We would like to introduce Dr. Lenka Vítková, a new member of the Plasma Nanotechnologies and Bioapplications (PNB) research group at the Department of Plasma Physics and Technology (DPPT) and at the CEPLANTcenter. She joins the PNB research group to strengthen research into plasma treatment of composite materials with a focus on improving their mechanical properties. At the same time, she will expand her research activities in the field of electrospinning, biopolymers, and biomedical applications.
Dr. Lenka Vítková studied Materials Engineering and then Technology of Macromolecular Compounds at Tomas Bata University in Zlín under the supervision of Prof. Aleš Mráček, Ph.D. She recently completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, where she worked in the Natural Nanocomposites and Advanced Biomaterials Lab groups. She has long been involved in natural polymers, especially proteins and polysaccharides, their chemical modification, and processing into nanofibers and hydrogels for tissue engineering.
What will you be working on here?
At first, I will mainly be involved in research into fiber-reinforced composite materials and their plasma treatment in Dr. Dana Skácelová's project "Advanced optimization of FRP composite materials using plasma technologies." This will familiarize me with atmospheric plasma and its possibilities, which I would then like to use in other projects where I would like to dive back into biopolymers.
At Queen's and UTB, chemical modification of biopolymers was a big part of my research. However, classic "wet" chemistry has its disadvantages, such as toxic reactants and the degradation of sensitive biomacromolecules. Plasma modification is fast, gentle on many sensitive materials, and somehow more eco-friendly. I want to explore the technologies available at DPPT and CEPLANT as alternative methods of chemical modification of various biopolymers and biomolecules, which can then be used in biomedicine, for example in wound healing, tissue carriers, or controlled drug release. I enjoy connecting the structure of a material with its function, from molecular organization to morphology to mechanical properties.
What motivated you to join our workplace?
Above all, the broad scope of the group, which beautifully demonstrates the versatility of plasma treatment of materials. Specifically, I was immediately attracted to research on electrospun nanofibers, because I fell in love with electrospinning as a student and it has stayed with me ever since. In combination with plasma treatment, a whole range of new, unexplored directions opens up. If nanofibers carry functional groups, will they be more resistant or perhaps more cell-friendly? And if I expose a protein to plasma, will its structure change? If so, what will be the consequences—will it be more resistant, easier to process, or will it disintegrate completely? Plasma allows for the gentle modification of surfaces, even those of temperature-sensitive materials, and opens up new possibilities that classic chemical modification alone cannot offer. It may be a step into the unknown, but those are the most exciting ones.
What experiences or topics have you brought back with you from Canada?
From Canada, I mainly bring back experience working with proteins, studying and manipulating their structure, and using them as biomaterials. I spent a lot of time working on their chemical modification and morphology, so I used microscopes quite a lot. I immersed myself in the flow properties of their solutions, which are time-dependent in proteins, which is quite a challenge from a processing point of view.
What else I bring back from Canada is experience with the approach to research and the functioning of a research group. Dr. Kevin De France, my supervisor, is a specialist in finding about a thousand different uses for similar materials, so we collaborated a lot in his group, even though we had different applications. In addition to my cell scaffolds, I worked on sorption materials for water purification. Others were in charge of packaging materials, paints, or cosmetics, but because everything had the same basis, we were able to help each other. I see a similar structure here in the PNB group—many different uses of low-temperature plasma.
Will you also be mentoring students? And do you have any topics that might be of interest to them?
Yes, mentoring students is one of the most enjoyable parts of my research work, and I would definitely like to continue doing so here. At Queen's, I had the opportunity to mentor several undergraduate students (roughly equivalent to a bachelor's degree) as they wrote their final theses. I really enjoyed it, and the discussions with the students helped me grow both personally and in my research. Some interesting topics I would like to explore include manipulating the structure of polysaccharides and proteins through plasma treatment, functionalizing the surface of nanofibers using plasma for better adhesion, antibacterial properties, or resistance to external influences, and creating inorganic fibers through nanoparticle deposition. But what I like best is when students find their own topics. Their ideas are often quite original and force me to think outside the box. So if anyone reading this is interested in biomacromolecule technology, please get in touch with me and we can work something out together.
We would like to thank Lenka Vítková for sharing her experiences and plans. We look forward to working with her and wish her every success.
