About department

Field of Scientific Interest

The Department of Molten Systems is engaged in research related to all physical and chemical aspects of molten inorganic salts. These systems can be characterized by the existence of Coulombic interactions at high temperatures. The main subject of the research is the investigation of the physicochemical properties which include phase equilibria, density, electrical conductivity, viscosity, interfacial and surface tension. The ultimate goal is to find out the relationship between the physicochemical behavior of the molten systems and their composition and structure. The research focuses mainly on fluoride systems based on aluminum, magnesium, zirconium, scandium, tantalum, niobium, and systems based on lanthanides. The ambition of the department is to use a wide range of modern techniques, such as high temperature NMR and MAS NMR spectroscopy, high temperature neutron and synchrotron diffraction, etc. An essential part of the research of inorganic melts is their electrochemical characterization using several electrochemical techniques (various types of voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). The applied research of the department is mainly connected with the optimization of conditions of the electrolytic production of primary aluminum and other electrolytically deposited metals, but the subject of applied research is not only limited to electrometallurgy. An important part of the research is the research of corrosion of construction materials in melts, the investigation of molten systems suitable for energy storage, and the synthesis of interesting compounds from inorganic melts, e.g. ternary fluorides or (oxo) – (fluoro) – aluminates based on perovskites for photonic and electronic applications. The department is involved in several national and international projects in academia as well as in applied research for foreign and domestic industrial partners.

• Head of department: Ing. František Šimko, PhD.

International and National Projects

1. Investigation of the inorganic fluorides of different complexity (8^th European Crystallography School, 18-23.06.2023, Berlin, Germany). ❶ More information

2. Formation of the ternary fluorides from the molten salts and by means of the mild hydrothermal synthesis (29^th EUCHEMS Conference on Molten Salts and Ionic Liquids, 22-26.04.2024, Santiago de Compostela, Spain). ❷ More information

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Selected Publications

DE LA TORRE OLVERA, Guido – TATARKOVÁ, Monika – NETRIOVÁ, Zuzana – BARLOG, Martin – BERTOLLA, Lucca – HNATKO, Miroslav – TAVERI, Gianmarco**. Applying the Alkali-Activation Method to Encapsulate Silicon Nitride Particles in a Bioactive Matrix for Augmented Strength and Bioactivity. In Materials, 2024, vol. 17 no. 2, art no. 328. (2023: 3.1 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.565 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17020328

DULANSKÁ, Silvia** – SILLIKOVÁ, Veronika – BURGANOVÁ, Andrea – BUJDOŠ, Marek – TRNKA, Michal – KOSNÁČ, Daniel – PÁNIK, Ján. Comparative analysis of AnaLig Sr01 and Sr Resin methods for 210Pb determination in tobacco using TriCarb 3100 TR spectrometry: a statistical approach to accuracy and efficiency. In Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2024, vol. 333, pp. 5713-5720. (2023: 1.5 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.355 – SJR, Q2 – SJR).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-024-09597-1

FENG, Sen – ZHANG, Junjie – XU, Junli – AZIZ DIOP, Mouhamadou – LIU, Aimin – LIU, Fengguo – HU, Xianwei – WANG, Zhaowen – BOČA, Miroslav – SHI, Zhongning**. A non-consumable argon plasma anode for carbon-free electrochemical ironmaking. In Materials Today, 2024, vol. 75, p. 11-19. (2023: 21.1 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 5.949 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2024.03.011

KORENKO, Michal** – ŠIMKO, František** – ALLIX, Mathieu – RAKHMATULLIN, Aydar – PITCHER, Michael J. – KING, Graham. Determination of the Na3AlF6–Y2O3 Phase Diagram and Its Implications for Low-Temperature YAG/Nd:YAG Synthesis. In Crystal Growth & Design, 2024, vol. 24, no. 18, pp. 7494–7503. (2023: 3.2 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.649 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.4c00684

KRISHNAN, Dhiya – KORENKO, Michal** – ŠIMKO, František – KUBÍKOVÁ, Blanka – RAKHMATULLIN, Aydar. Thermal Analysis and Phase Equilibria of the Molten System Na3AlF6-NdF3-Nd2O3. In JOM : Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 2024, vol. 76, no. 3, p. 1587-1593. (2023: 2.1 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.551 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-06087-9
KITYK, Anna** – HNATKO, Miroslav – PAVLÍK, Viliam – BALOG, Martin – ŠOLTÝS, Ján – LABUDOVÁ, Martina. Advancing biomedical substrate engineering: An eco-friendly route for synthesizing micro- and nanotextures on 3D printed Ti-6Al-4V. In Journal of Materials Research and Technology-JMR&T, 2024, vol. 28, p. 2098-2115. (2023: 6.2 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.091 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.12.164

KITYK, Anna – PAVLÍK, Viliam – HNATKO, Miroslav. Reshaping the future of battery waste: Deep eutectic solvents in Li-ion battery recycling. In Journal of Energy Storage, 2024, vol. 97, no. 112990. (2023: 8.9 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.595 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.112990

KITYK, Anna** – PAVLÍK, Viliam – HNATKO, Miroslav. Breaking barriers in electrodeposition: Novel Eco-friendly Approach Based on Utilization of Deep Eutectic Solvents. In Advances in colloid and interface science, 2024, vol 334, art no. 103310. (2023: 15.9 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 2.656 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2024.103310
MATSELKO, Oksana** – POUPON, Morgane – SAMOLOVA, Erika – VASKOVÁ, Zuzana – KUBÍKOVÁ, Blanka – NETRIOVÁ, Zuzana – MIČUŠÍK, Matej – BOČA, Miroslav. Complexity of the KNa2ZrF7, KNa2HfF7, and KNa2(Hf,Zr)F7 compounds. In Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 2024, vol. 334, art no. 124655. (2023: 3.2 – IF, Q2 – JCR, 0.6 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2024.124655

MLYNÁRIKOVÁ, Jarmila** – BOČA, Miroslav. Density and volume properties of MF-K2ZrF6 (M = Li, Na, and K). In Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2024, vol. 395, art no. 123880. (2023: 5.3 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.918 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2023.123880

TAVERI, Gianmarco** – GÜNEREN, Alper – BARLOG, Martin – HNATKO, Miroslav – ZHUKOVA, Inga – NETRIOVÁ, Zuzana – ŠIMON, Erik – MIČUŠÍK, Matej – MIKOLÁŠEK, M. – KAŇKOVÁ, Hana. Understanding the benefits of Al3+-doping on NaSiCONs explained through an out-of-the-scheme isovalent substitution of Fe3+ in Na3Fe2(PO4)3 series. In Journal of Power Sources, 2024, vol. 592, art. no. 233917. (2023: 8.1 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.857 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.233917

FENG, Sen – ZHANG, Junjie – AZIZ DIOP, Mouhamadou – LIU, Aimin – WANG, Wang Zhaowen – BOČA, Miroslav – SHI, Zhongning**. Electrochemical behavior of Fe(III) in Na2SiO3-SiO2-Fe2O3 molten salt. In Journal of Central South University, 2024, vol. 31, no. 9, p. 3024-3033. (2023: 3.7 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.718 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-024-5803-4

JAKUBČINOVÁ, Jana** – FESZTEROVÁ, Melánia – SILLIKOVÁ, Veronika. Active Learning in the Extraction of Organic Compounds: A Study of Undergraduate Chemistry Students. In Education Sciences, 2024, vol. 14, no. 10, art no. 10511-19. (2023: 2.5 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.669 – SJR, Q2 – SJR). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14101051

RAKHMATULLIN, Aydar** – ŠIMKO, František* – ZANGHI, Didier – NETRIOVÁ, Zuzana – POLOVOV, Ilya B. – DIMIEV, Ayrat – MAKSIMTSEV, Konstantin V. – BESSADA, Catherine – KORENKO, Michal. Structural correlation and chemistry of molten NaF–ScF3 with dissolved metal aluminium: TG/DTA, XRD, NMR and molecular dynamics simulations. In Rare Metals, 2024, vol. 43, no. 7, p. 3356-3369. (2023: 9.6 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.428 – SJR, Q1 – SJR).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-024-02690-0

Foreign Cooperating Institutions

• Kola Science Centre RAS, Apatity, Russia
• Ecole Polytechnique IUSTI-CNRS, Marseille, France
• CEMHTI-CNRS, Orleans, France
• Nuclear Research Institute, Řez, Czech Republic
• College of Engineering, Valparaiso University, USA