3D multicomponent metal oxides with complex architectures can enable previously impossible energy storage devices, particularly lithium‐ion battery (LIB) electrodes with fully controllable form factors. Existing additive manufacturing approaches for fabricating 3D multicomponent metal oxides rely on particle‐based or organic–inorganic binders, which are limited in their resolution and chemical composition, respectively. In this work, aqueous metal salt solutions are used as metal precursors to circumvent these limitations, and provide a platform for 3D printing multicomponent metal oxides. As a proof‐of‐concept, architected lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) structures are fabricated by first synthesizing a homogenous lithium and cobalt nitrate aqueous photoresin, and then using it with digital light processing printing to obtain lithium and cobalt ion containing hydrogels. The 3D hydrogels are calcined to obtain micro‐porous self‐similar LCO architectures with a resolution of ≈100 µm. These free‐standing, binder‐ and conductive additive‐free LCO structures are integrated as cathodes into LIBs, and exhibit electrochemical capacity retention of 76% over 100 cycles at C/10. This facile approach to fabricating 3D LCO structures can be extended to other materials by tailoring the identity and stoichiometry of the metal salt solutions used, providing a versatile method for the fabrication of multicomponent metal oxides with complex 3D architectures.
Optimal procedures for reliable anti-cancer treatments involve the systematic delivery of zinc oxide nanoparticles, which spread through the circulatory system. The success of these procedures may largely depend on the NPs’ ability of self-adapting their physicochemical properties to overcome the different challenges facing at each stage on its way to the interior of a cancerous cell. In this article, we combine a multiscale approach, a unique nanoparticle model, and available experimental data to characterize the behavior of zinc oxide nanoparticles under different vessels rheology, pH levels, and biological environments. We investigate their ability to prevent aggregation, allow prolonged circulation time in the bloodstream, avoid clearance, conduct themselves through the capillarity system to reach damaged tissues, and selectively approach to target cancerous cells. Our results show that non-functionalized spherical zinc oxide nanoparticles with surface density N = 5.89 × 10−6 mol/m2, protonation and deprotonation rates pKa = 10.9 and pKb = −5.5, and NP size in the range of 20–50 nm are the most effective, smart anti-cancer agents for biomedical treatments.
The influence of both sulphate ions and aspartic acid on directing the growth of baryte has been explored using computer simulation. Both species are found to significantly reduce the activation free-energy to growth under appropriate conditions, with the influence of sulphate being surface specific. This offers the potential for a new approach to morphology control without inhibition that may have implications for biomineralization.
In article number 2000791, Daryl W. Yee and co‐workers report a facile approach for the additive manufacturing of architected multicomponent metal oxides via calcination of metal‐ion containing 3D printed hydrogels. Architected lithium cobalt oxide lattices were fabricated with this technique and used as 3D lithium‐ion battery cathodes. As highlighted in this joint cover with Advanced Energy Materials 2002637, these 3D cathode materials can potentially be combined with 3D carbon anodes, paving the way towards fully 3D lithium‐ion batteries.
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