influences nerve growth. Amphibian neurons growing on transparent films of electronic (metal) conductors and electronic-ionic conductors (polymers and semiconducting oxides) are monitored. Materials are not connected directly to the power supply, but a dipole is created wirelessly within them by electrodes connected to the culture medium in which they are immersed. Without electrical stimulation neurons grow on gold, platinum, PEDOT-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS), IrO , and mixed oxide (Ir-Ti)O , but growth is not related to surface texture or hydrophilicity. Stimulation induces a dipole in all conductive materials, but neurons grow differently on electronic conductors and mixed-valence mixed-ionic conductors. Stimulation slows, but steers neurite extension on gold but not on platinum. The rate and direction of neurite growth on PEDOT-PSS resemble that on glass, but on IrO and (Ir-Ti)O neurites grow faster and in random directions. This suggests electrochemical changes induced in these materials control growth speed and direction selectively. Evidence that the electric dipole induced in conductive material controls nerve growth will impact electrotherapies exploiting wireless stimulation of implanted material arrays, even where transparency is required.

Innovative gas capture technologies with the objective to mitigate CO and CH emissions are discussed in this review. Emphasis is given on the use of nanoparticles (NP) as sorbents of CO and CH, which are the two most important global warming gases. The existing NP sorption processes must overcome certain challenges before their implementation to the industrial scale. These are: i) the utilization of the concentrated gas stream generated by the capture and gas purification technologies, ii) the reduction of the effects of impurities on the operating system, iii) the scale up of the relevant materials, and iv) the retrofitting of technologies in existing facilities. Thus, an innovative design of adsorbents could possibly address those issues. Biogas purification and CH storage would become a new motivation for the development of new sorbent materials, such as nanomaterials. This review discusses the current state of the art on the use of novel nanomaterials as adsorbents for CO and CH. The review shows that materials based on porous supports that are modified with amine or metals are currently providing the most promising results. The FeO-graphene and the MOF-117 based NPs show the greatest CO sorption capacities, due to their high thermal stability and high porosity. Conclusively, one of the main challenges would be to decrease the cost of capture and to scale-up the technologies to minimize large-scale power plant CO emissions.