In the middle of March 2023, a delegation from an Austrian research organization Joanneum Research visited our CEPLANT center and the Department of Physical Electronics. Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Homola and his Ph.D. students Július Vida and František Zažímal participate with them in a joint mobility project for developing superhydrophobic surfaces using atmospheric plasma.
A delegation from an Austrian Austrian research organization Joanneum Research visited the CEPLANT center and the Department of Physical Electronics in the middle of March 2023. In the team of Austrian scientists was BSc. Carina Hendler DI, BSc. Simon Chwatal MSc, Mag. Dr. Alexander Michael Schwan and Dr. Reinhard Kaindl. During the visit, scientists tested new plasma techniques for depositing polymer layers and, in detail, characterized these layers. The DCSBD was used as a plasma source for the post-treatment of sol-gel layers.
The visit was scheduled as part of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports international project. The project is a MOBILITY program named Superhydrophobic Surfaces Created by Atmospheric Plasma (8J22AT002). Based on the biomimetic approach, the project aims to study the fundamental aspects of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) by fluorinated polymers to deposit superhydrophobic coatings. Scientists working on this project study both "hot" and "cold" plasma, namely atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD), respectively. The surface characterization is an important part where the coatings' effect of roughness, surface energy, and wear stability is studied. Furthermore, the project also aims to address the technical obstacle of parasitic layers occurring in DCSBD plasma.
Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Homola is the head of the project on the Czech side. Two Ph.D. students, Mgr. Július Vida and Mgr. František Zažímal are part of his team. The cooperation of the workplaces created suitable conditions for the involvement and mobility of students. The Czech team of this project visited Joanneum Research in the fall of 2022. Together they plan to publish the results as an article in an international journal in 2023.
The Heart of Europe workshop is a traditional gathering of scientists dealing with thin films. The center of Europe is presented by the Technical University of Vienna, Masaryk University in Brno, and Comenius University in Bratislava.
Prof. Christoph Gerhard and his colleagues visited their project partners at the Department of Plasma Physics and Technology and the CEPLANT Centre in the second week of April 2024. Together, they are working on the functionalization of fibers.
