Hemorrhage is one of the greatest threats to life on the battlefield, accounting for 50% of total deaths. Nearly 86% of combat deaths occur within the first 30 min after wounding. While external wound injuries can be treated mostly using visual inspection, abdominal or internal hemorrhages are more challenging to treat with regular hemostatic dressings because of deep wounds and points of injury that cannot be located properly. The need to treat trauma wounds from limbs, abdomen, liver, stomach, colon, spleen, arterial, venous, and/or parenchymal hemorrhage accompanied by severe bleeding requires an immediate solution that the first responders can apply to reduce rapid exsanguinations from external wounds, including in military operations. This necessitates the development of a unique, easy-to-use, FDA-approved hemostatic treatment that can deliver the agent in less than 30 s and stop bleeding within the first 1 to 2 min at the point of injury without application of manual pressure on the wounded area.

Contiguous metal foams offer a multitude of advantages over conventional powders as supports for nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts; most critically a preformed 3-D porous framework ensuring full directional coverage of supported...

Synthesis of ammonia via electrochemical reduction of nitrate is one of the most sustainable routes both for environmental protection as well as energy saving initiatives. However, this process is limited to the development of high-performance free-standing catalytic electrodes with improved selectivity and Faradaic efficiency. Herein, we report theory-guided designing and fabrication of free-standing non-noble metal (Mn, Fe, and Co)-doped copper oxide (CuO) electrodes by using a simple and scalable electrode preparation method. The density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations show that the doped-Co sites in the Cu surface facilitate the generation and supply of H+ to the adsorbed NO3 – during the reduction process; as a result, the Co–CuO catalyst displays higher selectivity toward nitrate reduction. The Co-doped Cu electrode (Co–CuO) delivers a higher NH3 yield (5492 μg cm–2) at a reduction potential of −0.91 V vs RHE while maintaining a Faradaic efficiency of >95%. The alloying of Co to the copper metal not only facilitates the proton donation to the adsorbed reactant (NO3 –) but also tunes the Cu d-center, resulting in the active site modulation responsible for the activation of catalysts.

Layer-by-layer assembly of thin films have received growing interest in a variety of applications worldwide. Methods for depositing films, patterning, unconventional assemblies, and approaches are gaining immense scientific advancements. The porous structures, tunable surface areas, remarkable thermal and mechanical stabilities, abundant reserves, and cost-effectiveness makes clays one of the most sought-after materials for plethora of applications. Interestingly, several naturally occurring silicates, viz. clay minerals have layered structure with possibility of interchangeable intercalated ions and tunable chemical properties. Among these clay minerals, Bentonite is very promising owing to its abundance, low cost, high surface area, porosity, and unique layered structure. Clay is composed of alternating tetrahedral silica (T) and octahedral alumina (O) sheets arranged in 1:1 ratio (T-O). The tetrahedral sheets are formed from Si4+ ions coordinated with oxygen, however in the octahedral sheet Al3+ metal ion is the central atom. Notably, naturally occurring Bentonite have some of the octahedral sites occupied by the Mg2+ and Fe2+ ions. The presence of these ions shows the tunable property of the octahedral layer that can concomitantly widen its applicability in the energy fields. Herein, we have put a focused effort in developing a sustainable, cost-effective, environmental benign, and biocompatible clay films having unique physical and chemical properties. We present a unique approach to develop clay galleries infused with intercalating quaternary ammonium salts. The insertion of such zwitter ions enhances the interlayer spacing, while simultaneously allowing to form durable clay films. The hybrid clay films have been characterized using the powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectra, ATR-FTIR spectra, DSC-TGA, dynamic mechanical analyses, and imaging techniques. Effect of varying the carbon chain length in these zwitter ions have been verified to have a significant impact in controlling the interlayer spacing in the clay films. Further, the intercalation using zwitter ions led to the alternations in the electron environment of the dielectric silicate layers that has been confirmed using electrochemical and impedance spectroscopy studies. Owing to the high electronic resistance and high ionic conductivity present in the films, a series of impedance spectroscopy experiments were conducted in variety of electrolytes. The ionic conductivity of the hybrid clay films is remarkable, and a correlation have been established with the ionic size of the conducting ions. In metal ion batteries, where dendritic growth causes thermal degradation of the batteries, the hybrid clay films possess high thermal and mechanical stability that makes them versatile for energy materials. can provide The abundance and sustainability of clay minerals and a cost-effective approach to engineer these hybrid films may provide efficient avenues to develop new generation of battery separators and capacitors for future.