Ben Li Luan

Ben Li Luan

Local Contact Information

Title: Adjunct Professor
Office: Rm 0202 MSA,
Phone: (519) 430-7043
E-mail: bluan@uwo.ca

 

Affiliation:

Materials & Surface Technology Center, Canada

Research Division:
Materials

Education

Ph.D. University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
PDF National Research Council Canada


RESEARCH

Our research and development focus on Surface Science and Engineering of interfacial interactions, surface functionality enhancing and enabling, and engineering implementations targeting primarily three areas: sustainable surface engineering, energy and resource regenerations, and medical devices.

1. Sustainable Surface Engineering: Our research in this area focuses on the development of environmentally sustainable and economically viable chemical, electrochemical, and hybrid electrolytic and vapour deposition technologies assisted with plasma, laser and sonication. Specific research conducted includes surface modification of lightweight materials (magnesium, titanium, aluminum etc.) and additively manufactured products for a broad spectrum of applications such as vehicular lightweighting for fuel efficiency and GHG emission reduction, surface functionality enhancement and enabling for 3D printed products.

2. Energy and Resource Regenerations: In the realm of energy and resource regenerations, we conduct research on surface engineering of key components for energy storage systems (supercapacitors, batteries and solar cells), large waste-to-energy systems, and biomass power generation systems with respect to system performance and safety. We also carry out system development for echelon utilization and materials regeneration of spent high-power batteries.

3. Medical Devices: The prevalence of thigh pain after total hip replacement remains an unacceptable complaint by some patients. Reasons for this include unstable fibrous fixation, differences in the degree of elasticity for the prosthesis material and bone, fatigue fracture, relative motion across the interface between the implants and the surrounding tissues causing excessive stress at the implant/body tissue interfaces, and postsurgical infections. Our research is directed to develop new ‘Chemo-Biomimetic” technologies forming bioactive surfaces to enhance the biochemical compatibility, incorporation of hormone, protein and antibiotics into the implant, fabrication of new nanocomposites with improved biomechanical compatibility, and formation of nano-grain sized biocompatible implant surface & subsurface features to promote postsurgical healing and enhance implant/bone integration and performance.

PUBLICATIONS

  • J. Gray, B. Luan, Protective coatings on magnesium and its alloys - A critical review, J. Alloys and Compounds, 336 (2002) 88-113

  • V. Dehnavi, B. Luan, D. W. Shoesmith, X. Liu, S. Rohani, Effect of duty cycle and frequency on plasma electrolytic oxidation coating growth behavior, J. Surface & Coatings Technology 226(2013) 100-107

  • J. Xie, Ben Luan, Formation of hydroxyapatite on Ti6Al4V orthopaedic implant using novel chemo-biomimetic method. Journal of Materials Science, Materials in Medicine, OCT 2008 19(10): 3211-3220

  • D. Fu, B. Luan, S. Argue, M. Bureau, I. Davidson, Nano SiO2 particle formation and deposition on polypropylene separators for lithium-ion batteries, J. Power Sources (2012) 325-333

  • W-J. Cheong, Ben L. Luan, David W. Shoesmith, The effects of stabilizers on the bath stability of electroless Ni deposition and the deposit, Applied Surface Science, Vol 229, Issues 1-4, May 2004, 282~300.