Proving the suitability of magnetoelectric stimuli for tissue engineering applications

A novel approach for tissue engineering applications based on the use of magnetoelectric materials is presented. This work proves that magnetoelectric Terfenol-D/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) composites are able to provide mechanical and electrical stimuli to MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells and that those stimuli can be remotely triggered by an applied magnetic field. Cell proliferation is enhanced up to 25% when cells are cultured under mechanical (up to 110 ppm) and electrical stimulation (up to 0.115 mV), showing that magnetoelectric cell stimulation is a novel and suitable approach for tissue engineering allowing magnetic, mechanical and electrical stimuli.

High performance screen printable lithium-ion battery cathode ink based on C-LiFePO4

Lithium-ion battery cathodes have been fabricated by screen-printing through the development of CLiFePO4 inks. It is shown that shear thinning polymer solutions in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) with Newtonian viscosity above 0.4 Pa s are the best binders for formulating a cathode paste with satisfactory film forming properties. The paste shows an elasticity of the order of 500 Pa and, after shear yielding, shows an apparent viscosity of the order of 3 Pa s for shear rates corresponding to those used during screen-printing. The screen-printed cathode produced with a thickness of 26 mm shows a homogeneous distribution of the active material, conductive additive and polymer binder. The total resistance and diffusion coefficient of the cathode are 450 V and 2.5 10 16cm2 s 1, respectively. The developed cathodes show an initial discharge capacity of 48.2 mAh g 1 at 5C and a discharge value of 39.8 mAh g 1 after 50 cycles. The capacity retention of 83% represents 23% of the theoretical value (charge and/or discharge process in twenty minutes), demonstrating the good performance of the battery. Thus, the developed C-LiFePO4 based inks allow to fabricate screen-printed cathodes suitable for printed lithium-ion batteries