About department

Field of Scientific Interest

The main focus in the research of the Department of Hydrosilicates has been on the composition and properties of the fine fractions of bentonites, the clay raw materials containing dominantly montmorillonite or other minerals of the smectite group. Mineralogical and chemical composition and chemical modifications, including replacement of exchangeable cations by various inorganic and organic cations of selected properties and cationic dyes, partial dissolution in acids have been recently studied using mainly spectroscopic methods. Original interpretation of the first overtones and combination vibrations showed that near-infrared spectroscopy provides valuable information on the structure of analysed materials. Hybrid materials based on clay minerals and cationic dyes exhibit interesting properties, such as changes of the energy of absorbed and emitted light, excitation energy transfer, photosensitization, optical anisotropy, etc. These changes are related to the formation of specific supramolecular assemblies of dye cations on the surface of clay mineral particles.

• Head of department: Ing. Helena Pálková, PhD.

Selected publications

ČIKAN, Michal – KLEMENT, Róbert – MATEJDES, Marián – KUREKOVÁ, Valéria – FURKA, Daniel – FURKA, Samuel – TOMANOVÁ, Katarína – VETEŠKA, Peter – JANEK, Marián**. Rare earth modification of smectites and their use in luminescent up-conversion emission. In Applied Clay Science, 2025, vol. 266, art no. 107685. (2024: 5.8 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.077 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0169-1317.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2024.107685

GREAD, Faisal A.** – KUREKOVÁ, Valéria – SANTAMARÍA-LÓPEZ, Ángel – OSACKÝ, Marek – UHLÍK, Peter. Near-infrared as a swift method to quantify dioctahedral smectite content in bentonite. In Applied Clay Science, 2025, vol. 269, art no. 107748. (2024: 5.8 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.077 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0169-1317.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2025.107748

GUNARATHNE, Viraj – MEDEIROS MELO, Tatiane – SCHAUERTE, Marina – GROTH, Felix – SLANÝ, Michal – RINKLEBE, Jörg**. Immobilization of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from field contaminated groundwater by a novel organo-clay vs. colloidal activated carbon under flow conditions. In Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2025, vol. 488, art no. 137273. (2024: 11.3 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 3.078 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0304-3894.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137273

JARMILA, Czucz Varga – BUJDÁK, Juraj – BUJDÁKOVÁ, Helena**. Mixed Candida albicans–Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Is Reduced by Light-Activated Nanocomposite with Phloxine B. In Journal of Fungi, 2025, vol. 11, no. 8, art no. 582. (2024: 4 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.956 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 2309-608X. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11080582

KREŠÁKOVÁ, Lenka** – TARASENKO, Róbert – ORENDÁČ, Martin – TITIKOV, Hryhorii – ČIŽMÁR, Erik – KUCHÁR, Juraj – ČERNÁK, Juraj – JANKOVIČ, Ľuboš – MADEJOVÁ, Jana. Gadolinium chloride hexahydrate and its intercalation into synthetic saponite: structure, characterization and slow magnetic relaxation of the intercalated sample. In New Journal of Chemistry, 2025, vol. 49, no. 26, p. 11520-11530. (2024: 2.5 – IF, Q3 – JCR, 0.493 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). ISSN 1144-0546.  https://doi.org/10.1039/d5nj01537e

KRONEKOVÁ, Zuzana – JANKOVIČ, Ľuboš – MOŠKOVÁ, Zuzana – MINARČÍKOVÁ, Alžbeta – ZHUKOUSKAYA, Hanna – KUČKA, Jan – VETRÍK, Miroslav – HRUBÝ, Martin – KRONEK, Juraj**. Partially hydrolyzed poly(2-oxazoline)s as a new class of biocompatible modifiers of montmorillonites for the adsorption and decontamination of the organophosphate paraoxon. In Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2025, vol. 713, art. no. 136534, [13] p. (2024: 5.4 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.944 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0927-7757.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2025.136534

PLANETOVÁ, Viktória – BOHÁČ, Peter** – BUJDÁK, Juraj* – SIGMUNDOVÁ, Ivica – MAGDOLEN, Peter – RAJAMANI, Rajmohan – HROBÁRIK, Peter. Unlocking Light-Up Effect of Push–Pull Hemicyanine Dyes in Hybrid Silicate Dispersions: Impact of the Terminal Arylamine Functionality and Intermolecular Surface Distances. In Langmuir, 2025, vol. 41, no. 51, p. 34621–34630. (2024: 3.9 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.763 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0743-7463.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c05919

SLANÝ, Michal** – JANKOVIČ, Ľuboš – MATEJDES, Marián – ŽEMLIČKA, Matúš – MADEJOVÁ, Jana. Novel poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) polymer functionalized montmorillonite: Physicochemical aspects and near-IR study of hydration properties. In Journal of Molecular Structure, 2025, vol. 1321, art. no. 139855, 12 p. (2024: 4.7 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.628 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). ISSN 0022-2860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2024.139855

ŠKORŇA, Peter** – JANKOVIČ, Ľuboš – SCHOLTZOVÁ, Eva – TUNEGA, Daniel. Perchlorate and periodate adsorption by tetrahexylphosphonium-modified beidellite clay. In Journal of Molecular Structure, 2025, vol. 1349, art no. 143771. (2024: 4.7 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.628 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). ISSN 0022-2860.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2025.143771

VRŠANSKÝ, Peter** – SENDI, Hemen – KOTULOVÁ, Júlia – SZWEDO, Jacek – HAVELCOVÁ, Martina – PÁLKOVÁ, Helena – VRŠANSKÁ, Lucia – SAKALA, Jakub – PUŠKELOVÁ, Ľubica – GOLEJ, Marián – BIROŇ, Adrián – PEYROT, Daniel – QUICKE, D.L.J. – NÉRAUDEAU, Didier – UHER, Pavel – MAKSOUD, Sibelle – AZAR, Dany. Jurassic Park approached: a coccid from Kimmeridgian cheirolepidiacean Aintourine Lebanese amber. In National Science Review, 2025, vol. 12, iss. 3, art. no. nwae200, [25] p. (2024: 17.1 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 2.903 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 2095-5138.  https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwae200

BUGYNA, Larysa** – ŠVANTNER, Ľubomír – BILSKÁ, Katarína – PRIBUS, Marek – BUJDÁKOVÁ, Helena. Impact of Light-Activated Nanocomposite with Erythrosine B on agr Quorum Sensing System in Staphylococcus aureus. In Antibiotics, 2025, vol. 14, no. 10, art no. 1010. (2024: 4.6 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.114 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 2079-6382.  https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14101010

ČEPČIANSKA, Jana** – PALOU, Martin T. – CZIRÁK, Peter – SLANÝ, Michal – MATEJDES, Marián – ŽEMLIČKA, Matúš. Mechanical and structural properties of fiber-reinforced heavyweight self-compacting concrete incorporating supplementary cementitious materials. In Results in Engineering, 2025, vol. 26, art. no. 105324, 17 p. (2024: 7.9 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.171 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 2590-1230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.105324

ISSA, Maher** – ANDREJKOVIČOVÁ, Slavka – ZRIBI, Marwa – ŘIMNÁČOVÁ, Daniela – OLIVEIRA, Mónica S.A. – PÁLKOVÁ, Helena – ROCHA, Fernando – BAKLOUTI, Samir. Development of compacted alkali activated materials based on phosphate waste washing sludge and natural clay. In Construction and Building Materials, 2025, vol. 494, art no. 143403. (2024: 8 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 2.094 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0950-0618.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.143403

XUE, Dingfan – WU, Lanbing – GAO, Rongsheng – CAO, Yiping – ZHAO, Chao – LIU, Qi – LI, Yongfei – TANG, Ying – SLANÝ, Michal** – CHEN, Gang**. Synthesis and performance study of the fracturing thickener P(AM/AA/AMPS/NVP/DMAAC-16) for rapid fluid preparation. In Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2025, vol. 435, art no. 128113. (2024: 5.2 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.935 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0167-7322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2025.128113

ZHOU, Zhichao – LIU, Youxu – YU, Jianxun – SLANÝ, Michal** – MEDVEĎ, Igor – GAO, Hiu – CHEN, Gang. Study on ex-situ and in-situ bentonite synergistic catalytic mechanisms in heavy oil aquathermolysis reaction. In Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2025, vol. 427, art no. 127391. (2024: 5.2 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.935 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 0167-7322.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2025.127391

International and National Projects

Foreign cooperating institutions

• Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR, Prague, Czech Republic
• Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
• Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
• Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
• University of Poitiers, CNRS, HydrASA, Poitiers, France
• University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
• University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
• Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
• National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
• Nagoya University, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya, Japan
• Tokyo Metropolitan University Faculty of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo, Japan
• Yamaguchi University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan
• University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, USA
• Monash University, Melbourne, Australia