Abstract: Nickel-titanium alloys commonly called as nitinol, a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), is recognized as next generation alloy [1]. Nitinol is a family of titanium based intermetallic materials that contain nearly equal amount of nickel and titanium, has been widely employed in many applications such as biomedical, actuators, aerospace and automotive devices. In near-equiatomic NiTi alloys, shape memory effect and superelasticity are due to thermoelastic martensitic transformation from parent austenite phase with B2 structure to the monoclinic (M) or rhombohedral (R) martensitic phase transformation. The biocompatibility, and exquisite properties of nitinol SMA have gained a lot of popularity among these several combinations, and allow to obtain smart material with shape memory effect and superelastic properties. Due to the functional properties of nitinol SMAs, their biomedical application has proven to be more successful by increasing the possibility as well as the performance of minimally invasive surgeries. The combination of nickel-titanium SMA is highly biocompatible which makes them useful as orthopedic implants, surgical instruments, cardiovascular devices, and orthodontic devices. The reversible austenite-to-martensite solid state transition under stress that occurs in Nitinol is associated to a release of heat, and this phenomenon is widely investigated in literature for the application in solid-state cooling devices [2]. Elastocaloric cooling based on NiTi SMA exhibits excellent cooling capabilities. Due to the high specific latent heats activated by mechanical loading/unloading, large temperature changes can be generated in the material. The small required work input enables a high coefficient of performance. Solid-state cooling is an environmentally friendly, no global warming potential alternative to vapor compression-based systems.

Biography: Dr. Assunta Borzacchiello has served as Senior Researcher and Research Director at the Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB) of the National Research Council (CNR) since 2001. Her research focuses on polymeric materials, biomaterials, smart materials, tissue engineering, controlled drug release, microfluidic techniques and rheology/microreology of complex fluids for biomedical applications.
She earned a summa cum laude M.S. in Chemical Engineering (1994) and a PhD in Materials Technologies (1998) from the University of Naples "Federico II". Notable academic roles include Visiting Scientist positions at Queen Mary and Westfield College (London, 1996) and the University of Connecticut (USA, 1997), Professor of Biomaterials at the University of Naples (2002–2011), and Visiting Professor at McGill University (Canada, 2018–2019).
With extensive international collaborations across leading research institutes and biomedical industries, she has authored over 120 peer-reviewed articles, 16 book chapters, and edited Wiley’s Encyclopedia of Composites (H-index 43, 6,559 citations). She has been Principal Investigator of many research projects among which MIUR-PON ARS01 for medical biotechnological products, POR Campania’s ADViSE on marine antitumor drugs, and bilateral programs with Egypt and Quebec. She has supervised 10 postdocs, 9 PhDs (including Marie Curie fellows), over 50 undergraduate students, and organized 6 international conferences.