NAUSICA - NAvi efficienti tramite l'Utilizzo di Soluzioni tecnologiche Innovative e low Carbon Stato di avanzamento n. 5 dal 01/10/2022 al 31/01/2023 Attività WP4.3 - Ausiliari per applicazioni navali basati sull'uso di celle HT-PEFC

NAUSICA - NAvi efficienti tramite l'Utilizzo di Soluzioni tecnologiche Innovative e low Carbon Stato di avanzamento n. 4 dal 01/06/2022 al 30/09/2022 Attività WP4.3 - Ausiliari per applicazioni navali basati sull'uso di celle HT-PEFC

NAUSICA - NAvi efficienti tramite l'Utilizzo di Soluzioni tecnologiche Innovative e low Carbon Stato di avanzamento n. 3 dal 01/02/2022 al 31/05/2022 Attività WP4.3 - Ausiliari per applicazioni navali basati sull'uso di celle HT-PEFC

NAUSICA - NAvi efficienti tramite l'Utilizzo di Soluzioni tecnologiche Innovative e low Carbon Stato di avanzamento n. 2 dal 01/10/2021 al 31/01/2022 Attività WP4.3 - Ausiliari per applicazioni navali basati sull'uso di celle HT-PEFC

NAUSICA - NAvi efficienti tramite l'Utilizzo di Soluzioni tecnologiche Innovative e low Carbon Stato di avanzamento n. 1 dal 01/06/2021 al 30/09/2021 Attività WP4.3 - Ausiliari per applicazioni navali basati sull'uso di celle HT-PEFC

Electrochemical devices for energy conversion, eg. fuel cells (Fuel Cell, FC) and electrolysers (EL) are increasingly becoming key elements for the implementation of large-scale renewable energy sources and for the electrification of surface transport. However, the development of the FC and EL systems is severely limited by the need to widely use critical raw materials (eg. Platinum and metals of the Platinum group, PGM) and by the characteristics of the electrolyte, generally consisting of polymeric membranes with high cost, and by the cost of the electrodes production. These problems could be solved by developing high-performance, durable and cost-effective membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs), the heart of FC and EL. To do this, it is possible to act both on the development of innovative and cheaper materials, and by improving the procedures for MEAs realization, optimizing performance and reducing construction costs. In particular, MEAs with higher stability and low Pt load have been studied for PEFCs, optimizing the catalytic ink preparation parameters and the MEA forming parameters [1,2]. Furthermore, in recent years, greater interest in the use of FC and EL systems that use an alkaline exchange polymeric membrane as an electrolyte [3,4], has led to the need to develop and optimize electrode and MEA structures that use these membranes. In particular, different electrode configurations (GDE or CCM) were evaluated; the catalytic ink has been optimized considering the characteristics of the catalysts and ionomers used; MEA conditioning techniques have been optimized, both in terms of anion exchange and electrochemical activation, both in FC and EL applications

Previous work has shown that it is possible to train neuronal cultures on Multi-Electrode Arrays (MEAs), to recognize very simple patterns. However, this work was mainly focused to demonstrate that it is possible to induce plasticity in cultures, rather than performing a rigorous assessment of their pattern recognition performance. In this paper, we address this gap by developing a methodology that allows us to assess the performance of neuronal cultures on a learning task. Specifically, we propose a digital model of the real cultured neuronal networks; we identify biologically plausible simulation parameters that allow us to reliably reproduce the behavior of real cultures; we use the simulated culture to perform handwritten digit recognition and rigorously evaluate its performance; we also show that it is possible to find improved simulation parameters for the specific task, which can guide the creation of real cultures.

One of the main issues with micron-sized intracortical neural interfaces (INIs) is their long-term reliability, with one major factor stemming from the material failure caused by the heterogeneous integration of multiple materials used to realize the implant. Single crystalline cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) is a semiconductor material that has been long recognized for its mechanical robustness and chemical inertness. It has the benefit of demonstrated biocompatibility, which makes it a promising candidate for chronically-stable, implantable INIs. Here, we report on the fabrication and initial electrochemical characterization of a nearly monolithic, Michigan-style 3C-SiC microelectrode array (MEA) probe. The probe consists of a single 5 mm-long shank with 16 electrode sites. An similar to 8 mu m-thick p-type 3C-SiC epilayer was grown on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, which was followed by a similar to 2 mu m-thick epilayer of heavily n-type (n(+)) 3C-SiC in order to form conductive traces and the electrode sites. Diodes formed between the p and n(+) layers provided substrate isolation between the channels. A thin layer of amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) was deposited via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to insulate the surface of the probe from the external environment. Forming the probes on a SOI wafer supported the ease of probe removal from the handle wafer by simple immersion in HF, thus aiding in the manufacturability of the probes. Free-standing probes and planar single-ended test microelectrodes were fabricated from the same 3C-SiC epiwafers. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were performed on test microelectrodes with an area of 491 mu m(2) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution. The measurements showed an impedance magnitude of 165 k ohm +/- 14.7 k ohm (mean +/- standard deviation) at 1 kHz, anodic charge storage capacity (CSC) of 15.4 +/- 1.46 mC/cm(2), and a cathodic CSC of 15.2 +/- 1.03 mC/cm(2). Current-voltage tests were conducted to characterize the p-n diode, n-p-n junction isolation, and leakage currents. The turn-on voltage was determined to be on the order of similar to 1.4 V and the leakage current was less than 8 mu A(rms). This all-SiC neural probe realizes nearly monolithic integration of device components to provide a likely neurocompatible INI that should mitigate long-term reliability issues associated with chronic implantation.

The understanding of brain processing requires monitoring and exogenous modulation of neuronal ensembles. To this end, it is critical to implement equipment that ideally provides highly accurate, low latency recording and stimulation capabilities, that is functional for different experimental preparations and that is highly compact and mobile. To address these requirements, we designed a small ultra-flexible multielectrode array and combined it with an ultra-compact electronic system. The device consists of a polyimide microelectrode array (8 µm thick and with electrodes measuring as low as 10 µm in diameter) connected to a miniaturized electronic board capable of amplifying, filtering and digitalizing neural signals and, in addition, of stimulating brain tissue. To evaluate the system, we recorded slow oscillations generated in the cerebral cortex network both from in vitro slices and from in vivo anesthetized animals, and we modulated the oscillatory pattern by means of electrical and visual stimulation. Finally, we established a preliminary closed-loop algorithm in vitro that exploits the low latency of the electronics (<0.5 ms), thus allowing monitoring and modulating emergent cortical activity in real time to a desired target oscillatory frequency.

Pure hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells are used in space and submarine applications but not much can be found in literature. In this work three different commercial MEAs (IRD XL PFSA reinforced membrane, a Baltic with Nafion 212 membrane and a Alfa-Aesar PFSA) have been tested using pure hydrogen and oxygen under different RH (dry-25-50-75-100%) and pressure (1-3-5 absolute bar) conditions. The most reliable operative conditions have been obtained at 3 bar (absolute) and high RH value (over 50%), resulting in stable and reliable operation for all the tested MEAs, meanwhile low RH operation often led to membrane failures. Under these conditions IRD reinforced membrane MEA has shown a high reliability in all conditions, although featuring lower performances mainly due to high membrane Ohmic resistance caused by the presence of the reinforcement. This research was the initial step for pure H2/O2 operation system

Pure hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells are used in space and submarine applications but not much can be found in literature. In this work three different commercial MEAs (IRD XL PFSA reinforced membrane, a Baltic with Nafion 212 membrane and a Alfa-Aesar PFSA) have been tested using pure hydrogen and oxygen under different RH (dry-25-50-75-100%) and pressure (1-3-5 absolute bar) conditions. The most reliable operative conditions have been obtained at 3 bar (absolute) and high RH value (over 50%), resulting in stable and reliable operation for all the tested MEAs, meanwhile low RH operation often led to membrane failures. Under these conditions IRD reinforced membrane MEA has shown a high reliability in all conditions, although featuring lower performances mainly due to high membrane Ohmic resistance caused by the presence of the reinforcement. This research was the initial step for pure H2/O2 operation system

The MEA (multi-electrode array) system was used on maize roots during an ESA parabolic flight campaign in order to examine synchronized electrical activities under temporary changes of gravity conditions.