Biochar made from and applied as a bifunctional electrocatalyst in Zn-air batteries.

Biochar has been prepared by pyrolysis of (the vegetable sponge produced by ) and activated by mixing the pyrolyzed powder with KOH and pyrolyzed again. Non-activated and activated biochar have both been structurally and then electrochemically characterized to record their differences and assess their suitability as bifunctional oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts in Zn-air batteries. Non activated biochar carries several functional groups; however, the activation procedure led to a material with mainly O and Mg groups.

Data-driven prediction of CO foam strength for enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration.

Carbon dioxide foam injection is a promising enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method, being at the same time an efficient carbon storage technology. The strength of CO foam under reservoir conditions plays a crucial role in predicting the EOR and sequestration performance, yet, controlling the strength of the foam is challenging due to the complex physics of foams and their sensitivity to operational conditions and reservoir parameters. Data-driven approaches for complex fluids such as foams can be an alternative method to the time-consuming experimental and conventional modeling techniques, which often fail to accurately describe the effect of all important related parameters.

Applications of biosensors for bacteria and virus detection in food and water-A systematic review.

Biosensors for sensitive and specific detection of foodborne and waterborne pathogens are particularly valued for their portability, usability, relatively low cost, and real-time or near real-time response. Their application is widespread in several domains, including environmental monitoring. The main limitation of currently developed biosensors is a lack of sensitivity and specificity in complex matrices.

The Oxygen Release Instrument: Space Mission Reactive Oxygen Species Measurements for Habitability Characterization, Biosignature Preservation Potential Assessment, and Evaluation of Human Health Hazards.

We describe the design of an instrument, the OxR (for Oxygen Release), for the enzymatically specific and non-enzymatic detection and quantification of the reactive oxidant species (ROS), superoxide radicals (O), and peroxides (O, e.g., HO) on the surface of Mars and Moon.

pH-responsive hydrogel/liposome soft nanocomposites for tuning drug release.

A novel liposome/hydrogel soft nanocomposite was explored as a controlled drug delivery system. A P2VP-PAA-PnBMA biocompatible, pH-responsive triblock terpolymer was used as an injectable gelator, entrapping PC/Chol liposomes loaded with calcein as hydrophilic model drug. The composite hydrogel was formed in vitro through a pH-induced sol-gel transition by dialysis against buffer under physiological conditions and at polymer concentration as low as 1 wt %.

Nanostructured heteroarm star block terpolymers via an extension of the "in-out" polymerization route.

In this communication an extended "in-out" polymerization method is presented, which leads to the synthesis of novel heteroarm star block terpolymers of the type A(n)(B-b-C)(n). A four step/one-pot synthetic procedure is pursued using anionic polymerization under an inert atmosphere. The resulted star-shaped terpolymer consists of a divinyl benzene nodule bearing pure polystyrene and poly(hexyl methacrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer arms.

pH-Tunable rheological properties of a telechelic cationic polyelectrolyte reversible hydrogel.

Steady shear properties and linear and nonlinear viscoelastic behaviors of a poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate)-poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer, (PMMA-PDMAEMA-PMMA), telechelic polymers in salt-free aqueous solution have been investigated as a function of concentration and pH. Above a critical concentration, a transient physical network is formed through an association mechanism between hydrophobic end groups, leading to a gel-like behavior. The gel-like polymer solutions were shown to exhibit a peculiar flow behavior, associated with time fluctuation of the transient first normal stress difference, attributed to orientation effects of the stiff charged polymer chains.