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The evolution of lithium-ion battery recycling

Demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is increasing owing to the expanding use of electrical vehicles and stationary energy storage. Efficient and closed-loop battery recycling strategies are therefore needed, which will require recovering materials from spent LIBs and reintegrating them into new batteries. In this Review, we outline the current state of LIB recycling, evaluating industrial and developing technologies. Among industrial technologies, pyrometallurgy can be broadly applied to diverse electrode materials but requires operating temperatures of over 1,000 °C and therefore has high energy consumption. Hydrometallurgy can be performed at temperatures below 200 °C and has material recovery rates of up to 93% for lithium, nickel and cobalt, but it produces large amounts of wastewater. Developing technologies such as direct recycling and upcycling aim to increase the efficiency of LIB recycling and rely on improved pretreatment processes with automated disassembly and cleaner mechanical separation. Additionally, the range of materials recovered from spent LIBs is expanding from the cathode materials recycled with established methods to include anode materials, electrolytes, binders, separators and current collectors. Achieving an efficient recycling ecosystem will require collaboration between recyclers, battery manufacturers and electric vehicle manufacturers to aid the design and automation of battery disassembly lines.

Personalized bioceramic grafts for craniomaxillofacial bone regeneration

The reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects remains clinically challenging. To date, autogenous grafts are considered the gold standard but present critical drawbacks. These shortcomings have driven recent research on craniomaxillofacial bone reconstruction to focus on synthetic grafts with distinct materials and fabrication techniques. Among the various fabrication methods, additive manufacturing (AM) has shown significant clinical potential. AM technologies build three-dimensional (3D) objects with personalized geometry customizable from a computer-aided design. These layer-by-layer 3D biomaterial structures can support bone formation by guiding cell migration/proliferation, osteogenesis, and angiogenesis. Additionally, these structures can be engineered to degrade concomitantly with the new bone tissue formation, making them ideal as synthetic grafts. This review delves into the key advances of bioceramic grafts/scaffolds obtained by 3D printing for personalized craniomaxillofacial bone reconstruction. In this regard, clinically relevant topics such as ceramic-based biomaterials, graft/scaffold characteristics (macro/micro-features), material extrusion-based 3D printing, and the step-by-step workflow to engineer personalized bioceramic grafts are discussed. Importantly, in vitro models are highlighted in conjunction with a thorough examination of the signaling pathways reported when investigating these bioceramics and their effect on cellular response/behavior. Lastly, we summarize the clinical potential and translation opportunities of personalized bioceramics for craniomaxillofacial bone regeneration.

Advancements in 2D layered material memristors: unleashing their potential beyond memory

The scalability of two-dimensional (2D) materials down to a single monolayer offers exciting prospects for high-speed, energy-efficient, scalable memristors. This review highlights the development of 2D material-based memristors and potential applications beyond memory, including neuromorphic, in-memory, in-sensor, and complex computing. This review also encompasses potential challenges and future opportunities for advancing these materials and technologies, underscoring the transformative impact of 2D memristors on versatile and sustainable electronic devices and systems.

Metabolic control analysis of biogeochemical systems

Many reactive systems involve processes operating at different scales, such as hydrodynamic transport and diffusion, abiotic chemical reactions, microbial metabolism, and population dynamics. Determining the influence of these processes on system dynamics is critical for model design and for prioritizing parameter estimation efforts. Metabolic control analysis is a framework for quantifying the role of enzymes in cellular biochemical networks, but its applicability to biogeochemical and other reactive systems remains unexplored. Here I show how the core concepts of metabolic control analysis can be generalized to much more complex reactive systems, enabling insight into the roles of physical transport, population dynamics, and chemical kinetics at organismal to planetary scales. I demonstrate the power of this framework for two systems of importance to ocean biogeochemistry: A simplified (mostly didactic) model for the sulfate methane transition zone in Black Sea sediments, and a more comprehensive model for the oxygen minimum zone in Saanich Inlet near steady state. I find that physical transport is by far the greatest rate-limiting factor for sulfate-driven methane oxidation in the first system and for fixed nitrogen loss in the second system.

First-principles and machine-learning approaches for interpreting and predicting the properties of MXenes

MXenes are a versatile family of 2D inorganic materials with applications in energy storage, shielding, sensing, and catalysis. This review highlights computational studies using density functional theory and machine-learning approaches to explore their structure (stacking, functionalization, doping), properties (electronic, mechanical, magnetic), and application potential. Key advances and challenges are critically examined, offering insights into applying computational research to transition these materials from the lab to practical use.

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