Kirill Dubovikov, master’s student at TSU’s Faculty of Physics, has gone to Germany under the Erasmus+ exchange program. He will study characteristics of titanium-nickelide alloys under different conditions, including heat treatment, at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg. The results will become part of his master’s thesis.
A three-month stay in Germany is possible under the exchange agreement between TSU and BTU within the Erasmus+ program. Ekaterina Marchenko, head of the TSU Laboratory of Medical Alloys and Shape Memory Implants and Kirill Dubovikov’s scientific advisor, notes that TSU has been collaborating with the German university since 2018. The universities have several projects together and work together on a megagrant.
Kirill will study porous Ti-Ni alloys, which were created at TSU using self-propagating high-temperature synthesis and sintering. The material will undergo heat treatment at 500-1000°С, and then be tested by tension, compression, and bending in situ in a scanning electron microscope column under video control.
“The implants undergo heat treatment at 400-900°С. That is why we need to study heat treatment’s effect on the mechanical characteristics of porous Ti-Ni alloys and characteristic temperatures of martensitic transformation. We need to investigate whether the heat treatment influences functional degradation,” explains Kirill Dubovikov.
"We applied for the Erasmus+ program with our colleagues from Germany in 2020. We won, but couldn’t start the program because of COVID-19 restrictions. As the head of the laboratory, I had no doubts as to who would be the first to be sent to Germany. Kirill has always been very interested in his research topic,” says Ekaterina Marchenko.
Kirill Dubovikov has been working at the Laboratory of Medical Alloys and Shape Memory Implants since 2018. The master’s student adds that the knowledge from Germany will be the foundation of his later publications.
Biomedicine is one of the TSU priority programs. The work of the megagrant won by the Laboratory of Medical Alloys and Shape Memory Implants is a new step towards cutting-edge research that will solve the most serious issues of bioimplants – ensuring patient safety, effective treatment, and adequate choice of an implant.