Refractive index matched polymeric and preceramic resins for height-scalable two-photon lithography.

Nanofabrication techniques that can generate large and complex 3D structures with nanoscale features are becoming increasingly important in the fields of biomedicine, micro-optics, and microfluidics. Direct laser writing two-photon polymerization (DLW-TPP) is one such technique that relies on nonlinear absorption of light to form nanoscale 3D features. Although DLW-TPP provides the required nanoscale resolution, its built height is often limited to less than a millimetre.

Calcium vapor synthesis of extremely coercive SmCo.

Exceptionally coercive SmCo particles are produced through calcium vapor reduction of SmCoO powders synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis. The resulting powders are composed of oblate hexagonal particles approximately 2 microns across with smooth surfaces. This microstructure yields record-breaking room temperature coercivity >80 kOe, or >60 kOe when combined with advanced manufacturing approaches such as electrophoretic deposition or molding with tetraglyme inks.

Enhancing iCVD Modification of Electrospun Membranes for Membrane Distillation Using a 3D Printed Scaffold.

Electrospun membranes have shown promise for use in membrane distillation (MD) as they exhibit exceptionally low vapor transport. Their high porosity coupled with the occasional large pore can make them prone to wetting. In this work, initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) is used to modify for electrospun membranes with increased hydrophobicity of the fiber network.

Three-Dimensional Printable Sodium Carbonate Composite Sorbents for Efficient Biogas Upgrading.

We have developed a new class of sodium carbonate/silicone composite sorbents that selectively capture carbon dioxide (CO) and can purify biogas to natural gas pipeline-quality biomethane. These nontoxic composites can be three-dimensionally printed or extruded at low costs, can have high specific CO sorption rates (in excess of 5 μmol s g bar) and high selectivity due to their chemical mechanism, and can be regenerated with low-energy air stripping. Therefore, these composite sorbents combine the high selectivity of liquid sorbents with the high specific sorption rates and low regeneration energies found in many solid sorbents.

Evaluating the Performance of Micro-Encapsulated CO Sorbents during CO Absorption and Regeneration Cycling.

We encapsulated six solvents with novel physical and chemical properties for CO sorption within gas-permeable polymer shells, creating Micro-Encapsulated CO Sorbents (MECS), to improve the CO absorption kinetics and handling of the solvents for postcombustion CO capture from flue gas. The solvents were sodium carbonate (NaCO) solution, uncatalyzed and with two different promoters, two ionic liquid (IL) solvents, and one CO-binding organic liquid (COBOL). We subjected each of the six MECS to multiple CO absorption and regeneration cycles and measured the working CO absorption capacity as a function of time to identify promising candidate MECS for large-scale carbon capture.

Modeling the effect of selected cyclodextrins on nifedipine solubility.

Nifedipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist effective in the clinical management of cardiovascular disease. Due to nifedipine's poor water solubility and erratic bioavailability, complexation with selected cyclodextrins was studied in order to overcome these limitations. The aim was to develop a quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) to identify cyclodextrin molecular properties important in complex formation and provide a predictive tool which would be valuable during preformulation studies.

Formulation development and stability studies of aqueous metronidazole benzoate suspensions containing various suspending agents.

Metronidazole is a synthetic antibacterial and antiprotozoan agent. Crystallization occurs in aqueous metronidazole benzoate suspensions caused by an anhydrate to monohydrate conversion. This study aimed to develop an aqueous metronidazole benzoate suspension that does not exhibit this hydration and the accompanying crystal growth.