Aura - Catalina Mocanu

Universitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica București | UPB · Department of Materials Science and Physical Metallurgy

The proposed strategy for the extrusion of printable composite filaments follows the favourable association of biogenic hydroxyapatite (HA) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) as reinforcement materials for a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix. HA particles were chosen in the <40 μm range, while GNP were selected in the micrometric range. During the melt–...

The successful regeneration of large-size bone defects remains one of the most critical challenges faced in orthopaedics. Recently, 3D printing technology has been widely used to fabricate reliable, reproducible and economically affordable scaffolds with specifically designed shapes and porosity, capable of providing sufficient biomimetic cues for...

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing technologies might advance the fabrication sector of personalised biomaterials with high-tech precision. The selection of optimal precursor materials is considered the first key-step for the development of new printable filaments destined for the fabrication of products with diverse orthopaedic/dental applicati...

The attraction towards Ti and its alloys reside in their superior mechanical and tribological features, as compared to CaPs, which are renowned for their compositional and structural features similar to those of natural bones. However, Ti-based materials suffer from limited biocompatibility and inertness when implanted for extended periods. As such...

The surface physico-chemistry of metallic implants governs their successful long-term functionality for orthopedic and dentistry applications. Here, we investigated the feasibility of harmoniously combining two of the star materials currently employed in bone treatment/restoration, namely, calcium-phosphate-based bioceramics (in the form of coating...

The intersection of the bone tissue reconstruction and additive manufacturing fields promoted the advancement to a prerequisite and new feedstock resource for high-performance bone-like-scaffolds manufacturing. In this paper, the proposed strategy was directed toward the use of bovine-bone-derived hydroxyapatite (HA) for surface properties enhancem...

A successful bone-graft-controlled healing entails the development of novel products with tunable compositional and architectural features and mechanical performances and is, thereby, able to accommodate fast bone in-growth and remodeling. To this effect, graphene nanoplatelets and Luffa-fibers were chosen as mechanical reinforcement phase and sacr...

The bone remodeling field has shifted focus towards the delineation of products with two main critical attributes: internal architectures capable to promote fast cell colonization and good mechanical performance. In this paper, Luffa-fibers and graphene nanoplatelets were proposed as porogen template and mechanical reinforcing agent, respectively,...

Calcium phosphates (CPs) used as biomaterials have been intensively studied in recent years. In most studies, the determination of the chemical composition is mandatory. Due to the versatility and possibilities of performing qualitative and quantitative compositional analyses, energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) is a widely used technique in this...

For successful bone remodelling, the implantable 3D structures require suitable internal architectures which can be achieved by the use of fibres as natural templates. The ability of fibres to generate complex configurations for 3D bioceramic products was preliminary reported by sacrificial fibrous-porogen method. This study aims to demonstrate the...

Bone tissue engineering is constantly in need of new material development with improved biocompatibility or mechanical features closer to those of natural bone. Other important factors are the sustainability, cost, and origin of the natural precursors involved in the technological process. This study focused on two widely used polymers in tissue en...

The bone remodeling research field has shifted focus towards sustainable, eco-friendly and reproducible manufacturing technologies of 3D structures. It is now accepted that a suitable internal architecture and an active interface between the 3D structure and host bone-tissue constitute the two most critical traits for a successful bone tissue engin...

The limitations of conventional methods for bone reconstruction led to the idea of processing widespread biogenic materials in order to obtain biomimetic bone substitutes. Results from studies of the past 50 years support the possibility to process shells and marble through different routes of synthesis. This chapter describes in detail the methods...

Calcium carbonate from marble and seashells is an eco-friendly, sustainable, and largely available bioresource for producing natural bone-like calcium phosphates (CaPs). Based on three main objectives, this research targeted the: (i) adaptation of an indirect synthesis route by modulating the amount of phosphorus used in the chemical reaction, (ii)...

The demand of calcium phosphate bioceramics for biomedical applications is constantly increasing. Efficient and cost-effective production can be achieved using naturally derived materials. In this work, calcium phosphate powders, obtained from dolomitic marble and Mytilus galloprovincialis seashells by a previously reported and improved Rathje meth...

The paper proposes the use of a nondestructive electromagnetic (NDE) method for evaluation of zirconia coating on AISI 316L, based an electromagnetic (EM) sensor with metamaterial lens. Metamaterials (MM), namely conical Swiss roll (CSR), operated in radiofrequency range can serve as EM flux concentrators. EM lens composing the sensors are designed...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the perspectives of using conventional nondestructive examination methods for defects localization on orthopedic implants. Different metallic medical devices, made of 316L austenitic stainless steel, Co-Cr alloys and Ti-6Al-4V alloys, were subjected to nondestructive evaluation. Each material grade was verified...

Hydroxyapatite powders characteristics need to be determined both for quality control purposes and for a proper control of microstructural features of bone reconstruction products. This study combines bulk morphological and compositional analysis methods (XRF, SEM-EDS, FT-IR) with surface-related methods (XPS, contact angle measurements) in order t...

Processing calcium-rich natural resources, such as marble and mussel seashells, into biomimetic products could constitute an environmentally-friendly and economically sustainable alternative given their geographical widespread. Hitherto, their value for biomedicine was demonstrated only for seashells, with the technological exploitation approaches...

Lately Hydroxyapatite has gained a lot of research interest and intense focus due to its structural as well as compositional similarity to the components of human bone mineral. The conversion of calcium-rich precursors to hydroxyapatite could lead to the development of a new sustainable alternative with a valuable environmental and socio-economical...

This article evaluates silver's potential as a sintering additive for hydroxyapatite. Bovine-derived hydroxyapatite powders with 0.1 - 2wt. % Ag were used for evaluation. The samples were consolidated by casting or pressing and sintered at 1000°C. The results of morpho-compositional analyses showed that silver has a positive effect in sintering, en...

Hydroxyapatite was studied because of its wide set of applications in biocompatible materials. Natural hydroxyapatite obtained by heat treatment technique preserves the structure and the chemical composition of the raw material. The present work investigates the effects of the thermal treatment and the influence of the cooling conditions on crystal...

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is one of the most common ceramic materials used for bone substitutions or reconstructions [1]. HA synthesis from natural sources is convenient relative to synthetic HA preparation while ensuring a similarity with viable bone tissue in terms of chemical composition and some other properties. One of the most important markers use...