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Silicate ceramics are widely employed in areas ranging from biomedicine to advanced engineering thanks to their biocompatibility, thermal stability, and mechanical strength.
Processing methods based on conventional raw materials, such as clays and alumina, however, often require high temperatures and complex procedures to achieve the desired material characteristics.

My PhD research explores the use of silicone polymers as preceramic precursors, which can be shaped at room temperature and then transformed into ceramics by heat treatment. In particular, I am investigating an emulsion-based approach, where mixtures of silicone resins, photocurable components, and aqueous phases are processed into printable pastes for additive manufacturing of porous structures. After UV stabilization and pyrolysis, these emulsions give rise to silicate ceramics with highly tunable properties.

This strategy enables not only the fabrication of complex architectures but also the control over porosity, composition, and phase assemblage. The resulting materials show potential for applications such as bioactive scaffolds for bone regeneration and other functional devices. The versatility of this method demonstrates how polymer chemistry and ceramic processing can be combined to design innovative materials. Building on these promising results, the ongoing research is aimed at further refining the approach and exploring its potential in different fields.

CERAMGLASS research group, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy

Group website: https://research.dii.unipd.it/ceramglass/

Email: valeria.diamanti@studenti.unipd.it

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-diamanti-206067227