BCMaterials Fortnightly Seminar #78 Paula Sánchez Fontecoba - Clara García Astrain

PAULA SÁNCHEZ FONTECOBA

(BCMATERIALS)

Carbon-based anode materials for sodium ion batteries

Na-ion batteries are becoming a promising alternative to the well stablished Li-ion technology because of the abundance of Na compared to Li, resulting in lower price and wider distribution all over the world. Thus, in order to give a significant impulse to the development of commercial sodium ion batteries, more research efforts need to be devoted to electrode materials that fulfill the safety and environmentally friendliness requirements. In this regard, the development of two types of materials (hard carbon and polySchiff bases) as anodes for sodium ion batteries will be presented.

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CLARA GARCÍA ASTRAIN

(BCMATERIALS)

Innovative materials; from hydrogels to piezoresistive sensors and actuators

Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks which can absorb and retain huge amounts of water. Their high water content makes them suitable for a vast array of biomedical applications. Some of these applications require the use of permanent hydrogels, whose properties can be controlled during application. One of the most promising strategies for the preparation of chemically cross-linked, or permanent, hydrogels is the use of click chemistry. Click chemistry reactions enable the preparation of hydrogels under mild reaction conditions and with tailored properties. Among the different types of click chemistry reactions, the Diels-Alder reaction emerges as a particularly suitable candidate for hydrogel cross-linking as its reaction rate can be accelerated in the presence of water, it is highly selective and it doesn’t produce potentially toxic by-products. Herein the synthesis and characterization of hydrogels and nanocomposites hydrogels via the Diels-Alder reaction and using different biopolymers will be presented.