The main topic has been a study of potential health hazard of free titania nanoparticles that is lately drawing a lot of attention in literature. We prepared a comprehensive literature survey (published in J. Radiol.Oncol.) and we collaborated in investigations of their toxicity by characterising various commercial TiO2 powders. In the J. Hazardous Materials we reported that some powders with particles larger than nanosized may also represent a health risk, and in particular UV-irradiated nanoparticles.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2430031
On the invitation of the Editor of the book we wrote a chapter on complex metallic alloys as magnetocaloric materials.With the sophisticated thermal treatment we successfully influenced the final microstructure and achieved both goals. If the microstructure is changed in such a way that we get a fine dispersed secondary phase in the magnetocaloric matrix phase, the structural transformation, which is responsible for the high hysteresis losses, occurs at higher magnetic fields. By using low magnetic fields, this effect can be avoided.
COBISS.SI-ID: 24258855
We performed quantitative grain growth kinetics analysis of ZnO grains under the influence of inversion boundaries (IBs) in the ZnO-Bi2O3-SnO2 system. We found that the formation of IBs in ZnO grains accelerates the growth of such composite grains in such extent that the microstructure development is controlled entirely by this mechanism. By controlling the number of IB-nuclei it is possible to directly control the grain size of ZnO ceramics. We further extended our investigations in the filed of ZnO varistor ceramics to IBs that form with the addition of TiO2 which is a typical additive to produce low-voltage varistor ceramics. However, microstructures of TiO2-doped ZnO are usually inhomogeneous due to exaggerated growth of some ZnO grains with IBs. In order to achieve homogenous microstructure development, the conditions of IB-nucleation in this system is necessary. The results of our preliminary studies indicate that the presence of free TiO2 is crucial for the formation of Ti-rich IBs.
COBISS.SI-ID: 24245799