Pedro Amaro da Silva and José Afonso Barbosa Salgado were awarded research fellowships at IPC, University of Minho, within 3D-BONECRAFT. Each award covers three months, from 1 February to 30 April 2026.
José Afonso’s fellowship (IPC/BONECRAFT_EE/BF/32/2025), supervised by Bruno Faria and Loïc Hilliou, supports the development of PHA-based formulations reinforced with MXenes and polyamide vesicles for filament extrusion. The work combines twin-screw melt mixing, assessment of material evolution along the extruder and basic thermal, rheological and morphological characterisation, with the aim of identifying stable processing conditions for fused filament fabrication.
Pedro’s fellowship (IPC/BONECRAFT_EE/BF/35/2025), supervised by Bruno Faria and Sacha Mould, focuses on PHA/MXene melt mixing, filament production and FFF printability. The objectives include evaluating processing stability, filament regularity, deposition quality and printing defects, supported by thermal, rheological and morphological characterisation.
Together, the two fellowships contribute to selecting formulations and processing routes for the further development of bone-scaffold prototypes.