Explanipedia

In Situ 4D‐STEM Imaging of the Orientation of Lamellar Clusters in Polymer Crystallization Open

Min Chen, Karen C. Bustillo, Yen Jea Lee, Brooks A. Abel, Nitash P. Balsara , et al. · 2025

Cooperative Role of Mixed Solvent in the Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly of Polypeptoid Nanocrystals Open

Xubo Luo, Fabrice Roncoroni, Tianyi Yu, Nan K. Li, Ronald N. Zuckermann , et al. · 2025

Peptoids, or polypeptoids, are biomimetic polymers that can self-assemble into nanocrystals for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Polypeptoid nanocrystals can be prepared by evaporation-induced self-assembly, but the roles of s…

Understanding the Conductivity and Transference Trade-Off in Polymer Electrolytes Using a Robeson-Inspired Upper Bound Open

Zirong He, Nitash P. Balsara · 2025

The development of high-performance electrolytes is crucial for advancing next-generation lithium and sodium battery technologies. Since the cation is the working ion in both technologies, electrolytes exhibiting the rapid cation transport…

Toward Establishing Uniqueness of Experimentally Determined Transference Numbers Open

Darby T. Hickson, Nitash P. Balsara · 2025

The passage of current through a battery results in the development of concentration gradients in the electrolytic phase. For a fully characterized binary electrolyte, where the conductivity, salt diffusion coefficient, cation transference…

Designing a Block Copolymer Membrane for Selective Transport of Lactic Acid from Aqueous Mixtures Open

Rounak Jana, Lily A. Gido, David M. Halat, Carol Sempira, Jeffrey R. Fedenko , et al. · 2025

We report the design and synthesis of a triblock copolymer-based membrane for enabling selective transport of lactic acid from aqueous solutions. This is relevant to the production of polylactic acid, one of the few biodegradable and bioba…

Multiple <i>Operando</i> Fields Can Identify a Predictive Mass Transport Theory in Electrolytes Open

Aashutosh Mistry, Hans‐Georg Steinrück, Michael F. Toney, Nitash P. Balsara, Venkat Srinivasan · 2025

An electrolyte transport theory connects its transport properties, evolution of spatiotemporal fields (e.g., concentration), and corresponding macroscopic current and voltage responses. Given this interconnection, the transport properties …

Mapping Spatiotemporal Solvent Velocity from Measured Concentration Gradients in a Polarized Electrolyte Open

Emily E. Abdo, Vivaan Patel, Aashutosh Mistry, Christopher J. Takacs, Nitash P. Balsara · 2025

The electric-field induced motion of neutral species impedes the efficacy of electrochemical devices. By combining operando X-ray transmission measurements with continuum mechanics, we have developed a methodology for determining the veloc…

Toward Optimization of Polymer Electrolytes by Electrochemical Characterization: Poly(pentyl malonate) versus Poly(ethylene oxide) Open

Jaeyong Lee, Zach J. Hoffman, Saheli Chakraborty, Vivaan Patel, Nitash P. Balsara · 2025

Ion transport in two polymer electrolytes, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(pentyl malonate) (PPM), mixed with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) is studied in the vicinity of the limiting current. The experimental meas…

Random Copolymerization of Substituted Dioxolanes: Rational Design of High-Performance Polymer Electrolytes Open

Haley J. Rugh, Emily E. Abdo, Jaeyong Lee, Cheol Kang, Nkamuo Chinwe Juliana , et al. · 2024

Polymer electrolytes enhance the safety of lithium-ion battery systems, but current state-of-the-art poly(ethylene oxide)-based polymer electrolytes fail to achieve the electrochemical properties necessary for practical applications. We pr…

Atomic-Scale Imaging of Condensed Counterions Open

M. Seidler, Tianyi Yu, Xubo Luo, David Prendergast, Ronald N. Zuckermann , et al. · 2024

The functioning of a wide variety of charged macromolecules, from DNA to fuel cell membranes, is dependent on how the counterions surrounding them are arranged. In order to decrease Coulombic repulsion, some of the fixed charges on these m…

Polysilaketals: High‐Performance Polyether‐Based Electrolytes with Tunable Disubstituted Silane Linkers Open

Haley J. Rugh, Jaeyong Lee, Chenyue Sun, Emily E. Abdo, Nkamuo Chinwe Juliana , et al. · 2024

Polymer electrolytes exhibit higher energy density and improved safety in lithium‐ion batteries relative to traditionally used liquid electrolytes but are currently limited by their lower electrochemical performance. Aiming to access polym…

Polysilaketals: High‐Performance Polyether‐Based Electrolytes with Tunable Disubstituted Silane Linkers Open

Haley J. Rugh, Jaeyong Lee, Chenyue Sun, Emily E. Abdo, Nkamuo Chinwe Juliana , et al. · 2024

Polymer electrolytes exhibit higher energy density and improved safety in lithium‐ion batteries relative to traditionally used liquid electrolytes but are currently limited by their lower electrochemical performance. Aiming to access polym…

Evaluating Cryo‐TEM Reconstruction Accuracy of Self‐Assembled Polymer Nanostructures Open

Xubo Luo, M. Seidler, Yen Jea Lee, Tianyi Yu, Ronald N. Zuckermann , et al. · 2024

Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo‐TEM) combined with single particle analysis (SPA) is an emerging imaging approach for soft materials. However, the accuracy of SPA‐reconstructed nanostructures, particularly those formed by …

A Primitive Model for Predicting Membrane Currents in Excitable Cells Based Only on Ion Diffusion Coefficients Open

Vivaan Patel, Joshua D. Priosoetanto, Aashutosh Mistry, John Newman, Nitash P. Balsara · 2024

Classical models for predicting current flow in excitable cells such as axons, originally proposed by Hodgkin and Huxley, rely on empirical voltage-gating parameters that quantify ion transport across sodium and potassium ion channels. We …

Thermodynamic Driving Forces for the Self-Assembly of Diblock Polypeptoids Open

Xubo Luo, Tianyi Yu, Nan K. Li, Ronald N. Zuckermann, Xi Jiang , et al. · 2024

Peptoid polymers with sequence-defined side chains are observed to self-assemble into a variety of structures spanning nanometer and micron scales. We explored a diblock copolypeptoid, poly(N-decylglycine)₁₀-block-…

Direct Imaging of the Crystalline Domains and Their Orientation in the PS-<i>b</i>-PEO Block Copolymer with 4D-STEM Open

Min Chen, Karen C. Bustillo, Vivaan Patel, Benjamin H. Savitzky, Hadas Sternlicht , et al. · 2024

The arrangement of crystalline domains in semicrystalline polymers is key to understanding how to optimize the nanostructured morphology for enabling better properties. For example, in polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b…

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Ester Tetraazaadamantane, Hammett, Joseph Krumpfer, Andrew Dove, Craig J. Hawker , et al. · 2024

The cover image by Simon van Hurne depicts the formation of a dynamic covalent boronate-TetraAzaADamantane bond, which could be integrated in a covalent adaptable network.As a result of the on-going dynamic bond exchange reactions within t…

Low-Temperature Characterization of a Nonaqueous Liquid Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries Open

Darby T. Hickson, Julia Im, David M. Halat, Aakash Karvat, Jeffrey A. Reimer , et al. · 2024

Rechargeable batteries exhibit poor performance at low temperatures due to sluggish ion transport through the electrolytic phase. Ion transport is governed by three transport parameters—conductivity, diffusion coefficient, and the cation t…

Nanosecond solvation dynamics in a polymer electrolyte for lithium batteries Open

Neel J. Shah, Chao Fang, Naresh C. Osti, Eugene Mamontov, Xiaopeng Yu , et al. · 2024

Relationship between molecular structure and corrugations in self-assembled polypeptoid nanosheets revealed by cryogenic electron microscopy Open

Xi Jiang, Ronald N. Zuckermann, Nitash P. Balsara · 2024

Designing conformationally dynamic molecules that self-assemble into predictable nanostructures remains an important unmet challenge. This paper describes how atomic-scale cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) can be used t…

Probing transference and field-induced polymer velocity in block copolymer electrolytes Open

Michael D. Galluzzo, Hans‐Georg Steinrück, Christopher J. Takacs, Aashutosh Mistry, Lorena S. Grundy , et al. · 2024

Exponential vs Gaussian Correlation Functions in the Characterization of Block Copolymer Grain Structure by Depolarized Light Scattering Open

Xin Wang, Jacob L. Thelen, Xiuhong Li, Nitash P. Balsara, Bruce A. Garetz · 2023

Block copolymer (BCP) grain structure affects the mechanical, optical, and electrical properties of BCP materials, making the accurate characterization of this grain structure an important goal. In this study, improved BCP grain parameters…

Phase transitions in block copolymer electrolytes induced by ionic current Open

Emily E. Abdo, Nitash P. Balsara · 2023

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Gregory B. McKenna, Cevin Braksch, Anne‐Catherine Lehnen, Alain M. Bapolisi, Johannes Gurke , et al. · 2023

POLYMERIC MICELLES; POLYMERSOMESThe cover by Eleonora G. Hochreiner represents the process of polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) toward pharmaceutical application.Starting from the bottom right with the initial building blocks (hy…

Comparing Experimentally-Measured Sand’s Times with Concentrated Solution Theory Predictions in a Polymer Electrolyte Open

Zach J. Hoffman, Aashutosh Mistry, Venkat Srinivasan, Nitash P. Balsara · 2023

We compare the electrochemically measured Sand’s time, the time required for the cell potential to diverge when the applied current density exceeds the limiting current, with theoretical predictions for a 0.47 M poly(ethylene oxide) (5 kg …

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Katelyn Derr, Claudia López, Charini Maladeniya, Andrew G. Tennyson, R. Marshall Smith , et al. · 2023

Polyisobutylene-graft-polystyrene copolymers containing mechanophores at the backbone-arm junction were synthesized via controlled radical polymerization.Graft copolymers with varying grafting density and arm length were prepared at a cons…

Atomic-scale cryogenic electron microscopy imaging of self-assembled peptoid nanostructures Open

Xi Jiang, Ronald N. Zuckermann, Nitash P. Balsara · 2023

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Jude N. Ike, Ncedo Jili, Amit Kumar, Gaurav Sharma, Tessema Mola , et al. · 2023

Pushing the limits of synthetic polymers in terms of stiffness and strength, aromatic polyamide fibers -like Kevlar ® -are used for demanding applications.Damage mechanisms and crack propagation are observed in situ and unveil a widespread…

Large Local Currents in a Lithium-Ion Battery during Rest after Fast Charging Open

Alec S. Ho, Dilworth Y. Parkinson, Stephen E. Trask, Andrew N. Jansen, Nitash P. Balsara · 2023

Increasing electric vehicle (EV) adoption requires lithium-ion batteries that can be charged quickly and safely. Some EV batteries have caught on fire despite being neither charged nor discharged. While the lithium that plates on graphite …

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Stefan Spiegel, Andrew Dove, Craig J. Hawker, Matteo Cavalleri, Conor Doss , et al. · 2023

The cover by Johannes Berg shows the schematic representation of calcium alginate consisting of mannuronic acid (green) and guluronic acid (red), cross-linked by calcium cations (yellow).An interpenetrating additional polymer is polyethyle…

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