Dr. Eng. Alina Vladescu, Associate Professor, Romanian material science engineer and scientist working on thin film deposition and characterization for applications ranging from biomaterials to cutting tools

Biography: Alina Vladescu, has a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University Politehnica of Bucharest (2002) and an MS in Biomaterials from the Department of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, University Politehnica of Bucharest (2004). Her PhD however is in Materials Science from University Politehnica of Bucharest (2011). She works at National Institute for Optoelectronics, Department for Advanced Surface Processing and Analysis by Vacuum Technologies. She is also Associate professor in Surface Engineering at University Politehnica of Bucharest. She is also affiliated as research scientist at National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. She is the Guest Editor of Frontiers in Materials (2016-2017) and Composite Interfaces (2016).
Consequently, she has over 80 technical publications and presentations, 6 patents, 3 books. Most of these articles have involved the surface biofunctionalization of metallic components of the biomedical devices by PVD deposition methods. In general, these articles have primarily proved that both PVD techniques (reactive magnetron sputtering and vacuum cathodic arc) represent a valuable choice for coating the metallic femoral heads, determining the increase of their service-life. Up to date she was involved in the investigation and assessment of various types of coatings, such as: nitrides, carbides, carbonitrides, oxynitrides or oxides, in mono and multilayered structures.

Speech Title: Functionalization of medical implants by biocomposite based hydroxyapatite coatings
Abstract: For enhancing the osseointegration of the metallic implants, the bioactive coatings were frequently used. The hydroxyapatite is one of the most extensively used due to their remarkable osseointegration and bioactivity characteristics. Unfortunately, the hydroxyapatite has low mechanical strength which restricts its use as biomaterial. The goal of this study was to show that the mechanical characteristics of hydroxyapatite could be enhanced by addition of small amount of different elements (Ti, Si, Mg) in its structure, without loss the bioactive compatibilities. All the coatings were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The pure HAP coatings were obtained by sputtering of pure HAP target in an Ar atmosphere, at 700 °C substrate temperature. The nanoindentation results show that presence of small amount of all elements has a positive effect on mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite. Also, it was found that the resistance to the SBF attack and biological characteristics of hydroxyapatite were improved by addition of those elements to its structure.
Keywords: hydroxyapatite; magnetron sputtering; bioactive coatings; corrosion resistance.