Department of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Jincheng Du recently received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to research the nature of phase separations in glass materials and their biomedical applications.

Du, an expert on glass and amorphous materials, will focus particularly on two research areas under the Fulbright Scholar Award: microscale phase separation in glasses and inorganic glasses for biomedical applications.

“Phase separation is a fundamental phenomenon in glass science but our understanding of it is relatively limited. We are going to combine our simulation expertise with the experimental capabilities of the host’s institution to gain deeper understanding of the phase separation in glasses and its impact on behaviors such as crystallization,” said Du, who also serves as the chair-elect of the Glass and Optical Materials Division of American Ceramic Society and a technical committee chair of International Commission on Glass (ICG).

“Biomedical applications of inorganic glasses represents one of the most exciting developments in glass science and technology that has the potential to help to solve the healthcare problems of our aging population. One potential application of bioactive glasses is to apply it as a coating to medical implants so as to improve the lifetime of these implants,” said Du. “We will study the design of new glass compositions, through detailed structural understanding of the materials and the impact of its structure on bioactivity, for various biomedical applications.”

The award allows Du the opportunity to visit the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil, which hosts the Center for Research, Technology and Education in Vitreous Materials (CeRTEV) – a world-renowned research center on glass materials – for two two-month stints. He’ll start in spring 2020.

“In addition to collaborations with the world leading experts in the field of glass science, the Fulbright Award provides a great opportunity to get to see the higher education system in another culture and learn about how they manage and integrate research and education, both from which we can learn what we can do better in classrooms and beyond here at UNT,” said Du. 

Du’s Fulbright will provide funding that covers travel and living expenses in Brazil.

The Fulbright Scholar Program was established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright to increase the mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries through international educational exchange programs. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.