Bioinspired design optimisation of bioceramics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Mechanical Engineering Sciences
Abstract
This interdisciplinary PhD project will investigate the relationship between nano- and micro- structures and micromechanics of human enamel-mimicked highly textured bioceramics as well as human dentine-mimicked hierarchical bioactive ceramic scaffolds. The objective is to elucidate the structural and mechanical key factors that affect the integrity, in particular the fracture behavior in bioceramics as fabricated by innovative processing and manufacturing.
The successful candidate will engage in the in situ characterization activities, using advanced experimental mechanical microscopy techniques available at the Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences at the University of Surrey, including TOF-SIMS, XPS, SPM, EDX, EBSD, STEM, TEM, FIB-SEM tomography, FIB-DIC micrometre residual stress mapping and analysis, as well as synchrotron X-ray methods. These will be combined with modelling to provide systematic means of explaining the toughening and fracture mechanisms in the fabricated bioceramics. The ultimate objective of these activities will be to understand how the strength and toughness can be better controlled via microstructural optimization, and hence direct the manufacturing and processing towards the development of new bioceramic products.
The successful candidate will engage in the in situ characterization activities, using advanced experimental mechanical microscopy techniques available at the Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences at the University of Surrey, including TOF-SIMS, XPS, SPM, EDX, EBSD, STEM, TEM, FIB-SEM tomography, FIB-DIC micrometre residual stress mapping and analysis, as well as synchrotron X-ray methods. These will be combined with modelling to provide systematic means of explaining the toughening and fracture mechanisms in the fabricated bioceramics. The ultimate objective of these activities will be to understand how the strength and toughness can be better controlled via microstructural optimization, and hence direct the manufacturing and processing towards the development of new bioceramic products.
| Description | Dental caries is one of the most prevalent yet preventable oral conditions that affects 31% of UK adults as well as 46% and 34% of 15- and 12-year-olds, respectively. The condition is caused by the chronic exposure of acid produced by oral bacteria that leads to the destruction of the dental hard tissues, causing pain, infection, and even tooth loss. In this project, new cutting-edge synchrotron X-ray techniques to further the understanding of caries and how acid damages teeth have been developed. Furthermore, when the natural dentition is no longer capable of continuing their function dental crowns are used as replacements. With conditions like caries becoming more prevalent at younger ages, the need for longer lasting dental crowns is growing. Therefore, this project also looks at the development of next generation bioinspired dental crowns made of ceramic-polymer composites to provide excellent mechanical properties. Building and enhancing the micromechanical testing facilities during the journey of this project has led to collaborations with 3 leading scientific instrumentation industries. The newly developed capabilities enable the optimisation of the bioinspired design, which has a huge impact on the dental industry and beyond. These works are the product of fruitful collaborations with the Universities of Birmingham/Bristol, resulting in several published peer-reviewed journal papers, and several further manuscripts under preparation with myself as leading/co-author. Active engagement in the dissemination of this work has led to a number of oral presentations in (inter)national conferences, such as: WBC2020, IADR2021, and XRM2022. The work has also featured in multiple publicities such as in the Royal Microscopy Society's magazine, Diamond Annual Review, University Research in Focus, and ScienceDaily. This work has also secured a highly competitive and prestigious GSK award from the Oral and Dental Research Trust with myself as the named researcher. |
| Exploitation Route | The advanced characterisation methodologies, including in situ large scale facility and microscopy-based techniques, that were used and developed during the project can be adopted by researchers for understanding similar questions. These methodologies were used to further the understanding of dental demineralisation and bioinspired dental composites, structurally, chemically and mechanically, which can inform the design optimisation of dental crown materials. In addition, the fracture mechanics study of the nacre-inspired ceramic-polymer composites showed that the bioinspired design principle can be used in other biomedical applications besides dentistry, such as bone replacement, or more broadly into any load bearing application with suitable temperature environments. |
| Sectors | Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Surrey-Birmingham |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Department | School of Dentistry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our contributions include access and operation of advanced microscopy facilities and operation of synchrotron X-ray-based characterisations. Followed by interpretation and analysis of the data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Their contributions include expert knowledge of dentistry and aid the interpretation of data. They also supply and prepare the dental samples used for lab-based and synchrotron-based characterisations. |
| Impact | This is a multidisciplinary project that involves experts in the fields of dentistry and materials science. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Surrey-Bristol |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Department | Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our contributions include access and operation of advanced microscopy and micromechanical testing facilities and operation of synchrotron X-ray-based characterisations. Followed by interpretation and analysis of the data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Their contributions include the manufacture and preparation of ceramic-polymer composite samples for lab-based and synchrotron-based characterisations. |
| Impact | This is a multidisciplinary project that involves experts in material manufacturing and material characterisation. A publication has been produced as a result of this collaboration - 10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108414 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Building a Local Dental Community Network Chain for Investigation of Dental Crown Failure Mode |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences held an Impact Day where academics and Postgraduate Research Students gave talks about their current research projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |