Author: biba

TRAKMAT project: International award for Sunčica Sukur, a young researcher

Sunčica Sukur, who is employed as a research assistant at the Chemistry Department on the RIS RESTORE project, and is also a master student, won the 3rd place in the international competition for innovative ideas in the field of material science.

Sunčica presented the result of her graduation thesis defended in July 2020, which brought a significant potentially applicative result on domestic pyrophyllite. Pyrophyllite is an aluminosilicate of which we have in Bosnia and Herzegovina about 38 million tons in the Parsovići deposit near Konjic, which makes it probably the largest deposit of this mineral in the world.

After a detailed examination of the kinetics of neutralization of acid solutions with micronized pyrophyllite powder, Sunčica came to the conclusion that this kinetics is very fast, ie that pyrophyllite completely neutralizes acidic solutions up to pH=2 in less than one minute, and then buffers them into a slightly basic area of about pH=8. This phenomenon could be applied in the rapid treatment of acid injuries in work, industry or in cases of acid attacks which are unfortunately very common in the world. It would be a convenient packaging of pyrophyllite in bottles similar to baby powder bottles that should be on hand in first aid kits in every home or workplace where there is a possibility of these injuries. Proving this application continues in collaboration with colleagues from Department of Biology.

The award includes a modest amount of money, but is prestigious given that Sunčica’s result was achieved in modest laboratory conditions, on a device purchased from TRAKMAT project (support from Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society). On the other hand, other competitors presented results supported by valuable internationally funded projects. The award also represents a motivation for other students to continue to achieve such notable results through project activities at Chemistry Department.

Links:

https://pmf.unibl.org/trakmat-national-project/

https://eitrawmaterials.eu/

https://www.eitrawmaterials-rcadria.eu/events/adria-innovation-day-2020

AWARDS WINNERS  OF THE CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF BANJA LUKA FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORK IN 2019.

We are honored and pleased to share the great news about the success of our teachers and associates of the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics and Chemistry Department at University of Banja Luka.

Out of a total of 67 awarded teachers and associates at the University of Banja Luka, seven teachers and associates of the Chemistry Department are the winners of monetary awards based on the achieved international results in scientific research and educational work for 2019. prof. dr Sasa Zeljkovic, prof. dr Dijana Jelic, prof. dr Biljana Davidović Plavšić and prof. dr Dragana Blagojević were awarded as the first authors of scientific papers in indexed scientific journals, while prof. dr Suzana Gotovac Atlagić, prof. Dr. Milica Balaban and assistant Sanja Pržulj, ma, awarded in the category of international research projects. The contribution of teachers and associates of the Chemistry Department to the total number of awards is more than 10%, which indicates our commitment to scientific research and the promotion of science.

At the conference held on November 10, 2020, at the Faculty of Political Sciences atthe University of Banja Luka, prof. dr Dijana Jelic and prof. dr. Suzana Gotovac Atlagić had the opportunity to introduce the participants and young associates of the University of Banja Luka with the content of their works and projects, but also with the work of awarded colleagues who due to the epidemiological situation were not able to attend the event, as well as with all activities in our study program.

The first prize was won by our colleague professor Saša Zeljković, who published two papers in the journal Ceramics International, whose impact factor is 3.8 and belongs to the highest category of international journals.

Activities and preliminary results of the RIS RESTORE project presented in Poland

The 30th traditional Central European and International Conference ECOPOLE21′ was organized In Krakow, Poland, from 08.-10.10.2020, by the Polish Society for Ecological Chemistry and Engineering. Despite the difficult working conditions, the organizers managed to ensure the live presence of distinguished speakers from European universities and the Polish Academy of Sciences. As part of about 30% of the program that was presented live online, a one-hour presentation was given by Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr Ada Yonath from Israel. Epidemic protection measures during the meeting were at a high level, but it was still possible to achieve significant communication between colleagues and speakers with a lot of discussion and questions.

The RIS RESTORE project, in which the Chemistry Department is participating, was presented by an oral presentation of the preliminary results of four BiH teams, and the speaker was Doc. Dr Suzana Gotovac Atlagić from the University of Banja Luka, who presented live. Important suggestions were received from colleagues, especially from teams from Poland and the Czech Republic that deal with similar topics, such as the management of “hotspots”, ie. locations contaminated with toxic metals in these countries, which will be important for the development of further RIS RESTORE  activities and research.

Links:

https://ecesociety.com/accepted-contributions/

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2009/yonath/facts/

http://ris-restore.zag.si/

Env.net PROJECT: Visit to the “Omorika reciklaža” PET recycling factory in Doboj

The “Env-Net” project supported a successful visit to the first factory that started recycling PET in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Omorika reciklaza” in the municipality of Doboj. Numerous activities are possible to take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina if measures are taken to prevent COVID-19 infection and the number of participants is up to 50. Bosnian partner from Env-Net, the project team “LIR-evolution” decided to continue with field visits with protective measures and take students and professors to this environmental best practice location. Recently, several more factories have started working on PET recycling. Nevertheless, “Omorika Recycling”, which uses highly automated process lines, their constant improvement and work on the establishment of a state-of-the-art quality control laboratory, constantly sets an excellent example to others. The factory, which currently has 51 employees, maintains production at a good level, despite the pandemic, taking careful hygienic measures, which were respected during this visit as well.

Habits for recycling PET and other polymers are still not sufficiently promoted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite many existing “recycling stations” (special waste separation containers located in schoolyards and large buildings). Many people are skeptical about recycling and are mistaken in thinking that even separate waste is dumped in city landfills. This is a harmful prejudice, given that “Omorika Recycling” is in high demand and currently imports some of the waste.

Since this plant exports 97% of its final products due to its excellent quality, visit participants will now be able to support them by promoting the facts about this example of PET recycling best practice. The focus group of visitors this time were professors of environmental protection and polymer technology from the University of Banja Luka with their students, mostly in the phase of finalizing the thesis or enrolled in master’s studies. The young participants, who will soon be professionals working in industry or government bodies, were able to see how PET waste is processed and will be able to educate their colleagues and families about the results of the plant. Since the factory is licensed to purchase the collected waste even from citizens and small groups, this is a great chance for students to promote PET collection and sale for recycling to achieve some social goals or support humanitarian or sports activities.

 

Links:

http://env-net.org/

https://reciklaza.ba/

EMPOWERING STUDENTS IN SCIENCE: SUCCESS OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS AT THE CONFERENCE “CONTEMPORARY MATERIALS 2020”

Four graduate students of Chemistry Department, Nina Babić, Dragana Žabić, Zorica Jerkić and Stefan Četić participated in research and experimental work on the scientific research project “Phytosynthesis, characterization and biomedical application of metal (Ag, Si, Cu) and oxide (ZnO, TiO2, CuO, Fe2O3) nanoparticle: microbiological, biokinetic and toxicological aspect” which is financed by the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society of Republic of Srpska, under the mentorship of prof. dr Dijana Jelić and senior assistant Dragana Gajić, from the Department of Physical Chemistry, along with prof. dr Aleksandra Šmitran from the Faculty of Medicine.

Through experimental work, students were introduced and learned to work on several different instruments, necessary for the characterization of the materials they have synthesized. They mastered experiments involving photocatalytic and antimicrobial ability of metallic nanoparticles. The results of their participation in the project were presented at the 13th International Conference Contemporary Materials 2020 entitled “Empowering students in science: Phytosynthesis, characterization and biomedical application of metallic (Ag, Si, Cu) and oxide (ZnO, TiO2, CuO, Fe2O3) nanoparticles: microbiology, biokinetics and toxicology aspect”. At the conference, 84 papers were presented and the  work of our students was awarded along with three others paper by an expert commission consisting of eminent professors and academics as the best poster presentation.

Two main goals of the project were achieved: successful synthesis of new materials by the method of green chemistry, an economical and environmentally friendly way of synthesis, gaining insight into metallic nanoparticles photocatalytic and antimicrobial potentials, and active involvement of students in projects and scientific research. The achieved results confirm the quality of joint work and the importance of involving students in science, either through work on scientific projects or professional internships, where practical experience is gained and previously acquired knowledge is expanded.

Workshop within the RIS-RESTORE project

On Friday, October 16, 2020, the first Workshop within the RIS-RESTORE project was held. The full name of the Workshop held in the Seminar hall of the Ethno Village – Museum of the Ljubačke doline was the POTENTIAL FOR VALORIZATION OF RED MUD IN BIH. The workshop was attended by project partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering, University of Tuzla, Alumina d.o.o. Zvornik and the Federal Institute of Geology, Sarajevo. The event was also attended by representatives of mines, policy makers in the mining, science, technology and innovation sectors, representatives of companies, development agencies, researchers and investors – in particular, representatives of the Faculty of Mining, University of Banja Luka, Mining Institute in Prijedor, Faculty of Chemistry and Agriculture Belgrade, Institute for Protection and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska and the company for geological research IBIS-ENGINEERING.

The seminar was organized by the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Banja Luka, one of the project partners, with colleagues from the consortium. The international RIS-RESTORE project aims to establish a self-sustaining network of stakeholders interested in the processing of red mud tailings in the region of East and Southeast Europe and the extraction of rare earth elements. Dissemination of the project, activities such as this workshop will strengthen the cooperation between local companies and scientific institutions, and enable the practical application of the results of scientific research in the development of new products/processes from waste materials. Due to the epidemiological situation, the workshop was held in accordance with the observance of all protective measures in the semi-open type hall.

Link: http://ris-restore.zag.si/

RIS RESTORE project: start of the field and research activities

Partners on the RIS RESTORE project funded by the EIT RawMaterials met on September 10 in Zvornik in the management of the company “Alumina”. The meeting was attended by representatives of four teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federal Institute of Geology, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Banja Luka, and the meeting was chaired by the Director of Integrated Protection B.Eng. Dragana Smiljanic.

The participation of “Alumina” in this project is extremely important since “Alumina” is one of the leading manufacturers of various types of alumina, hydrates, zeolites, silica gel and water glass that are used in various industries. The company currently exports over 95% of its products to more than 40 countries in the EU, Asia, Africa, USA, South and Central America and others. Alumina is the only factory in the Western Balkans that processes bauxite according to the Bayer process and produces various types of hydrates and alumina.

The company currently employs about 1.520 workers, has more than 800 suppliers and business partners from Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Thousands of workers rely on the factory’s operations, primarily in Zvornik and the Birač region.

During the processing of bauxite ore, which comes from several deposits in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Alumina” generates waste material called “red mud”. However, red mud still carries great potential as a secondary raw material. Extraction of useful minerals from such secondary raw materials has been one of the leading research branches in recent years, as well as many successful investments in the economy. For example, Vietnam processes almost all of the red mud from this country into useful products, and China is also achieving a recycling rate of about 5% and is making further progress. It is estimated that there are about 80 million tons of red mud in several landfills in Europe. The coordinator of the project is the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, and the partners are, in addition to those mentioned from B&H, also prestigious universities and institutes from Greece, Spain, Hungary, Switzerland, Croatia and Austria. During the project, the partners will make efforts to define the potentials for processing red mud into useful products, which would be a significant step towards reducing the amount of this waste, so far deposited. It is of great importance for our country that the valorization of red mud would lead to the creation of more workplaces in an already highly successful company such as “Alumina”, which is undoubtedly the most successful company in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment.

Link:

http://ris-restore.zag.si/

TRAKMAT / RAISESEE PROJECT: TRAINING ON MINERAL RAW MATERIALS PREPARATION

SP chemistry students, who are also researchers on the TRAKMAT / RAISESEE projects, visited Faculty of Mining in Prijedor on 4 September 2020. Colleagues from the Faculty of Mining trained them in the preparation of mineral raw materials. Grinding and preparation of defined fractions and different size particles is an extremely important area for both mining and chemistry. Namely, the catalytic or adsorption properties, as well as the light emission properties of particles used in the chemical industry, often depend on the particle size.

The researchers will apply the acquired knowledge in the coming weeks to gain the interest of younger interns of the RAISESEE project in this topic. In particular, the training was performed on charcoal materials of the company “Destilacija”. This material have shown excellent potential as additives for mining explosives when granulated below 2 mm in diameter and the international research paper was published on this topic recently. Through such research, students can once again understand the unbreakable bond of chemistry and mining, and the potential of domestic products in the chemical industry that can be based solely on domestic mineral resources or even secondary raw materials from mining. The TRAKMAT project is coming to an end, but the impression of the participants is that the cooperation between the students and the teaching staff of SP Chemistry and the Faculty of Mining has been strengthened and that many ideas have emerged from this project.

Links:

http://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mnk

http://www.rf.unibl.org/

http://raiseseeris.istm.cnr.it/

https://eitrawmaterials.eu/

https://pmf.unibl.org/trakmat-national-project/

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4681

Advances in cooperation with “Bentoproduct doo” company

 

The “Bentoproduct doo” company is one of successful production companies in the Republic of Srpska. They are engaged in the exploitation and mechanochemical processing of the domestic mineral bentonite from the deposit in Šipovo city. Also, the mine and the factory itself employ several dozens of workers and are a stimulus to the development of the local municipality of Šipovo. It is a foreign investment in the production of high quality bentonite products intended for six different industries, and they proudly point out the fact that they are recently  and they are the only local producer of bentonite carpets, i.e. waterproof bentonite membranes that are widely used in civil engineering and environmental protection. Thanks to the constant quality, with these products they prove that our domestic production follows the trends and offers the same quality as the world competition. „Bentoproduct doo“ exports more than 90% of its production.

Doors of this company have been open for a long time for the students of the Chemistry Department  at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Banja Luka. Thus, in 2019, student visits were even realized together with a group of high school graduates who are interested in materials science, through the RAISESEE project. This time, production director Aleksandar Ubiparip and the executive director Irena Bijelić visited the Faculty. The topic of the meeting was the agreement on signing the Agreement on business-technical cooperation between the company “Bentoproduct” and the Faculty of Natural Sciences. As part of the future contract, research work will be carried out at the Faculty of Science on activated bentonite. The research aims to further prove the health safety of new types of bentonite so that it can be more widely applied, especially in the food industry. The experimental work will be supported through the RAISESEE project in order for the project interns to get acquainted with the methods of analysis. The skeleton of the research will be held by students and interns of Chemistry Deapartment, who are coming originaly from Šipovo city, in the hope that the company would recognize their efforts and give confidence to these young people in the future if opportunities for employment of chemists appear.

Links:

http://raiseseeris.istm.cnr.it/

https://bentoproduct.ba/

From one student to another: Training course for GC-MS

Training course for young researchers in Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was held on  August 27, 2020. Participants were master students along with researchers engaged at different projects ongoing at the Chemistry Department. Training was held by Nemanja Koljančić, MA in chemistry, one of the best graduated students of this department. At the moment, Koljančić is a PhD student of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava and he is able to transfer newly acquired knowledge. This way, the knowledge is being transfered from older students to their younger colleagues and also Alumni association of chemists is getting stronger. This training is important for experimental activities for a number of national projects that are active at the moment, especially for those in organic chemistry, polymer chemistry and environmental chemistry. This training is also part of the preparatory activities for the realization of the Erasmus+ K1 action between the two institutions which is approved and is starting from next academic year.

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