US 8247039 (B2). This patent has been granted by United States Patent and Trademark Office on 21. avg. 2012 (the priority rights date back to 2005). The patent protects an original method based on plasma treatment of entire surface of a product made from a polymer and subsequent treatment with a collimated beam of energetic electrons causing local de-functionalization thus enable for arbitrary distribution of surface functional groups on micrometer scale.
F.09 Development of a new technological process or technology
COBISS.SI-ID: 20346407Last year Dr. Srečko Paskvale defended his PhD thesis »Carbon-based protective coatings deposited by physical vapour deposition processes«, where he analyzed the tribological properties of coatings with a low friction coefficient, prepared by different deposition techniques. Most emphasis was given to the bilayer coating TiAlN/a-CNx, which was successfully implemented in industrial production. In his work he analyzed the dependence of friction coefficient and wear parameters on the deposition parameters (thickness, rotation rate and sample position in the chamber), and surface condition (roughness, defect density).
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 1246047After four years in 2012 the European FP7 project "Atmospheric plasmas for nanoscale industrial surface processing - PlasmaNice" finished successfully. In the project 15 European partners from research and industry areas were involved. The results of the PlasmaNice project are a new equipment and technology for industrial in-line deposition of functional coatings on paper and plastic substrates for packaging assisted by atmospheric plasmas. Our group carried out precise surface characterization of plasma deposited sol-gel coatings using XPS, AFM and TOF-SIMS methods. We determined the correlation between the plasma process parameters, degree of surface functionalization and thickness of the deposited coatings. In the frame of the project we developed a new method for fast and in-line monitoring of the efficiency of the air plasma surface activation at very high velocity, which has great potential for industrial applications.
D.01 Chairing over/coordinating (international and national) projects
The head of the programme group gave an invited talk at the largest Korean research organization KAIST. He presented various applications of technologies developed and partially patented within the research programme with an emphasis on research priorities of both Slovenian and Korean Institutes: removal of hydrogenated carbon deposits (our technology is suitable for application in fusion reactor K-STAR within KAIST) and improved biocompatibility of materials used for kardiovascular implants.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 25771559The patent protects a method and device suitable for controlled treatment of solid materials with metastable reactive particles formed in low pressure discharges. An active element allows for adjustable density of reactive atoms in the processing chamber independently from discharge parameters. The device is especially suitable for treatment of delicate biomedical samples and products where the flux of radicals should be highly controlled.
F.04 Increase of the technological level
COBISS.SI-ID: 24586279