Articles
Our team of experts produce regular content to shine a light on the latest news and trending topics within key areas of research. Read our latest articles to find out more about our new product lines, customer research highlights and corporate milestones.
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Polymer Cuff Electrodes Prove Viable for Selective Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
A team at Imperial College London has validated fully polymeric conductive elastomer nerve cuffs as effective alternatives to metallic electrodes for fascicular-selective peripheral nerve stimulation. Published in the Journal of Neural Engineering in 2026, the study combined ex vivo experiments on rat sciatic nerves with microCT-informed computational modelling, achieving selectivity indices above 0.65 across all three target fascicles. Advent Research Materials supplied the precision PTFE-insulated silver wire used as electrical interconnects within the electrode assembly.
Tungsten Microelectrodes Help Map How Early Alzheimer’s Pathology Spreads Through the Brain
A 2026 study in The Journal of Physiology from the University of Castilla-La Mancha and Pablo de Olavide University tracks how early amyloid-β accumulation disrupts brain circuit activity across connected regions. Using Advent 50 μm tungsten microelectrodes implanted in the posterior parietal cortex, researchers revealed a precise temporal sequence: hippocampal dysfunction emerges within hours, spatial memory deficits by day one, and measurable cortical oscillatory disruption by day three.
High-Purity Aluminium Foil Used in Latest Aluminium Battery Research
Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), working with collaborators at Umeå University, the University of Oulu, IMT Mines Albi and the Digital University Kerala, have published new findings in Batteries & Supercaps (2026) demonstrating how engineered pore structure improves the long-term stability of aluminium-ion batteries.
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Aluminium in research. Why demand is rising and where it is used
Aluminium remains one of the most widely used metals in scientific research. From battery builds to surface studies, aluminium is a common choice because its behaviour is well understood and easy to work with. The physical, thermal, and chemical properties of Aluminium make it suitable across physics, materials science, energy research, and space science.
High-Purity Gold Electrodes from Advent Advance Battery and CO2 Conversion Research
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have made significant progress in understanding what happens at electrode surfaces during electrochemical reactions—work that could lead to better batteries, more efficient CO2 converters, and improved fuel cells. The study, published in Faraday Discussions, used high-purity gold materials supplied by Advent Research Materials to create specialised thin-film electrodes that revealed hidden molecular behaviour at electrified interfaces.
Aluminium foil supporting solar particle research around Mars
Researchers working on a Mars mission instrument have shown how a compact silicon detector can distinguish different types of solar particles in space. The study also documents the use of high-purity aluminium foil supplied by Advent Research Materials as part of the experimental setup. The work focuses on SP@M (Solar Particles @ Mars), an instrument designed to measure energetic particles produced by the Sun and travelling through the Martian space environment.
Case study | Silver wire for grounding in optophysiology and Neuropixels recordings in vivo
Optogenetic stimulation lets researchers probe how brain circuits function in living animals by delivering light to a target region and recording neuronal responses. This STAR Protocols paper addresses a known complication. Optical stimulation in mice can unintentionally activate endogenous retinal opsins, producing off-target responses that propagate to the cortex and risk confounding experimental interpretation.
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Hastelloy C-276® in advanced energy and superconducting research
Hastelloy C-276 is widely used where corrosion resistance and high-temperature stability matter. This article looks at why researchers also specify precision C-276 foil and strip as a substrate in high temperature superconducting tape development, and how surface finish, thickness control, and mechanical stability support thin film coating processes. It also outlines where these substrate foils are used across energy research, power systems, medical imaging magnets, and advanced electronics.
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Case Study | Improving hormone sensing with niobium wire microelectrodes
Niobium wire supplied by Advent was used as the core conductor in thin-film microelectrodes developed to improve electrochemical sensing in neuroscience research. The study reports stronger detection signals for tryptophan, tyrosine and the peptide hormone GnRH, including measurements in mouse brain tissue, and points to a practical route for building high-performance microelectrodes for lab research.
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Soft polymer nerve cuff tested by Imperial and EPFL, using Advent PTFE-insulated silver wires
Using Advent's 125 μm diameter PTFE insulated silver wire, a collaborative team from Imperial College London and EPFL has developed a new soft nerve cuff that could change how clinicians restore movement and sensation after nerve injury.