@article {44042, title = {Nutty carbon: morphology replicating hard carbon from walnut shell for na ion battery anode}, journal = {ACS Omega}, volume = {2}, year = {2017}, month = {JUL}, chapter = {3601{\textendash}3609}, abstract = {
Abstract Image

Efficient Na ion intercalation/deintercalation in the semigraphitic lattice of a hard carbon derived from the walnut shell is demonstrated. High-temperature (1000 {\textdegree}C) pyrolysis of walnut shells under an inert atmosphere yields a hard carbon with a low surface area (59 m2\ g{\textendash}1) and a large interplanar\ c\ axis separation of 0.39{\textendash}0.36 nm as compared to 0.32 nm for graphite, suitable for Na ion intercalation/deintercalation. A stable reversible capacity of 257 mAh g{\textendash}1\ is observed at a current density of 50 mA g{\textendash}1\ for such nutshell-derived carbon (NDC) with an impressive rate performance. No loss of electrochemical performance is observed for high current cycling (100 mA g{\textendash}1\ {\textrightarrow} 2 A g{\textendash}1\ {\textrightarrow} 100 mA g{\textendash}1). Additionally, the NDC shows remarkably stable electrochemical performance up to 300 charge{\textendash}discharge cycles at 100 mA g{\textendash}1\ with a minimal drop in capacity.

}, keywords = {Batteries, Biological and Medicinal chemistry, Biological materials, diffraction, Electric Properties, Electrode-electrolyte interface, spectra, Surface structure, Thermal properties}, doi = {10.1021/acsomega.7b00633}, author = {Wahid, M. and Gawli, Y. and Puthusseri, D. and Kumar, A. and Shelke, M. V. and Ogale, S.} } @article {44519, title = {Surface modification of polymers for tissue engineering applications: arginine acts as a sticky protein equivalent for viable cell accommodation}, journal = {ACS Omega}, volume = {3}, year = {2018}, month = {APR }, pages = {4242{\textendash}4251}, type = {Journal Article}, abstract = {

Hydrophobic polymers, for their favorable mechanical properties, are a popular choice as permanent bioimplants. These materials remain absolutely bioinert for years, but throw up challenges when it comes to fast integration with healthy tissue. Addressing this, herein, we present a surface-modification technique of converting the hydrophobic surface of a polymeric film into a hydrophilic one using a layer-by-layer assembly process involving gold nanoparticles and small molecules like amino acids. These films showed much improved animal cell (murine fibroblast) adherence properties compared to commercially available tissue culture plates. Moreover, arginine-modified films exhibited a nearly equivalent cell viability compared to the films modified with the natural extracellular matrix component fibronectin. The surface hydrophilicity and roughness of our novel film were characterized by contact angle measurement and atomic force microscopy. Cell counting, fluorescence microscopy, cell viability, and collagen estimation assay were employed to demonstrate that our film favored a much improved cell adherence, and accommodation in comparison to the commercially available tissue culture plates.

}, keywords = {Cell and Molecular biology, Extracellular matrix proteins, Nanoparticles, Physical and chemical properties, Polymers, Proteins, Surface structure, Surface treatment, Thin films, tissue engineering}, issn = {24701343}, doi = { 10.1021/acsomega.8b00215}, author = {Sengupta, Poulomi}, editor = {Prasad, Bhagavatula L. V.} }