Large Charge Storage Capacity Research Articles

A high-capacity and self-healable electrochromic system based on I0/CuI conversion reaction

Constructing electrochromic devices (ECDs) requires high-performance electrochromic electrodes with not only high color contrasts, but also large charge storage capacities. In this paper, a I0/CuI conversion-type electrochromic system is developed, achieving reversible and profound color switching between colorless transparent and dark brown, while delivering a large charge storage capacity of 246.7 mA h g−1. To improve switching durability, a multifunctional P10 (Polyquaternium-10) binder is introduced into the electrode, which can effectively confine the polyiodide intermediates and suppress the shuttle effect. At the same time, the CuI/Cu redox couple is further activated by controlling the applied voltage. The generated Cu from this couple can spontaneously react with residual I0 species and facilitate the conversion from I0 to CuI, and therefore in-situ rejuvenate the degraded electrochromic performance. Thanks to these rational designs, this electrochromic electrode achieves rapid response speeds (tcoloring: 14 s, tbleaching: 5 s), high optical modulation amplitude (73.4 % at 500 nm), decant coloration efficiency (57.0 cm2 C−1) and impressive cycle stability (without performance degradation after 150 cycles). This work provides a novel electrochromic system for the construction of high-performance electrochromic devices.

Double layer capacitors in dye sensitized solar cells with large charge and energy storage capacity and controlled shape of output voltage signals.

The output signals in natural dyes-based solar cells (DSSC) can be either rising or decaying depending on the type of ions present in the system; these ions called added ions, are introduced by the additives: mordant and brighteners. The photon-dye interaction produces electrons, which eventually reach the electrode giving place to a superficially charged electrode in contact with an electrolyte where are the added ions. This combination produces, automatically, an electrical double-layer EDL structure which has important effects on the performance of the system: a) the added ions control, to a large extent, the initial shape of the output signal, giving rise to rising or decaying profiles; b) it is possible to store large amounts of energy and charge at high electric fields. This structure is found in many other systems that have a surface charged in contact with an electrolyte like piezoelectric materials in human body. This assertion was supported by determining important parameters such as the force between charged surfaces on both sides of the interface, the charge density, the energy density, and the capacitance. The Debye length has very small values then, many important quantities depend on this; it is possible to obtain large values for energy UDL ~ 3.6x105 Jm-3 and charge density ρDL ≈ 1.1x107 Cm-3 for double layer capacitors; these values are orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding values for electrostatic capacitors: Uelec ≈ 4.5x10-3 Jm-3 and ρelec ≈ 1.2 Cm-3. A non-linear model was also developed to fit unstable oscillations found in the output profiles produced by abrupt lighting.

Space-controllable TiO2@IrO2 core-shell nanotube array as a bio-interface electrode

This study develops a wet chemical approach to fabricate space-controllable TiO2@IrO2 core@shell nanotube arrays. The process begins with the space-controlling anodization of the TiO2 nanotube array, followed by a chemical bath deposition of IrO2. IrO2 uniformly covers the nanotubular TiO2 with a thickness range of 8– 15 nm. Charge storage capacity (CSC) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are performed to evaluate the TiO2@IrO2 core-shell nanotube array as an electrode for neural activity application. Electron microscopy images confirm the formation of uniform IrO2 films on both inner and outer nanotube surfaces. An X-ray diffraction pattern shows a good crystallinity of the TiO2@IrO2 core-shell nanotube array. The TiO2@IrO2 core-shell nanotube array presents a large charge storage capacity of 42.84 mC/cm2 attributed to the high-aspect-ratio tubular nanostructure with a conformal IrO2 deposition. Additionally, the TiO2@IrO2 core-shell nanotube array exhibits stability, durability, and good biocompatibility.

Preparation of Porous Carbons Using NaOH, K2CO3, Na2CO3 and Na2S2O3 Activating Agents and Their Supercapacitor Application: A Comparative Study

AbstractThe sustainable energy development of green carbon precursors and inexpensive activating agents has gained great attention with respect to the manufacture of high‐performance electrode materials for supercapacitors. Though the most investigated activation agents such as ZnCl2 and KOH provide porous carbon possessing the high surface area and large charge storage capacity, those activation agents suffer from the use of high dosage utilization and poor carbon production yield. Herein, we report an alternative preparation method for porous carbons using NaOH, K2CO3, Na2CO3 and Na2S2O3 as activating agents, respectively. Activating performances of four pore‐forming agents were compared in terms of textural, morphological and electrochemical performance. It was found that the NaOH‐activated electrode material (C‐NaOH) exhibited a high specific capacitance of 199 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 thanks to its large surface area along with large pore volume. In the two‐electrode system, the symmetric SC assembled by C‐NaOH electrodes delivered an energy density of 4.7 Wh/kg at a power density of 127 W/kg and maintained 3.9 Wh/kg at a power density of 1560 W/kg. Another outcome of this study was that the Na2S2O3‐assisted activating agent could introduce heteroatom into the carbon framework, which contributes to pseudocapacitance behavior of electrodes. Overall, the alternative activating strategy could provide a high‐performance carbon electrode and may offer a pathway for an advanced energy storage technology.

A biocompatible open system Na-doped IrOx(OH)y energy storage device with enhanced charge storage properties and long lifetime

A Na–IrOx(OH)y cell using body fluid as the electrolyte demonstrates large charge storage capacity and long lifetime.

Ti3C2Tx/carbon nanotube/porous carbon film for flexible supercapacitor

Porous carbon (PC) can effectively alleviate the typical self-stacking phenomenon of 2D MXene-based films as a spacer, and can easily customize their porous structure. Nevertheless, the contact between 3D PC and 2D MXene flakes is generally presented at a point-to-point form owing to the irregular shape of PC, leading to a low efficiency on electron delivery and stress concentration with a fragile characteristic in the resulting films. Herein, 1D carbon nanotube (CNT) was introduced to construct a highly conductive net structure, tightly anchoring PC on MXene flakes, thus ensuring fast electron delivery by increasing the contact area between MXene and PC. Additionally, the interwoven CNTs bridge the horizontal MXene flakes, making internal structure more integral, thereby enhancing the flexibility. Consequently, the Ti3C2Tx (a typical MXene)/CNT/PC (TCP) film has an ability to bear a large scan rate of 1 V s−1 and shows a high areal specific capacitance of 364.8 mF cm−2 at 0.5 mA cm−2 which remains above 80% even at a high current density of 50 mA cm−2. Furthermore, the fabricated flexible quasi-solid-state supercapacitor (SC) demonstrates a large areal energy density of 10.5 μ Wh cm−2 at 29.8 μ W cm−2. This study provides a promising approach to overcome the poor flexibility of MXene/PC film without sacrificing the conductivity, meanwhile paving a way for the development of flexible SCs with large charge storage capacity and high rate capability.

Remarkably improving the specific energy of supercapacitor based on a biomass-derived interconnected hierarchical porous carbon by using a newly-developed mixed alkaline aqueous electrolyte with widened operation voltage

Improving the energy density of supercapacitors without sacrificing their large charge storage capacity, high power density, and excellent cycle stability is extremely attractive for researchers. Herein, we develop a mixed alkaline aqueous (MAA) electrolyte with widened operation voltage. Meanwhile, a biomass-derived interconnected hierarchical porous carbon (IHPC) with controlled pore size distribution, ultra-large specific surface area (up to 3463 m2 g−1), and high conductivity (up to 8.7 S cm−1) is prepared to match this electrolyte. The obtained IHPC can stably charge-discharge within 1.3 V and exhibit a high specific capacitance of up to 462 F g−1 in the MAA electrolyte. The symmetrical supercapacitors based on the prepared IHPC and the MAA electrolyte deliver a high specific energy of up to 19.7 Wh kg−1 at a specific power of 203 W kg−1, while a specific energy of 14.5 Wh kg−1 is recorded at a large specific power of 12.2 kW kg−1. Meanwhile, the assembled devices based on the MAA electrolyte exhibit good rate capability and excellent cycle stability, up to 89% of initial specific capacitance is retained even at a large current density of 20 A g−1, and more than 91.4% of initial specific capacitance is retained after 30,000 cycles.

Graphene oxide charge blocking layer with high K TiO2 nanowire for improved capacitive memory

Glancing angle deposition technique was adopted to fabricate TiO2 nanowire (NW) over spin coated graphene oxide (GO) thin-film (TF) for capacitive memory application. The formation of hybrid structure was studied using field emission scanning electron microscope. High accumulation capacitance of 0.994 nF/cm2 at 7 MHz frequency was obtained for fabricated Au/TiO2 NW/GO TF/Si device as compared to Au/TiO2 NW/Si device (0.4014 nF/cm2). A theoretical study using delta depletion model was done, which further validated the relative permeability and flat band voltage of the devices at higher frequency. The memory window of Au/TiO2 NW/Si was found to be 1.36 V at±10 V, which increased to 3.72 V for Au/TiO2 NW/GO TF/Si hybrid device. Also, a large charge storage capacity with good retention (105 s) and endurance (1000 cycles) was observed for the hybrid device. Moreover, Au/TiO2 NW/GO TF/Si device exhibited low leakage current density of 1.6 µA/cm2 at +1 V as compared to Au/TiO2 NW/Si device (11.3 µA/cm2 at +1 V). The GO TF layer at the bottom increased the potential difference between TiO2 and GO, which acted as a charge trapping layer and thus demonstrated as a good candidate for non-volatile memory application.

Mxene (Ti3C2Tx)/cellulose nanofiber/porous carbon film as free-standing electrode for ultrathin and flexible supercapacitors

Traditional porous carbon (PC)-based supercapacitors (SCs) are generally stiff and heavy owing to their rigid components and bulky additives, such as binders, conducting materials, and current collectors. Herein, a porous (574.5 m2 g−1), conductive (83.1 S cm−1), and flexible MXene (Ti3C2Tx)/cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/PC hybrid film is prepared by strong interfacial interactions among its components via a facile vacuum-filtration method. Three-dimensional PC provides abundant micropores for charge storage and considerable amount of meso/macropores for fast diffusion of ions. Two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx offers a significantly high conductivity of 2.6 × 103 S cm−1 and a good film-forming ability. A one-dimensional CNF ensures high mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 38.6 MPa for the hybrid film by binding the adjacent Ti3C2Tx flakes and PC. Additionally, the presence of CNF and PC increases the interlayer distance between Ti3C2Tx flakes, thereby providing more ion-accessible surface areas on Ti3C2Tx and creating open gaps for fast ion transport. Benefiting from these electrochemically attractive properties, this film is further employed as a free-standing electrode to fabricate a high-performance quasi-solid-state SC, which demonstrates an ultrathin thickness of 0.2 mm, a high flexibility, a significantly high areal capacitance of 143 mF cm−2 at 0.1 mA cm−2, and a large areal energy density of 2.4 μWh cm−2 at 17.5 μW cm−2, with a high retention of ~50% even after increasing the power density by ~100 fold. This work will pave the way for developing free-standing MXene-based hybrid films that simultaneously possess excellent conductivity, good mechanical properties, and large charge storage capacity for flexible and high-performance SCs.

In-Situ XAS and Eqcm Investigations of Redox Mechanisms in IrO2 Thin Film Electrodes

Bio-stimulating electrodes are recognized to be one of the most critical components for implantable biomedical electronic devices. In order to activate neurons for therapeutic functions, a desirable bio-stimulating electrode requires specific attributes including a large amount charge storage and high charge injection capacity along with a low impedance at the operating frequency of the device. Among the many electrode materials studied to date, iridium oxide has emerged as an especially promising candidate with superior characteristics for charge storage, biocompatibility and chemical inertness. In this presentation, we describe our studies on the interrelationships between charge transfer and structural changes in IrO2. In-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to determine the changes occurring in the oxidation states of IrO2 during cyclic voltammetry (CV) scans. These results are correlated with the structural changes occurring as determined by X-ray diffraction. In addition, we carried out eQCM measurements to better identify the electrochemical reactions associated with the redox peaks generated by the CV scans. The results of this study lead to a much better understanding of the operation of iridium oxide as a bio-stimulating electrode.

High-performance flexible organic thin-film transistor nonvolatile memory based on molecular floating-gate and pn-heterojunction channel layer

Flexible floating-gate structural organic thin-film transistor (FG-OTFT) nonvolatile memories (NVMs) are demonstrated based on an integrated molecular floating-gate/tunneling (I-FG/T) layer and a pn-heterojunction channel layer. Semiconducting polymer poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) nanoparticles and insulating polymer polystyrene are used to build the I-FG/T layers by spin-coating their solution. The dependence of the memory performances on the structure of I-FG/T layers is researched. For achieving a large charge storage capacity, the pn-heterojunction channel, consisting of 2,9-didecyldinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene and F16CuPc, is fabricated to provide both electrons and holes for injecting and trapping in the floating gate by overwriting the stored charges with an opposite polarity at the programming and erasing voltages, respectively. As an optimal result, a high performance flexible FG-OTFT NVM is achieved, with a large memory window of 21.6 V on average, a highly stable charge storage retention capability up to 10 years, and a highly reliable programming/erasing switching endurance over 200 cycles. The FG-OTFT NVM also exhibits an excellent mechanical bending durability with the memory performances maintaining well over 6000 bending cycles at a bending radius of 5.9 mm.

Fast electrodeposition of Ni/Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles on nanoporous Cu prepared by dealloying Zr-Cu amorphous alloy for supercapacitor application

Ni/Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles with a large charge storage capacity were synthesized on the nanoporous copper via electrodeposition method. Nanoporous copper was obtained from Zr50Cu50 amorphous ribbon by dealloying. This experiment is different from the traditional method in that NiCl2⋅6H2O was used as the nickel source. Ni/Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles with different quantities and distributions can be obtained with different deposition times. This nanocomposite structure combines the high capacity of Ni/Ni(OH)2 with the good electron conduction performance of nanoporous copper, which can be applied to the positive faradaic electrode in a hybrid device. The electrochemical measurements show a high capacity of 1011.0 F/g and good multiplier performance at different current densities, indicating the direction for the development of supercapacitors in the future.

Electrochemical Capacitors: Well Controlled 3D Iridium Oxide/Platinum Nanocomposites with Greatly Enhanced Electrochemical Performances (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 18/2019)

Well controlled 3D nanocrystal Pt coating, electrodeposited as the intermediate layer on flexible microelectrode array (fMEA), is uniform and nanoflower-shaped characterized with extensive large surface area, providing good adhesion for IrOx nanoparticles deposition. The 3D IrOx/Pt nanocomposite coating maximizes the electrochemical performances and chronic stability for miniaturized electrochemical capacitors. It exhibits very low impedance, large cathodic charge storage capacity (CSCc) and record-high charge injection capacity (CIC), and also shows excellent sensitivity and selectively for glucose detection. The excellent characteristics are particularly desirable for neural electrodes and will pave a new way for various practical applications. More details can be found in article number 1900356 by Qi Zeng, Kai Xia, Yi Zhang, and Tianzhun Wu.

Fabrication of binary composites from polyaniline deposits on carbon fibers heat treated at three different temperatures: Structural and electrochemical analyses for potential application in supercapacitors

Recent studies show that polyaniline (PAni) is one of the widely studied materials because it is easy synthesis, less cost, and low environmental pollution. Moreover, it presents a high theoretical specific capacitance as compared to carbon-based electrodes. Besides, when combined with materials such as porous carbon, graphene, carbon fiber, among others, the resulting electrodes composites present high electrochemical performance with feature commercially viable for practical application on supercapacitors. Carbon fibers (CF) heat-treated at three different temperatures of 1000, 1500, and 2000 °C worked as a template matrix as well as substrates coated with polyaniline (PAni) films, by chemical polymerization of the aniline, to obtain binary composites called PAni/CF-1000, PAni/CF-1500, and PAni/CF-2000, respectively. Composite morphology characterizations were done by scanning electron microscopy and showed that CFs were fully coated by PAni. Structural analyses by Raman spectra presented characteristic bands of the emeraldine salt, confirming that PAni is in its conductive form. The results of electrochemical measurements showed that all composites presented capacitive profiles and good reversibility. Particularly, PAni/CF-1000 showed the greatest PAni growth on CF surface not to mention its largest charge storage capacity, with specific capacitance at around 224 F g−1 and 98% of coulombic efficiency after 1000 cycles.

Temperature-Dependent Electrochemical Characteristics of Antimony Nanocrystal Alloying Electrodes for Na-Ion Batteries

Nanostructured antimony is a highly promising alloying electrode material for both Li-ion and Na-ion battery systems, possessing a large gravimetric charge storage capacity (660 mAh g–1) combined w...

Supercapacitive Performance of N-Doped Graphene/Mn3O4/Fe3O4 as an Electrode Material

Nitrogen-doped graphene (NDG) and mixed metal oxides have been attracting much attention as the combination of these materials resulted in enhanced electrochemical properties. In this study, a composite of nitrogen-doped graphene/manganese oxide/iron oxide (NDG/Mn3O4/Fe3O4) for a supercapacitor was prepared through the hydrothermal method, followed by freeze-drying. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images revealed that the NDG/Mn3O4/Fe3O4 composite displayed wrinkled-like sheets morphology with Mn3O4 and Fe3O4 particles attached on the surface of NDG. The presence of NDG, Mn3O4, and Fe3O4 was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical studies revealed that the NDG/Mn3O4/Fe3O4 composite exhibited the highest specific capacitance (158.46 F/g) compared to NDG/Fe3O4 (130.41 F/g), NDG/Mn3O4 (147.55 F/g), and NDG (74.35 F/g) in 1 M Na2SO4 at a scan rate of 50 mV/s due to the synergistic effect between bimetallic oxides, which provide richer redox reaction and high conductivity. The galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) result demonstrated that, at a current density of 0.5 A/g, the discharging time of NDG/Mn3O4/Fe3O4 is the longest compared to NDG/Mn3O4 and NDG/Fe3O4, indicating that it had the largest charge storage capacity. NDG/Mn3O4/Fe3O4 also exhibited the smallest resistance of charge transfer (Rct) value (1.35 Ω), showing its excellent charge transfer behavior at the interface region and good cyclic stability by manifesting a capacity retention of 100.4%, even after 5000 cycles.

Lithium Manganese Oxyfluoride As a New Cathode Material Exhibiting Oxygen Redox

The next generation of high performance Li-ion rechargeable batteries relies on the discovery of new positive electrode materials with a greater capacity to store charge. Generally speaking, highly ordered layered materials, such as LiCoO2 (LCO), LiNi0.85Co0.1Al0.05O2 (NCA) and LiNi0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 (NMC), are considered to be the best-in-class. One strategy to increase the capacity has been to explore the ordered Li-Rich materials, Li1+xM1-xO2, where x~1.2, where the greater number of Li ions increases the total theoretical capacity. However, an optimal candidate system for commercialisation within this space has yet to be identified. In contrast to ordered materials, disordered structures have been largely ignored by the scientific community as they are perceived to exhibit poor Li+ mobility. However, recent research has overturned this understanding and several disordered rock salt structures with competitive energy densities have been proposed (such as Li4Mn2O5, Li2VO2F and Li1.2Mn0.4Ti0.4O2). Could these highly disordered Li-rich materials offer better structural stability and performance than their layered counterparts? Here, we present the discovery of a new Li-rich disordered rocksalt material, lithium manganese oxyfluoride (LMOF), presented in Figure 1, whose structure appears to remain stable even over 100 charge-discharge cycles. Furthermore, LMOF exhibits a large, reversible capacity to store charge and, interestingly, this appears to be unexplained within the limits of transition metal redox capacity alone, raising the question of how such a large charge storage capacity can be achieved. In this work we fully characterise this new material and specifically we examine the role that oxygen plays in this anomalous charge compensation process. Figure 1

Approaches to Electrolyte Solvent Selection for Poly-Anthraquinone Sulfide Organic Electrode Material.

Organic materials such as polyanthraquinone sulfide (PAQS) are receiving increased attention as electrodes for energy storage systems owing to their good environmental compatibility, high rate capability, and large charge-storage capacity. However, one of their limitations is the solubility in organic solvents typically composing the electrolytes. Here, the solubility of PAQS was tested in 17 different solvents using UV/Vis spectroscopy. The results show that PAQS exhibits a very wide range of solubility according to the nature of the solvent and the obtained trend agrees well with the predictions from Hansen solubility analysis. Furthermore, the transport properties (conductivity, σ, and viscosity, η) of selected electrolytes composed of non-solubilising solvents with 1 m LiTFSI are compared and discussed in the temperature range from -40 °C to 80 °C. In the second part of this study, the electrochemical characterization of PAQS as electrode material in selected pure or mixture of solvents with 1 m LiTFSI as salt was made in half-cells by a galvanostatic method. In a methylglutaronitrile (2MeGLN)-based electrolyte that exhibits low solubility of PAQS, it appears that the capacity fade is intricately linked to the large irreversibility of the second step of the redox process. Although the standard cyclic carbonate solvents mixture (ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate) led to rapid capacity fade in the initial 10-15 cycles owing to their high solubilising ability. Finally, it is shown that a pure linear alkylcarbonate (dimethyl carbonate) or binary mixture of ether-based (dioxolane/dimethoxy ethane) electrolyte is much more compatible for enhanced capacity retention in PAQS with more than 120 mAh g-1 for 1000 cycles at 4 C.

Graphene oxide wrapped Fe2O3 as a durable anode material for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Ferric oxide has demonstrated as a promising anode candidate for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to large charge storage capacity, but its high cost, low Coulombic efficiency, and unstable solid-electrolyte interphase remain to be a technical challenge. Here, we report a flexible interleaved hybrid in which Fe2O3 nanoparticles were encapsulated by graphene oxide layers (Fe2O3/GO) using facile freeze-drying approach as anode for LIBs. Within this flexible interleaved structure, GO layers act as flexible but mechanically strong buffer to accommodate volume expansion and reduce associated stress in Fe2O3 nanoparticles, thereby maintaining mechanical integrity and increasing the cycling life of batteries. With the synergistic effects from Fe2O3 and GO, this hybrid not only promotes fast mass transfer and shortens the diffusion path of the Li ions but also forms a stable solid electrolyte interface, contributing improved Coulombic efficiency in the first few cycles. The Fe2O3/GO hybrid as anode for LIBs exhibited a reversible specific capacity of ca. 890 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 1 C (1005 mA g−1) and 405 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 10 C rate. Furthermore, a full-cell battery with a LiFePO4 cathode also showed high Coulombic efficiency and good capacity retention capability. Mechanical properties and impedance spectroscopy tests were performed to confirm the mechanism in superior rate and electrochemical stability. The conclusions are considered to be very useful for design of Li batteries with improved mechanical performance.

Short-term electrostimulation enhancing neural repair in vitro using large charge capacity nanostructured electrodes

Electrostimulation of the neural system in functional or repair therapies requires new materials that protect the living system from electric field (EF) effects at the interface. Intercalation materials offer an alternative to radical formation during stimulation. Furthermore, nanostructuring of the electroactive material used as electrode offers an enlargement of the charge capacity which in turn involves changes in the EF effect. In this work, electric field stimulation of cortical neuron cultures has been applied in an in vitro model of lesion, namely, a physical scratch in the cell culture creates a cell-free area reminiscent of a lesion where new neurites grow. Regeneration of the “wound” zone upon EF stimulation is observed for various types of electrode materials, and compared to the spontaneous process and to platinum electrodes. Significantly, electric field effects are highly dependent on the electrode material used, even for the same charge delivered and similar impedance values. Electrode coatings with large charge storage capacity yield significantly better results than that of bare Pt electrodes. Neurite outgrowth at the scratched “wound” zone is lowest, below spontaneous regeneration, when using Pt electrodes. On the other hand, electroactive materials, such as bilayers of PEDOT and polypyrrole with lysine counterions or iridium oxide-pristine graphene hybrids, promote further regeneration. Beyond impedance considerations, the optimal material is the nanostructured one with the largest charge capacity, even at low charge deliveries. It is remarkable that IrOx-graphene hybrids reach regenerations above spontaneous case in very short stimulation times, for equal charge deliveries and potential protocols. The implications from the results suggest that EF application using these new coatings, may have an immediate use in safer electrostimulation procedures, and open routes for much needed neural repair.