Felita W Zhang, Paul D Trackey, Vani Verma, Galen T Mandes, Rosemary L Calabro, Anthony W Presot, Claire K Tsay, Timothy J Lawton, Alexa S Zammit, Edward M Tang, Andrew Q Nguyen, Kennedy V Munz, Enoch A Nagelli, Stephen F Bartolucci, Joshua A Maurer, F John Burpo
Tunable porous composite materials to control metal and metal oxide functionalization, conductivity, pore structure, electrolyte mass transport, mechanical strength, specific surface area, and magneto-responsiveness are critical for a broad range of energy storage, catalysis, and sensing applications. Biotemplated transition metal composite aerogels present a materials approach to address this need. To demonstrate a solution-based synthesis method to develop cobalt and cobalt oxide aerogels for high surface area multifunctional energy storage electrodes, carboxymethyl cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and alginate biopolymers were mixed to form hydrogels to serve as biotemplates for cobalt nanoparticle formation via the chemical reduction of cobalt salt solutions...
November 11, 2023: Gels