Leila Zahedi and Pedram Ghourchi Beigi, Ph.D. candidates at the Plasma Nanotechnology and Bioapplication group, Department of Plasma Physics and Technology, stayed four months at the University of Ghent for their Erasmus+ traineeship. They investigated the potential of plasma-liquid interaction for practical applications within the scope of their respective Ph.D. topics.
In the middle of August 2024, Assoc. Prof. Dušan Kováčik and Dr. Richard Krumpolec planned a packed business road trip to promote the CEPLANT center. One of their stops was at Belgium Ghent University. They accompanied Leila Zahedi and Pedram Ghourchi Beigi to their 4-month internships at the Department of Applied Physics at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, UGENT. Erasmus+ and MU grant programs funded their trip.
Leila and Pedram are Ph.D. candidates from the Plasma Nanotechnologies and Bioapplications research group at the Department of Plasma Physics and Technology and the CEPLANT center. They work under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dušan Kováčik and consultation of Dr. Richard Krumpolec. At Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Prof. dr. ir. Nathalie De Geyter and Prof. dr. Rino Morent hosted and supervised them on the applications of atmospheric-pressure plasma and its interaction with liquids within their doctoral topics. Belgian colleagues developed an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) to study plasma-liquid interaction mainly for solution treatment with possible biomedical applications.
Leila focuses on studying electrospun nanofibers and plasma treatment to enhance the fabrication process and properties of the final material. "Even a tiny change in the solution can significantly change the nanofibers. By selecting a different approach, we can improve the quality and properties of the nanofibers. There are huge efforts to make the nanofibers as thin as possible for various applications from health needs to the industry, but maintaining their desirable properties is still challenging." Leila explains in her research. Potential applications for these advancements include sophisticated drug delivery systems and scaffolds.
Pedram's research deals more with coatings. "I was curious about the effect of APPJ on the properties of my final layer. So, I looked at different aspects of the coating, i.e., substrate, coatings properties, and curing, affected by plasma treatment. My goal was to develop a superhydrophobic and antifouling silicon-based coating, and it's still going on. On the other hand, I decided to fruiten my stay at UGent more by focusing on optical emission spectroscopy (OES) as a diagnostic technique of the discharge," Pedram explains.
Although Leila and Pedram dealt with new challenges, they gained a lot of fantastic experiences during the 4-month stay, and their traineeship at UGent strengthened their background and future careers. Overall, the experience has been quite successful, and the results will be included in their Ph.D. thesis and the predicted scientific articles.
In mid-February 2025, Dr. Richard Krumpolec and Pedram Ghourchi Beigi hosted Kingsley Iwu, the CTO of Nanize AS. New insights into plasma application in the PFAS-free industry were discussed at the beginning of the sixth year of this collaboration with this Norwegian company. Experiments were carried out based on the use of plasma technologies for the activation of various substrates for applications in the coating industry.
Jakub Kelar visited Fraunhofer IAP, where he picked up the DCSBD plasma unit installed previously in November 2024. With Přemysl Štastný from CEITEC, they met with Sebastian Spange and his colleagues from Fraunhofer IKTS. They aim to prepare a joint project developing ceramic materials for dielectric barrier discharges. Cooperation on sample testing from both CEPLANT and CEITEC was discussed for the technology scaling-up.
