Guest Seminar: Scale-bridging processing of advanced ceramics

Dr Diletta Giuntini from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology will give a Guest Seminar titled "Scale-bridging processing of advanced ceramics" at ENTEG this week, organized by the Mechanics of Materials research unit, PI Prof. Francesco Maresca.

Abstract

Scientists and engineers dealing with materials typically think along the lines of the “Materials Science Tetrahedron”: how a material is processed determines its structure, which in turn controls its properties, ultimately defining performance. So it is common practice to carefully define processing routes that yield the structures one wishes for. But with the current blooming of sophisticated multiscale material architectures, enabling all sorts of exciting functionalities, how can processing keep up? And especially in ceramics, for which processing options are already so limited, how can we foster such exquisite nano- and micro-features in tangible, serviceable macro-scale objects?

Multidisciplinarity can come to the rescue. By blending branches of chemistry, nanotechnology, optimization and mechanics, new and creative ceramics processing strategies can be envisioned. We show here how the recent advancements in colloidal assembly, additive manufacturing and sintering are key enablers, especially with the support of process modeling. The simultaneous control of the material evolution at the nano-, micro- and macro-scale is enabled, unlocking tremendous potential for the development of hierarchical ceramics with tailorable mechanical and functional properties. Prime examples are “double-tough” microcomposites with enhanced mechanical properties and supercrystalline nanocomposites with tunable magnetic response.

Bio

Diletta Giuntini is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Before 2020, she was a Humboldt Fellow and PI in Hamburg’s Collaborative Research Center on Tailor-made Multiscale Materials Systems. Her research focuses on the development of advanced ceramics and ceramic-based materials via particle and powder -based technologies, spanning ultra-fast sintering techniques and additive manufacturing. 

Diletta obtained her BSc and MSc cum laude in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Pisa, and her PhD in Engineering Sciences from the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University. 

Some of her awards include the TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award, the Inamori Fellowship, the Humboldt Fellowship and the TMS-AIME Champion H. Mathewson Award. She currently serves in the Board of the Eindhoven Young Academy of Engineering.