Associate Professor Sunil Kumar
Contact Details
Tel: +61 8 8302 3169
Fax: +61 8 8302 3683
Email: sunil.kumar@unisa.edu.au
Position
Associate Research Professor in Advanced Materials
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) MSc(Hons) GNDU, India PhD IIT, Delhi, India
Background
Sunil Kumar is an established senior academic researcher. Since obtaining
his PhD in thin-film electronic materials, he has been working in the fields
of advanced thin-film materials and plasma surface chemical modification.
Before migrating to Australia, Sunil worked in New Zealand and the USA. He
joined The Wark in 1997 and is currently supervising several postgraduate
research students (mainly PhDs) and staff working on various research
projects centred on biomaterials, bioimplants (prostheses) and plasma
(ionised gas) processing. As Chief Investigator, he has been playing a key
role in several research projects in these areas mainly funded by the ARC
(Australian Research Council) and the NHMRC (National Health and Medical
Research Council) and local industry. A total of over $2.2 million in
research funds have been competitively won by him so far. Through invited
visits, Sunil has done collaborative work and continues to do so with
researchers from the USA, Canada, Mexico and Singapore. In addition, Sunil
has several ongoing strong research links with Australian researchers. Sunil
is a Supported Researcher of UniSA since 2000 and an experienced research
degree supervisor. On research degree completions, he has successfully
supervised the research projects of 14 students (7 PhDs + 5 Masters + 2
Hons). All these students are now fully employed in various research and
other organisations or doing higher research degrees.
Key National and International Roles/Duties
Editorial Board Member, The Open Biomedical Engineering Journal, Bentham
Science.
Editorial Board Member, The Open Process Chemistry Journal, Bentham
Science.
Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Australian Ceramic Society.
Expert of International Standing, as nominated by the Australian Research
Council College of Experts.
Steering Committee Member, IUVSTA (International Union for Vacuum Science,
Technique and Applications), on the development of Biointerfaces Division.
South Australian Representative of the Australasian Society for
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE).
Organiser and Chair, Topical Symposium TS3 Bioactive Coatings and Surface
Biofunctionalisation of the 35th International Conference on Metallurgical
Coatings and Thin Films held in San Diego, CA, USA on 28 April 2 May 2008.
Continuing in this role for the next three years.
Peer-reviewing duties with several national and international research
funding agencies, including Australian Research Council, Australian
Technology Network (ATN) Universities, Medical Research Council of UK, New
Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology.
Peer-reviewing duties for some of the prestigious international research
journals, including Thin Solid Films, Surface and Coatings Technology,
Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Applied
Physics Letters, Materials Letters, Journal of Materials Science, Applied
Physics A, International Journal of Modern Physics B, Journal of Orthopaedic
Research, Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, Chemistry of
Materials, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Journal of Biomedical
Materials Research, Journal of Microscopy, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of
Alloys and Compounds, Applied Surface Science, Smart Materials and
Structures, Journal of the Royal Society Interface and several Conference
Proceedings.
Research Interests
Biomaterials, including bioimplants (prostheses), tissue engineering
scaffolds and bioactive thin-film coatings
Plasma processing of materials
Surface engineering of materials
Advanced thin-film materials by PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) and CVD
(Chemical Vapour Deposition)
Surface and interface analyses
Wear-resistant and hard coatings
Teaching Interests
Two dimensional nanomaterials (for The Wark/UniSA Honours course)
Thin-film coatings by PVD and CVD methods
Biomaterials
Plasma surface modification and characterisation
Advanced electronic materials
Some Current and Recent Research Projects
Covalent Immobilisation of Growth Factors on Plasma Modified Titanium for
Achieving Enhanced Bone Growth
The key focus of this project is achieving speedy and enhanced bone growth
onto medical and dental implants (prostheses). The project consists of two
major components: (i) attaching bone growth factors to implant surfaces
using the covalent immobilisation strategy; and (ii) attaching readily
adsorbable biomolecules to hydroxyapatite-coated implant surfaces. The
project is funded by the Australian Research Council and the associated
Industry Partners are TGR BioSciences Pty Ltd and Portland Orthopaedics Pty
Ltd.
Effects of Pin Biomechanics, Coating Material and Surface Roughness on the
Pin-Bone Interface in External Fixation
This is a joint project with the Repatriation General Hospital, Adelaide,
and is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. The
project is centred on studying the effects of various surfaces treatments of
external fixation pins (such as plasma deposited novel surface coatings,
surface roughness, etc.) on the pin-bone interface.
Investigation of surface properties of biomedical materials and devices
cleaned by a new hybrid ultrasonic-electrolytic system
This project funded by the ARC and BioInnovationSA with Soniclean P/L as the
Industry Partner is centred on investigating the nature and extent of
removal of model and real life bioburdens from biomedical materials and
devices by a new hybrid ultrasonic-electrolytic cleaning system developed by
Soniclean. This unique system will be used for cleaning, and subsequently a
series of surface analytical techniques (XPS, SEM, AFM and ToF-SIMS) will be
used to assess and quantify the cleaned surfaces.
Titanium based craniofacial systems
This project is funded by UniSA and is aimed at developing three dimensional
porous titanium made bioactive both on its surface and within by depositing
a thin, highly adhesive hydroxyapatite layer using the self-assembled
monolayer method.
Novel polymeric scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering
This project is funded by UniSA and supported by some internal funds and is
focussed on developing polymeric scaffolds with multifunctional groups for
use in cartilage tissue engineering. The use of simple and cheap monomers is
being made to generate scaffolds which can be hydrated to very high levels
without compromising their mechanical stability and porous microstructure.
Publications
Sunil has published 140 research papers (67 in peer-reviewed international
research journals and 76 conference papers) on the growth and
characterisation of various advanced thin-film materials. Some of the papers
have bagged best paper awards. The research published by Sunil is of high
impact, as evident by an average citation rate (citations per publication)
of over 12 for his peer-reviewed publications. With over 800 citations, the
h index for his published work is 17 (the index h is defined as the number
of papers with citation number ≥ h), indicating his strong scientific
research output. Sunil has presented several invited talks, seminars and
lectures at various conferences and research organisations worldwide. On
knowledge application, the research carried out by him has resulted in
patents and benefits to various hi-tech industries.
Some recent publications are:
Sulfonated surfaces by sulfur dioxide plasma surface treatment of plasma
polymer films, Kim Shyong Siow , Leanne Britcher, Sunil Kumar and Hans J
Griesser, Plasma Processes and Polymers (In press, accepted 30 March 2009).
Generation of a stable surface concentration of amino groups on silica
coated onto titanium substrates by the plasma enhanced chemical vapour
deposition method, E J Szili, Sunil Kumar, R St C Smart and N H Voelcker,
Applied Surface Science (In press, accepted 25 February 2009).
Polyoctanediol citrate/sebacate bioelastomer films: surface morphology,
chemistry and
functionality, Ivan Djordjevic, Namita Roy Choudhury, Naba Dutta and Sunil
Kumar, Endre J Szili and David A Steele, Journal of Biomaterials Science
Polymer Edition (In press, accepted 22 January
2009).
Synthesis and characterization of novel citric acid-based polyester
elastomers, Ivan Djordjevic, Namita Roy Choudhury, Naba K Dutta and Sunil
Kumar, Polymer 50 (2009) 1682-1691.
Concurrent elution of calcium phosphate and macromolecules from alginate/chitosan
hydrogel coatings, Ping Peng, Nicolas H Voelcker, Sunil Kumar and Hans J
Griesser, Biointerphases 3 (2008) 105-116.
Protein adsorption on low temperature alpha alumina films for surgical
instruments, A N Cloud, Sunil Kumar, M Kavdia, H H Abu-Safe and M H Gordon,
Surf. Coat. Technol. 203 (2008) 913-917.
Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition of silica onto titanium: Analysis
of surface chemistry, morphology and hydroxylation, Endre J Szili, Sunil
Kumar, Roger St C Smart, Rachel Lowe, Eduardo Saiz, Nicolas H Voelcker,
Surf. Sci. 602 (2008) 2402-2411.
Preparation and bioactivity of SiO2 functional films on titanium by PACVD,
X-M Cheng, B-M Nie and Sunil Kumar, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 18
(2008) 627-630.
The speciation of Si and other alloying elements in the oxide surface film
of galvanically corroded weld fusion zone of laser welded AA6061 aluminium
alloy, A B M Mujibur Rahman, Sunil Kumar and A R Gerson, Corrosion Science
50 (2008) 1267-1273.
Morphological and surface compositional changes in poly(lactide-co-glycolide)
tissue engineering scaffolds upon radio frequency glow discharge plasma
treatment, Ivan Djordjevic, Leanne Britcher and Sunil Kumar, Appl. Surf.
Sci. 254 (2008) 1929-1935.
Galvanic corrosion of laser weldments of AA6061 aluminium alloy, A B M
Mujibur Rahman, Sunil Kumar and A R Gerson, Corrosion Science 49, 4339-4351
(2007).
Plasma processing for inducing bioactivity in stainless steel orthopaedic
screws, Sunil Kumar, Darren Simpson and Roger St C Smart, Surf. Coat.
Technol. 202, 1242-1246 (2007).
Nanoscale eluting coatings based on alginate/chitosan hydrogels, Ping Peng,
Nicolas H Voelcker, Sunil Kumar and Hans J Griesser, Biointerphases 2,
95-104 (2007).
Characterization of sulfate and phosphate containing plasma polymer
surfaces, K S Siow, L Britcher, Sunil Kumar and H J Griesser, Proc. Intl.
Conf. on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 3-7 July 2006, Brisbane, Australia,
IEEE Publishing Co, Piscataway, NJ, USA, Cat. No. 06EX1411C, 2006, ISBN:
1-4244-0453-3, pp 302-305.
XPS and bioactivity study of the bisphosphonate pamidronate adsorbed onto
plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings, Kate McLeod, Sunil Kumar, Roger St C
Smart, Naba Dutta, Nicolas H Voelcker, Gail I Anderson and Ron Sekel, Appl.
Surf. Sci. 253, 2644-2651 (2006).
Radio frequency plasma nitriding of aluminium at higher power levels, Sabina
Gredelj, Sunil Kumar, Andrea R Gerson and Giuseppe P Cavallaro, Thin Solid
Films 515, 1480-1485 (2006).
Interaction of hydroxylated PACVD silica coatings on titanium with simulated
body
fluid, H Zhang, D J Simpson, Sunil Kumar and R St C Smart, Colloids and
Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 291, 128-138 (2006).
Adsorption of a bisphosphonate onto hydroxyapatite using a novel
co-deposition technique for bone growth enhancement, Kate McLeod, Gail I
Anderson, Naba Dutta, Roger St C Smart, Nicolas H Voelcker, Ron Sekel and
Sunil Kumar, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 79A, 271-281 (2006).
Plasma methods for the generation of chemically reactive surfaces for
biomolecule immobilization and cell colonization Review, K S Siow, L
Britcher, Sunil Kumar and H J Griesser, Plasma Processes and Polymers, 3,
392-418 (2006).
Effect of Nb on the structure of TiO2 thin films, L Sheppard, T Bak, J
Nowotny, C C Sorrell, Sunil Kumar, A R Gerson, M Barnes, C Ball and E R
Vance, Thin Solid Films 510, 119-124 (2006).
Plasma cleaning of a commercially available hydroxyapatite-coated external
fixation pin by the radio frequency glow discharge technique, Sunil Kumar
and W M Skinner, Journal of ASTM International (JAI Online) 3, Page Count 5
(2006).
Thin calcium phosphate coatings on titanium by electrochemical deposition in
modified simulated body fluids, Ping Peng, Sunil Kumar, Nicolas H Voelcker,
Endre Szili, Roger St C Smart and Hans J Griesser, J. Biomed. Mater. Res.
76A, 347-355 (2006).
Research Degree Supervisor
Sunil is an experienced research degree supervisor and is currently
supervising the research projects of several PhD and Masters students. On
research degree completions, Sunil has successfully supervised research
projects of 14 students (7 PhDs + 5 Masters + 2 Hons). All these students
are now fully employed in various research and other organisations or doing
higher research degrees.
Research Degrees Coordinator
Sunil performs the duties of a Research Degrees Coordinator for over 20 Wark
postgraduate research students.
Research Publication Data Coordinator
Sunil coordinates the research publication data of The Wark, including
participation in the ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) initiative.
Membership of Professional Associations
American Vacuum Society (Current)
ASTM Committee F04 on Medical and Surgical Materials and Devices (Current)
Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (Current)
Australian Ceramic Society (Current)
Several others in the past