Bio fabrication

The Biofabrication and Biomaterials theme focuses on creating new materials and ways to make them. These help improve treatments in medicine and devices that go inside the body. A key part of this work is making smart materials and using 3D printing to copy how the human body works.

This theme is supported by the Plasma Bio-Engineering Lab, where plasma technology is used to make surfaces that work well with the body.

Our Capabilities

  • Plasma surface engineering for biofunctional coatings and implant integration
  • High-resolution 3D bioprinting and additive bio-manufacturing
  • Development of smart hydrogels and responsive biomaterials
  • Biofabrication of diagnostic devices and synthetic tissues
  • Advanced material–cell interaction characterisation.

Example Projects

Tissue-engineered surgical meshes: Bioinstructive interfaces for surgery

Combining 3D biomanufacturing with plasma-based nano-engineering, this platform enables bioactive surgical meshes with enhanced integration and healing potential. The approach offers a clean, scalable solution for next-generation soft tissue repair.

Tissue-engineered surgical meshes

Plasma polymerised nanoparticles: Tunable nanocarriers for targeted therapy and bioactive surface engineering.

We engineer reactive plasma polymerised nanoparticles that serve as versatile carriers for targeted drug delivery and covalent surface modification. Their long-lived reactivity enables single-step conjugation of biomolecules without chemical linkers.

nanoparticles

Implant coatings: Plasma-enabled antibacterial and cell-instructive surfaces for dental and orthopaedic implants

We create ultra-thin, robust plasma coatings that are both antibacterial and cell-instructive, enhancing implant integration while minimising infection risk. This scalable surface nano-engineering approach supports long-term performance across dental and orthopaedic implants.

implant coatings

Projects lead: AProf Behnam Akhavan

Key partners include: AProf Gerard Kaiko, AProf Yuen Yong, AProf Susan Hua, Prof Ajayan Vinu, Dr Qianqian Shi, Dr Renee Goreham

Current PhD student investigators: Yiyun Xia (Medical Engineering), Mahsa Borzouyan (Medical Engineering), Gagana Gagana Raghavendra Rao (Medical Engineering), Asad Masood (Medical Engineering), Coady Kelly (Biomed Sci.)

Collaborators

We partner with:

  • Clinical centres: John Hunter Hospital, Westmead Hospital
  • Industry leaders: Straumann and Regemat3D
  • National and international research institutes, including the University of Sydney, UNSW, University Medical Centre Utrecht (Netherlands), Southwest Jiaotong University (China), Tufts University (USA), FAU Erlangen–Nuremberg (Germany), Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands).