This paper presents the computational assessment of the electrochemical stability of a series of alkyl methylimidazolium-based ionic liquids for their use as lithium battery electrolytes. The oxidation and reduction potentials of the constituent cation and anion of each ionic liquid with respect to a Li(+)/Li reference electrode were calculated using density functional theory following the method of thermodynamic cycles, and the electrochemical stability windows (ESW)s of these ionic liquids were obtained. The effect of varying the length of alkyl side chains of the methylimidazolium-based cations on the redox potentials and ESWs was investigated. The results show that the limits of the ESWs of these methylimidazolium-based ionic liquids are defined by the oxidation potential of the anions and the reduction potential of alkyl-methylimidazolium cations. Moreover, ionic liquids with [PF6](-) anion have a wider ESW. In addition to characterizing structure-function relationships, the accuracy of the computational approach was assessed through comparisons of the data against experimental measurements of ESWs. The potentials calculated by the thermodynamic cycle method are in good agreement with the experimental data while the HOMO/LUMO method overestimates the redox potentials. This work demonstrates that these approaches can provide guidance in selecting ionic liquid electrolytes when designing high-voltage rechargeable batteries.
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is the most widely used polymer in delivering anticancer drugs clinically. PEGylation (i.e., the covalent attachment of PEG) of peptides proteins, drugs, and bioactives is known to enhance the aqueous solubility of hydrophobic drugs, prolong circulation time, minimize nonspecific uptake, and achieve specific tumor targetability through the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Numerous PEG-based therapeutics have been developed, and several have received market approval. A vast amount of clinical experience has been gained which has helped to design PEG prodrug conjugates with improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced systemic toxicity. However, more efforts in designing PEG-based prodrug conjugates are anticipated. In light of this, the current paper highlights the synthetic advances in PEG prodrug conjugation methodologies with varied bioactive components of clinical relevance. In addition, this paper discusses FDA-approved PEGylated delivery systems, their intended clinical applications, and formulations under clinical trials.
Recently, tantalum is gaining more attention as a new metallic biomaterial as it has been shown to be bioactive and biologically bond to the bone. However, relatively high cost of manufacture and inability to produce a modular all tantalum implant has limited'its widespread acceptance. In this study, we have successfully deposited Ta coating on Ti using Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS™) to enhance osseointegration properties. In vitro biocompatibility study, using human osteoblast cell line hFOB, showed excellent cellular adherence and growth with abundant extracellular matrix formation on Ta coating surface compare to Ti surface. Six times higher living cell density was observed on Ta coating than on Ti control surface during MMT assay. High surface energy and wettability of Ta surface were observed to contribute to its significantly better cellmaterials interactions. Also, these dense Ta coatings do not suffer from low fatigue resistance due to the absence of porosity and sharp interface between the coating and the substrate, which is a major concern for porous coatings used for enhanced/early biological fixation.
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