Usaid Azhar
Current PhD Student
Bio-inspired supramolecular polymers for multifunctional coatings
As a PhD researcher in the PEM Centre, Usaid currently attempts to synthesize a range of polymers for marine and biomedical antifouling coating applications. His PhD title is “Bio-inspired supramolecular polymers for multifunctional coatings”, and it involves:
Chemistry: Design and synthesis of several mussel-inspired oligomers and polymers. Optimising the solution concerning the reagent concentration.
Material Science: Deposition of polymer coating via dip-coating technique, and characterisation & assessment of coatings. Development of structure-property relationships.
Advanced Characterisation: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Raman and FTIR Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetric Analysis, mechanical properties, water contact angle measurements.
Usaid Azhar comes from Lahore, Pakistan and completed his BSc and MSc degrees in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from the College of Engineering and Emerging Technology, University of the Punjab, Pakistan.
Before joining IT Sligo, he worked for 4 years as a research associate in the Research Centre in Biomedical Materials (IRCBM), COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore campus, Pakistan in bio-medical materials research. During this time, he worked on multiple bio-degradable and biocompatible materials such as bio-ceramics (e.g. hydroxyapatite), mesoporous materials (e.g. SBA-15 and MCM-41) and polymer/ceramics composite materials for application in bone and skin tissue engineering.
Usaid also fabricated osteoinductive porous scaffolds composed of well-known biopolymers (gelatin and chitosan) and hydroxyapatite (HA) by a simple freeze-drying method for bone tissue engineering applications. The demand for these materials is extremely high worldwide due to increasing prevalence of diseases and life expectancy (ageing). Therefore, the main idea was to develop safe and effective biomedical products to meet the real needs of patients. Under this research objective, Usaid has been able to publish good quality papers in high standard international journals (e.g. Journal of Molecular Liquids), and one book chapter on “Carbonated Substituted hydroxyapatite” in Handbook of Ionic Substituted Hydroxyapatites.
Apart from chemical and material synthesis, Usaid has hands-on experience in different characterisation instruments such as metallurgical microscopes and SEM for the surface imaging of materials, FTIR spectroscopy (identify molecular composition), fatigue testing machine (FTS) and universal testing machine (UTM) to determine the mechanical properties of materials.