pré-Cold'it

Pre-Cold’it is a seed project aimed at preparing the Cold’it (Cold sintering processing of bioactive ceramic and ceramic-metal biomaterials for improved skeletal repair) doctoral network project. The main objective here is to validate the members of the consortium, to complete it with complementary expertise, particularly industrial, and to refine the research and training program. Cold’it will be a proposal in response to the Doctoral Network call HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01-01. Cold’it will be a unique doctoral network composed of academic, industrial, clinical and association partners, focused on the low-temperature shaping of ceramic and ceramic-metal biomaterials optimised for skeletal repair. These will involve bioactive (metastable) compounds such as bio-inspired hydrated calcium phosphates (bioCaP), which will not only allow better osteointegration by improving cellular activity, but also confer additional properties (antibacterial, anti-osteoporotic) thanks to specific ionic doping. The targeted fields of application are orthopaedics and maxillofacial surgery, with a strong societal and economic impact. Through “cold sintering” approaches in the broad sense, it will include the development of new bioactive ceramics in bioCaP, but will also address the enhancement of the biological reactivity of low-bioactivity commercial bioceramics (HA, beta-TCP, zirconia) as well as metallic osteosynthesis parts with a bioCaP coating. It will then be possible to significantly increase the potential of implants currently on the market but associated with limited capacities. The contribution of low temperature processing approaches will thus be crucial to allow the shaping of biomaterials involving the metastable bioactive compounds envisaged, but also to access porous structures adapted to optimise osteointegration and the release of bioactive ions. The penetration of cold sintering processes and bioactive implants in the industry remains low. Very promising research activities exist, but are not coordinated on a European/worldwide scale, and the access to the clinic remains very limited to this day. Technological advances need to be made, in particular to access complex shapes and ceramic-ceramic and ceramic-metal multi-materials by cold sintering; and the need for dedicated training is obvious. The biomaterials industry lacks qualified researchers who can translate academic proofs of concept into innovations that can reach the market. Training is therefore a key issue for supporting innovation in the biomaterials industry and for European competitiveness. It is necessary to set up a network of excellence, bringing together the European experts in the “cold sintering/biomaterials” field as well as industrial partners covering the entire value chain, from the supply of calibrated precursor powders to their processing for the preparation/modification of implants and their biological validation. This is why a European doctoral network, combining training and research, is most relevant to meet these challenges. The Cold’it project aims to train 15 doctoral students via an integrated approach combining top-level European research and high-performance training tools, giving doctoral students both technical and strong transferable skills. The established training program will be sustained after the project through associative networking and the establishment of doctoral courses on a European scale. The research methodology will be based on multidisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations. The expected positive results require a joint effort from the academic and industrial worlds, which will be facilitated by the proposed synergistic workplan. Finally, the proposed approaches are perfectly consistent with the EU Green Deal and the principles of energy sobriety.