Dendritic growth inside a high capacity electrochemical system can initiate self-discharge and a very dangerous set of reactions that result in cell temperatures reaching >500 °C within seconds of internal shorting. Thus, cell components are often designed with shut-off features that engage after shorting occurs and cell temperature begins to rise, but before a threshold temperature is reached (e.g. runaway temperature). For example, some separator membranes can be designed to collapse in response to high temperatures, blocking ion-flow and effectively shutting off the cell. However, this process is irreversible and will not prevent thermal runaway if a critical temperature is reached before proper shutoff can occur. Additionally, such membrane will have little effect if the short circuit occurs from separator penetration by a metallic dendrite. Reversible thermo-responsive membranes have been developed, but share similar drawbacks during internal shorting and rapid self-discharge.

As improvements in technology allow for construction of bigger, more uniquely designed skyscrapers, bridges, and motorways that can carry greater loads and are seismically sound, current cement composites are being pushed to their performance limits. Now more than ever, assessing damage to cement composite structures is of integral importance. However, traditional methods can be destructive, subjective, and may not detect previously existing damage, which can be invisible to the naked eye or hidden beneath structural surfaces. Addition of conductive additives, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to cementitious composites attributes both load-bearing and damage self-sensing properties to the composites. However, current formulations and methods for producing these multifunctional cement composites require specialized equipment, are labor, time, and capital intensive, and are not scalable.

Stretchable electronics are a new, emerging class of electronic devices that can conform to complex non-planar and deformable surfaces such as human organs, textiles, and robotics. Functional fillers incorporated with elastic polymers form composites for use in intrinsically stretchable electronics. These composites can be amenable to high-throughput, low-cost, additive printing technologies that include screen, inkjet, flexography, and 3D printing. However, the properties of the functional and elastic materials used to date have been mutually antagonistic, thus limiting achievement of state-of-the-art functional properties and high elasticity. The present invention relates to the development of random composite inks using triblock copolymer for stretchable electronics. The key novelty offered here is the ability to tolerate higher loadings of inelastic, functional materials without sacrificing the elastic properties of the ink.

Piezoelectric materials are key components in a range of devices including acoustic imaging, energy harvesting, and actuators and typically rely on brittle ceramic monoliths to perform their functions. To control the size and or shape of the piezoelectrics, it is common to use mechanical dicing or saws. However, this limits not only the size of the piezoelectric element but also the dimensionality. It is nearly impossible with current cutting techniques to shape brittle ceramics into higher order 3D structures, which could have a huge impact on compact sensor designs, tunable acoustic arrays, efficient energy scavengers, and diagnostic devices. There is an unmet need for simple approaches to fabricating 3D structures in piezoelectric polymers or multilayered architectures which would open up infinite possibilities in the design of more complicated device geometries.

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