We successfully synthesised simple and complex twins of spinel, which proved that the formation of ccp-hcp transformation is caused by the presence of beryllium at the (111) twin boundaries. At higher BeO additions we observed the formation of epitaxial overgrowths of spinel with BeMg3Al8O16 taaffeite-type compounds. This finding has a potential applicative value since twinned spinel grains develop platelike morphology that may improve the mechanical properties of spinel based ceramics.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26530343
Studies of hollow metallic nanoparticles produced by PLD in nitrogen atmosphere are becoming an area of high potential for future applications in theranostics. Hollow nanospheres were successfully produced from CoPt, Fe, Fe(Sm,Ta) and Al targets. I have proven and systematically measured the nitrogen gas pressure within the individual Al-based spheres. The nitrogen pressure ranged between 200 and 600 Bars and was generally increasing by decreasing the volume of the void. This is in accordance with the equilibrium gas pressure that would form in a bubble in Al melt considering the corresponding surface energy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 27217447
A complex magnetic structure was investigated also on the basis of the nuclear quadrapole resonance (NQR) and by interpreting electric-field-gradient-tensor components calculated ab initio.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26662439
Electrophoretic deposition was also used in fabrication of SiC-based ceramic composite reinforced with carbon nanotube (SiC-CNT), where we achieved homogeneous distribution of CNT within the ceramic matrix. Comprehensive study electrokinetic properties of suspensions resulted also in successful electrophoretic deposition of bulk parts of thermoplastic polymer polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), which is a topic of research in collaboration with Mechanical engineering faculty, Univeristy of Ljubljana.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26160167
In the field of photocatalysis we designed and fabricated Ti-foil based microreactor with titania nanotubes and anatase nanoparticles. Basic photocatalytic properties and design was published in ACS applied materials & interfaces (IF 5). Using this microreactor we performed series of experiments where we studied the mechanisms of degradation reactions for various types of organic substances. It was found that during the decomposition of organics containing chlorine the efficiency of the microreactor seriously decreased. With EPR measurements we tried to established the mechanism of this phenomena, namely the chlorine could adsorb on the surface of nanoanatase particles and due to steric effects hindered the adsorption of the organic molecules or could produce chlorine radicals which are concurrent to hydroxyl radicals.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26981415