Kick-off MEETING

Presentation

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SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE MEETINGS

(17.12.2020)

Twinning Team A: Materials and thin films for environmental protection

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Presentations

(18. 12. 2020)

  Twinning Team B : Materials for clean energy storage

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Presentation – prof R. Stoyanova

Presentation – prof. V. Koleva

Presentation – assoc. prof. D. Marinova

Presentation – assist. prof. M. Kalapsazova

Presentation – assoc. prof. E. Grigorova

Presentation – prof. D. Kovacheva

Presentation – prof. A. Tajer

(14. 01. 2021)

Twinning Team C : Ceramics/bioceramics and glasses for better life

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Presentation 1 – Assoc. prof. D. Rabadjieva

Presentation 2 – Prof. R. Iordanova

Presentation 3 – Dr. L. Aleksandrov

Presentation 4 – Dr. M. Milanova

Presentation 5 – Assoc. prof. I. Georgieva

Presentation 6 – Assoc. prof. A. Bachvarova-Nedelcheva

– organizing appointments of new early stage researches; selecting their supervisors

Concerning WP3 – Promotion of “Early stage researchers”, a competition for the position “Early stage researcher” at the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry was announced. There were five candidates who applied for the position until 16.11.2020. They were interviewed on 19.11.2020 as follows:

  1. Miroslava Dimitrova Dimitrova
  2. Sofia Slavova
  3. Eva Ilianova Mitkova
  4. Ljuben Krasimirov Borislavov
  5. Tanja Tsvetanova Robertova

According to the documents, provided by the applicants and the organized interview, four of them were selected in the present competition, as follows:

  1. Miroslava Dimitrova Dimitrova
  2. Sofia Slavova
  3. Eva Ilianova Mitkova
  4. Ljuben Krasimirov Borislavov

Eva  Mitkova, Ljuben  Borislavov and Miroslava  Dimitrova are appointed at the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry since 10.12.2020 with the following mentors – Prof. Plamen Stefanov (Topic A); Prof. Radostina Stoyanova (Topic B) and Prof. Reni Jordanova (Topic C), respectively. Sofia Slavova will be appointed later.

  1. A short course Rietveld refining with the FullProf program conducted by Dr. Michael Knapp. During the course, ways of working with powder diffraction data obtained through transmission geometry were mastered, and during the exercises, various problems and their solution in text programming mode were defined. Participants: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petar Tsvetkov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Delyana Manasieva, Assist. Prof. Dr. Mariya Kalapsazova (March 2022).
  2. A short course on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was conducted by Dr. Fabian Jeschull. The scientists got acquainted with the basics of the method and the way of presenting the data and were shown in exercises the preparation of a program file for cycling a potentiostat/ galvanostat. Participants: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petar Tsvetkov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Delyana Manasieva, Assist. Prof. Dr. Mariya Kalapsazova (March 2022).

  1. A short course of Dr. Petar Petrov on the methods of Chemical Deposition and Physical Deposition of thin films and Magnetron Sputter Deposition. During the training the principles and various modifications of the Magnetron Sputter Deposition method were presented, the types of magnetron sputtering, the device of magnetron sputtering equipment, as well as the parameters influencing the chemical composition, morphology, and structure of the obtained layers, were discussed. Participants: Prof. Dr. Ivelina Georgieva, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Genoveva Atanasova, Assist. Prof. Dr. Alexander Tsanev, Assist. Prof. Dr. Tina Dilovska, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sonya Harizanova and Assist. Prof. Dr. Tsvetan Zahariev (June 2022).

Scientific event “Third Workshop on Size-Dependent Effect in Materials for Environmental Protection and Energy Application” SizeMat3.

The 3rd International Workshop on Size-Dependent Effect in Materials for Environmental Protection and Clean Energy Application (SizeMat3) was held from 12 to 15 September 2021 in Pomorie (Grand Hotel Pomorie) Bulgaria. The scientific forum was organized by the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which is one of the leading scientific organizations in Bulgaria in the area of materials for environmental impact. SizeMat3 was carried out within the project “European Twinning on Materials Chemistry Enabling Clean Technologies” (TwinTeam) of the National Science Programme “European research network”, (coordinated by IGIC-BAS). Dimensional effects in materials for environmental protection and clean energy production were discussed as an innovative approach for the development of perspective materials with improved properties. The reported scientific results were focused on three main areas of materials science:

Topic A: Materials and thin films for environmental protection;

Topic B: Materials for clean energy storage;

Topic C: Ceramics/Bioceramics and Glasses for Better Living (with applications in optics, molecular electronics and medicine).

More than 80 Bulgarian and foreign scientists participated in the SizeMat3 forum. Eight plenary lectures were given and seven of them were presented by leading researcher from the three TwinTeam partner organizations: Imperial College London – Department of Materials (UK), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Materials – Energy Storage Systems (Germany) and University of Seville, Materials Science Institute of Seville (Spain). Scientists from Russia and Slovakia, as well as many young researchers, PhD students and students from IGIC-BAS, FChPh-SU, Institutes of BAS and University of Mining and Geology were attended in the forum. SizeMat3 is the third in a series of international seminars in Bulgaria, organized by the IGIC-BAS, which attracted once again the interest of the scientific community to the selected topics. The scientific forum was organized in eight lecture sessions and two poster sessions. The total number of oral presentations (excluding plenary) was 10, flash presentations – 4 and poster presentations on topic A – 35, on topic B – 14 and on topic C – 12.

Five young scientists were awarded certificates for the best poster in all three areas and Theoretical Chemistry, as well as for the best virtual poster. All presentations’ abstracts were summarized in a Book of Abstracts, which, together with the workshop program, are available on the website: http://twinteam.igic.bas.bg/sizemat/, specially prepared for the scientific event.

About 20 papers, including conference proceedings will be published in a special issue of Materials Today: Proceedings. Reviewer’s process will be managed by three guest editors from IGIC. The deadline for submitting papers 10 December 2021.

 

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It is planned to hold an international scientific conference SizeMat3 within the TwinTeam project.
The scientific event will be organized by the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry – BAS and will be held at the Grand Hotel Pomorie in the period 12-15 September 2021.
The developed website of the conference can be viewed here:

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – Institute for Applied Materials – Energy Storage Systems

  • In March-April 2022, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petar Tsvetkov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Delyana Manasieva and Assist. Prof. Dr. Mariya Kalapsazova was on a short specialization at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. There they got acquainted with the work, available equipment, and techniques of colleagues from the institute IAM–ESS (Institute for Applied Materials – Energy Storage Systems). A technique for in-situ XRD and in-situ Raman measurement of an electrochemical cell in a cycling process was demonstrated. A number of in/ex-situ XRD (in transmission geometry using different X-ray (Ag, Cu)) and in-situ Raman measurements of electrochemical cells with cathode materials were performed, as well as galvanostatic measurements of electrochemical cells. Colleagues from IGIC also got acquainted with sample preparation, assembly, and measurements of specific XAS electrochemical cells and conducting in-situ XAS on a synchrotron ANKA.
  • Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petar Tsvetkov held a meeting with Dr.-Ing. André Weber, head of the laboratory for testing solid fuel cells at the Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET), where discussed possibilities for future impedance research of a new type of solid electrolyte.

Department of Materials from Imperial College London

  • An IGIC working group visited a project partner Imperial College London for scientific meetings and lectures in June. The group included scientists working on the three topics of the project: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Genoveva Atanasova, Assist. Prof. Dr. Alexander Tsanev, Assist. Prof. Dr. Tina Dilova – on topic A (Materials and thin films for environmental protection); Assist. Prof. Dr. Sonya Harizanova – on topic B (Materials for storage of clean energy); Prof. Dr. Ivelina Georgieva and Assist. Prof. Dr. Tsvetan Zahariev – on topic C (Ceramics and bioceramics for a better life, in particular modeling of optical properties). Meetings were held with Dr. Peter Petrov, Prof. Dr. Peter Haynes (Head of the Department of Materials), Prof. Dr. Mark Oxborrow, Prof. Dr. Sandrine Heutz (Director for The London Center for Nanotechnology at Imperial), and their colleagues, Ph.D., and postdoctoral students.
  • During the visit to the Faculty of Engineering, Department of Materials, Imperial Colleague of London, the group got acquainted with the available scientific equipment for the characterization of materials (XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, ambient pressure XPS, etc.) and the work on dielectric measurement permeability of the newly obtained thin films from sample preparation to the measurement itself. Different configurations of magnetron sputtering equipment are available in Dr. Petrov’s laboratory and in detail, the latest magnetron sputtering equipment and sample preparation of the samples were considered. A laboratory with equipment for pulsed laser deposition was visited.
  • Several scientific meetings were held:
    – with colleagues from the Faculty of Engineering, Department of Materials, Imperial Colleague of London to discuss the possibilities of obtaining thin nanostructured films by pulsed laser deposition in the air at atmospheric pressure;
    – with Prof. Haynes for presenting the theoretical topics on topic C of the project. At the meeting we expressed a desire to access and get acquainted with the ONETEP program (developed by Prof. Haynes and associates);
    – with Prof. Mark Oxborrow, with whom were exchanged ideas for collaboration with the inclusion of theoretical research;
    – Closing meeting with Dr. Peter Petrov to discuss the possibilities for joint research on the production and characterization of thin films for environmental protection. The possibilities for financing the research and publishing the obtained results were discussed.

Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute at National Hellenic Research Foundation 

  • In the period from June, 1 to 15, 2022, Assoc. prof. Lubomir Alexandrov and Assoc. prof. Margarita Milanova visited Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute (TPCI) at National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) in Athens, Greece. The main goal of the visit was training on the principles and practical application of reflection infrared and Raman spectroscopies for structural studies of oxide glasses. The training mentor was Prof. Efstratios Kamitsos. Raman spectra in the range 5-4000 cm-1 and infrared spectra in the reflection mode in the frequency range 30-7000 cm-1 were measured, from which absorption spectra were obtained by Kramers-Kronig transformation, which give a more reliable and complete structural (qualitative and quantitative) information about the investigated amorphous samples, which is not possible to obtain in IR spectral measurements of samples mixed with KBr. The obtained results were discussed in detail in order to prepare a future joint publication.

During a working visit to London, United Kingdom in June 2022, were presented two lectures:

  1. „Research topics in the laboratory of Electron spectroscopy of solid surfaces“ from assist. prof. Dr. Alexander Tsanev, where the main topics of the laboratory Electron Spectroscopy of Solid Surfaces in IONH were presented (abstract);
  2. “Advanced materials developed in IGIC-BAS: theoretical and experimental insight” from  prof. Dr. Ivelina Georgieva, were was presented the scientific topics in IGIC, the topics of the TwinTeam project and the theoretical research of optical properties related to topic C of the project. (abstract)

Presentation of the project in mass media:

  • A publication with photo material was prepared and sent to the Press Center of BAS. The article is entitled “Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry with participation in a project for the development of materials for clean technologies.” and presents an information about the new project of IGIC. Link.

  • A brochure presenting the project “European Twinning on Materials Chemistry Enabling Clean Technologies”, acronym TwinTeam, has been prepared. Brochure Twin Team.

  • A poster presenting the TwinTeam project has been prepared and printed. The poster is available in the lobby on the third floor of IGIC – BAS. Poster Twin Team.

  • An announcement about the “Third Workshop on Size-Dependent Effect in Materials for Environmental Protection and Energy Application” supported by the project TwinTeam was published by the press center of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. Link.

Conducting a scientific event.

  • The 3rd international workshop on “Size-Dependent Effects in Materials for Environmental Protection and Energy Application” (SizeMat3) was held from 12 to 15 September 2021 in Pomorie (Grand Hotel Pomorie), Bulgaria. Link.

Special issue Materials Today:Proceedings from the 3rd international workshop SizeMat3.

  • The special issue with 18 publications from the 3rd international workshop SizeMat3 has been published Link