The Czech Science Foundation President’s Award was received this year by five scientists. Among them is Dr. Petr Sedlák, Head of the Materials Characterization Laboratory at the Department of Ultrasonic Methods of the Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS.
The award is presented to projects that have achieved exceptional results in basic research. The awarded project by Petr Sedlák’s research team offers a new perspective on Nitinol—a nickel-titanium alloy that can “remember” its shape and repeatedly return to it. The research team described a previously unknown mechanism of its plastic deformation called “kwinking.” This discovery helps explain Nitinol’s extraordinary ductility and can contribute to its more reliable and broader application, for example in medicine, where it is used to manufacture stents and heart valves.
Photo: GAČR