The list of international projects SAS
Institute of Geotechnics SAS
Sustainable Thermoelectrics European Network
Európska sieť pre trvalo udržateľnú termoelektrinu
| Duration: |
1.11.2025 - 31.10.2029 |
| Program: |
COST |
| Project leader: |
RNDr. Baláž Matej DrSc. |
| Annotation: | The strategies outlined in the European Green Deal and the EU Action Plans on Critical Raw Materials and the Circular Economy highlight the need for a sustainable development of renewable energy ecosystems and the efficient use of resources to promote a decarbonized society. Thermoelectric (TE) technology is regarded as alternative and environmentally friendly technology for harvesting and recovering heat, which is
directly converted into electrical energy, as well as for cooling, heating and hybrid applications. The TE technology indeed holds significant potential for sustainable energy practices and the integration of the TE systems could lead to a new era of energy efficiency and contribute substantially to the EU energy sustainability efforts. Although the range of applications that can benefit from the use of devices based on this technology is very wide, there is still a supply chain to be developed. SUSTENET will address this issue by accelerating collaborative interdisciplinary knowledge generation and engagement with industrial partners, maximizing impact through knowledge creation and transfer, conducting environmental impact assessments and promoting research excellence. Additionally, SUSTENET will promote career development through workshops, seminars, and training schools, and will engage in extensive dissemination activities to amplify
the impact of the outcomes. |
Innovative materials for applications in next-generation wastewater treatment technologies
Inovatívne materiály určené pre nové technológie čistenia odpadových vôd
| Duration: |
1.7.2025 - 30.6.2027 |
| Program: |
Other |
| Project leader: |
RNDr. Fabián Martin PhD. |
| Annotation: | Pollution of water bodies and water scarcity have reached alarming levels, posing serious threats to ecosystems and human health. This underscores an urgent need to address these challenges through the reuse and recycling of water by applying innovative wastewater treatment technologies. Efficient and cost-effective wastewater treatment processes are crucial for sustainable development, environmental protection, and public health. The project “Innovative Materials for Next-Generation Wastewater Treatment” (INMAT) addresses the global challenge of insufficient technologies for treating wastewater with variable composition or high pollutant loads, such as effluents from the textile industry. Conventional methods, including biological treatments, often fail to provide adequate efficiency, whereas nuclear-based technologies, while highly effective, are economically unviable. INMAT proposes groundbreaking approaches to wastewater purification through the development of innovative materials (nanocatalysts) capable of generating free radicals via the Fenton reaction as part of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). This concept ensures effective degradation of organic pollutants. Additionally, the project introduces the use of gamma radiation from “spent” sealed radioactive sources as a sustainable and accessible solution for wastewater treatment. Another key element of the project is the exploration of magnetic hyperthermia. In this process, magnetic nanocatalysts subjected to an alternating magnetic field generate heat (200–300°C), which plays a critical role in the degradation of organic pollutants in complex wastewater. This approach is particularly effective in scenarios where light is insufficient, or other methods fail to achieve the desired outcomes. In this regard, the development of development of mobile or stationary devices for this purpose presents actuall scientific topic. |
Multifunctional sustainable adsorbents for water treatment assisted with plasma technologies and for health protection from xenobiotics
Multifunkčné udržateľné adsorbenty na úpravu vody pomocou plazmových technológií a na ochranu zdravia pred xenobiotikami
| Duration: |
1.1.2024 - 31.12.2027 |
| Program: |
Horizon Europe |
| Project leader: |
Melnyk Inna PhD. |
| Annotation: | Contamination of drinking-water is an urgent global health concern, preferentially in rural areas, and is highly related to the poor and vulnerable population. This challenge requires a single, easy to handle and low-cost solution able to decrease the levels of pathogens, chemical and radiological hazards to tolerable levels in a single and simple pot (from a sorbent on a glass to a more powerful cold plasma technology). Furthermore, climate change, natural disasters and the actual war in Ukraine urges having available fast effective solutions to avoid the spread of waterborne epidemies and being exposed to unsafe levels of heavy metals or hazardous organic pollutants. The complexity of such contamination including organic/inorganic species, cationic/anionic species, different size and shape, etc., requires a multicomponent system and/or device, in the form of a tablet or monolith, able to tackle specifically each of these hazards at once. In addition, this multicomponent system, besides tacking the problem in water, can be prepared and/or modified to be biocompatible so that it can also be used as a dietary complement to mitigate/remove all these hazards in human body (as enterosorbent). Based on these premises, the main goal of the CLEANWATER project is the design and development of multicomponent sorbents prepared by the combination of safe materials (e.g., activated carbons, bone-chars, pectins, among others) able to eliminate these contaminants in drinking water in a single pot or in combination with cold plasma for complete destruction. Furthermore, this sorbent will be modified accordingly to be applied in human body as a dietary complement to remove these species once assimilated in the body. |
Nanocatalysts and Hybrid Technologies for Emerging Organic Pollutant Degradation
Nanokatalyzátory a hybridné technológie pre degradáciu nových typov organických kontaminantov
| Duration: |
1.7.2025 - 30.6.2028 |
| Program: |
EUREKA |
| Project leader: |
RNDr. Fabián Martin PhD. |
| Annotation: | The aim of this project is the production of nanocatalysts and the development of hybrid technologies
for the treatment of water containing emerging organic pollutants. Organic pollutants, such as textile
dyes, have complex molecular structures that make them resistant to conventional treatment methods,
resulting in significant environmental and health problems for human populations.
The proposed project focuses on innovative solutions by developing advanced nanocatalysts (e.g.,
mixed ferrites) with enhanced activity for free radical generation. Additionally, hybrid technologies are
being explored, combining nanocatalysts with UV and microwave irradiation to significantly improve the
efficiency of organic pollutant degradation and reduce processing time. Furthermore, the introduction of
electrocatalysis into the Fenton reaction further boosts efficiency by accelerating redox reactions and
generating highly reactive radicals.
|
Nanostructured Amorphous Arseno-Selenides na-As-Se: on the path towards great challenging issue in contemporary nanocomposite materials science and engineering
Nanoštrukturované amorfné selenidy arzénu na-As-Se: perspektívna cesta v materiálovom výskume a inžinierstve nanokompozitných materiálov
| Duration: |
1.1.2024 - 31.12.2025 |
| Program: |
Bilateral - other |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Lukáčová Bujňáková Zdenka PhD. |
| Annotation: | The project deals with development of novel multifunctional media for contemporary photonics, IR optoelectronics, telecommunication and sensing technique, as well as biomedicine based on mechanically activated nanostructured amorphous arsenic selenides, na-As-Se (nano-arseno-selenides). The coupled nanostructurization–re-amorphization effects in these substances activated by high-energy milling in dry and wet modes will be recognized in compositional domains including under-stoichiometric, stoichiometric (As3Se3) and over-stoichiometric substances. The quantum-chemical ab-initio models of covalent-network clusters in As-Se system, complemented by structural re-amorphization probes on short- and medium-range atomic ordering (employing X-ray diffraction related to the first sharp diffraction peak, XRD-FSDP) and sub-atomistic free-volume voids (employing positron annihilation spectroscopy in lifetime measuring mode (PALS) developed within the Positronics approach), allow selection the most perspective na-As-Se with optimized exploitation properties for multifunctional applications. This project is grounded on hypothesis that optimal functionality of mechanically activated glassy arseno-selenides is governed by their atomic-specific and atomic-deficient microstructure, i.e. arrangement of both atoms and atomic-deficient free-volume spaces. That is why PALS, probing free-volume imperfections in a condensed matter at the levels stretching far below experimental measuring limits of many conventional microstructural probes, complemented with atomic-sensitive XRD-FSDP method, are the best tools to through more light on the essence of this phenomenon. This collaborative research is opening novel direction in the engineering of the modern multifunctional solid-state media with predicted, guided and reliable exploitation properties, these being mechanically activated nanostructured glassy arseno-selenides in re-amorphized state – nano-arseno-selenides, na-As-Se. |
Development and Testing of Technologies for Multicomponent Systems Based on Secondary Aluminum Alloys and Organometallic Materials for Applications in Technological Combustion, Pyrotechnic Compositions, and Concealing Aerosol Compositions
Vývoj a schvaľovanie technológií pre nové funkčné materiály využívajúce plazmovo-chemické, mechanochemické a samopostupujúce procesy vysokoteplotnej syntézy
| Duration: |
1.7.2025 - 31.12.2027 |
| Program: |
Other |
| Project leader: |
RNDr. Baláž Matej DrSc. |
| Annotation: | The project aims to create advanced multi-component systems using secondary aluminum alloys and metal-organic binders for pyrotechnics and combustion processes, including a pilot production facility. Key objectives include:
1. Improved Signal/Lighting Cartridges: Develop cost-effective mixtures with copper iodides and boron carbides to control combustion speed, optimize radiation spectra, and enhance heat resistance/stability in diverse climates.
2. Enhanced Binders: Design metal-organic framework binders with superior thermal-mechanical properties, reduced toxicity, and controlled burn rates for pyrotechnic materials.
3. Efficient Smoke Compositions: Create compact/needle-shaped pyrotechnic powders from recycled aluminum alloys to boost smoke screen performance via optimized reactivity, aerosol density, and environmental resilience.
4. Multispectral Protective Devices: Engineer products using ultra-dispersed aerosols for broad-spectrum masking (visible/IR/radar) with reliable operation across climates.
5. Pilot Production: Build a modular facility to prototype and scale manufacturing processes for these systems.
The streamlined version retains core technical specifications while removing redundant details about testing parameters and material synthesis steps. The possibility to prepare the mentioned products by mechanochemical means will be also investigated.
|
Development of Innovative and Environmentally Safe Methods for Processing Metallurgical Slag
Vývoj inovatívnych a environmentálne bezpečných metód spracovania metalurgickej trosky
| Duration: |
1.7.2025 - 31.12.2027 |
| Program: |
Other |
| Project leader: |
RNDr. Baláž Matej DrSc. |
| Annotation: | The goal of this project is to "Develop innovative and environmentally safe methods for metallurgical slag processing, ensuring the efficient extraction of copper and other valuable components while creating in-demand construction and road materials."
To achieve this goal, the following tasks must be accomplished within the project:
1. Conduct a comprehensive analysis of current dispersed and historically accumulated metallurgical slag to determine the content of copper and other valuable components (such as silver) as well as the physical and chemical properties of the slag.
2. Develop and optimize methods for the technological preparation of slag, including blasting and crushing historically accumulated metallurgical slag.
3. Study the optimal conditions for grinding a mixture of slags (50% current dispersed slag and 50% historical monolithic slag) using a ball mill to achieve the required particle sizes.
4. Investigate and select methods for the extraction of copper and silver. Leaching: Select and optimize the composition of the leaching solution to maximize copper and silver recovery. Conduct laboratory tests on mixed slag leaching. Study sorption and desorption processes, selecting suitable sorbents and desorption solutions for copper and silver extraction.
5. Investigate and select methods for the extraction of copper and silver. Flotation: Develop and optimize new flotation reagents for processing mixed slag. Conduct laboratory tests on flotation and the extraction of copper and silver from mixed slag.
6. Develop methods for utilizing residues after leaching and/or flotation as construction finishing and/or road materials. Conduct tests on the strength, durability, and environmental safety of the resulting construction and road materials.
7. Develop formulations and technologies for producing high-quality construction finishing materials from slag processing residues. Conduct tests to ensure compliance with construction standards and regulations.
8. Develop new materials for road construction from slag processing residues. Conduct tests on the strength, wear resistance, and durability of the resulting road materials.
9. Assess the environmental safety of slag processing and utilization methods. Develop measures to reduce negative environmental impacts.
10. Analyze the economic efficiency of the proposed slag processing and utilization methods. Evaluate the costs of technology implementation and the expected profits from the sale of the resulting materials.
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The total number of projects: 7
