From cold plasma to lasers. The power of women in technical sciences

The Small Grant Scheme (SGS) competition concluded last year is part of the “Applied Research” Program financed by the Norwegian Funds and the European Economic Area (EEA) Funds. The aim of the competition is to support Polish women scientists in those fields of science where the participation of women is the lowest, in particular in applied technical sciences. Funding for two-year projects was initially awarded to 27 Polish researchers. Recently, thanks to the efforts of NCBR, an additional 4 projects from the reserve list have also received support. This amounts to over EUR 5 million in total.

– The aim of our initiative, implemented thanks to the Norwegian Funds, was to support women scientists in those fields of science where their representation is the least. As research by the Central Statistical Office shows, the vast majority of newly promoted doctors in the group of engineering and technical sciences are men (65.1% in 2019), and this disproportion is even more pronounced among newly habilitated doctors in these fields (70.9% men ). I would especially like to congratulate all the grant winners. I am convinced that the results of their innovative projects will speak for themselves, contributing to their managers achieving subsequent levels of their scientific careers, to the benefit of the economy, social development, and actual equality of opportunities in the area of ​​R&D – says Dr. Remigiusz Kopoczek, acting director National Center for Research and Development.

So get to know five ambitious, hard-working and brave Polish women and their projects.

Cold plasma will help purify water in the textile industry

Project of Dr. Eng. Lucyna Bilińska from the Faculty of Process Engineering and Environmental Protection of the Lodz University of Technology is focused on solving a precisely defined technical issue – “A modern technique for the purification and recycling of textile wastewater carried out using plasma catalysts”.

We use textile industry products, such as clothing, every day. Unfortunately, like any industrial activity, textiles have a negative impact on the natural environment. The greatest environmental burden caused by the mass production of textiles is the huge amounts of water consumed and sewage emitted.

Cleaning highly polluted sewage is a big technical challenge that Ph.D. decided to face. Lucyna Bilińska. As he explains, one of the most promising purification methods that has the potential to be implemented in industrial activities is ozonation in the presence of a catalyst. – The production of the catalyst is the most important stage of the project. This is where cold plasma comes in handy. Thanks to it, special thin-layer catalysts were produced, and deposited on a solid substrate with extensive geometry. Their effectiveness has already been confirmed. A dedicated reactor design was also developed, enabling practical use of the catalyst, also on an industrial scale, emphasizes Dr. Bilińska. – I expect that the TEX-WATER-REC technology will soon have specific outlines – she adds.

As a result of the commenced work, a complete, functional method of water recycling will be created, so that it can be reused in textile production processes. – From the very beginning, i.e. the development of the project assumptions, all solutions are created with practical application in industry in mind – emphasizes the project manager.

Protection of water resources, strongly present in the European Green Deal strategy, is also one of Poland’s key development challenges.  – Given the current demand for environmental protection technologies, I can expect great interest from potential buyers: companies producing ozone installations, but also target customers – textile producers who want to reduce water consumption – says Ph.D. Lucyna Bilińska.

Municipal sewage as a source of raw materials

Sewage treatment, this time municipal, is also the subject of interest in Ph.D. Dominika Sobotka from the Department of Sanitary Engineering at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Gdańsk University of Technology. Her research is focused on implementing technologies that improve the energy efficiency of sewage treatment plants and reduce the consumption of natural resources, mainly phosphorus, allowing their reuse in the environment.

The project “Integrated technology for the removal and recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus in municipal sewage treatment plants”, implemented as part of the Small Grant Scheme competition, was launched in January this year.

– In recent years, sewage treatment plants, in addition to their traditional role of sewage treatment and sewage sludge processing, are facing a new role of resource production, including water, energy, and secondary raw materials, in particular nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). The aim of my project is to develop an innovative integrated technology for the removal and recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus in municipal sewage treatment plants, which will enable them to fulfill their new role: a producer of raw materials – says Ph.D. Dominika Sobotka.

Both designers and operators of sewage treatment plants will be able to benefit from the results of the project, which is already undergoing basic research. – In addition to the new technology, a mathematical model will also be created that can be used as a decision-making tool for the design or operation of sewage treatment plants to reduce the environmental impact of nutrient removal and recovery processes – notes the project leader.

Lasers for atomic clocks

In his research work at the Institute of High Pressure of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. Marta Sawicka deals with molecular beam epitaxy. This technique is used to produce structures of light emitters such as LEDs or lasers. – A classic blue semiconductor laser usually has several lines in its emission spectrum, spaced by fractions of a nanometer from each other – explains the researcher. – The optical element that allows you to “select” one of these lines with a precisely defined wavelength is a diffraction grating. Figuratively speaking, it is a periodic system of materials with a significantly different refractive index, such as gallium nitride (GaN) and air. The period of the grating determines the length of the laser emission, which is crucial for some specific applications, e.g. in atomic clocks, she adds.

Dr. Sawicka’s highly rated project, submitted in the Small Grant Scheme competition of the National Center for Research and Development, is called “Periodical NANO-channel grids placed inside laser structures with a single-mode emission spectrum.”

– The main challenge is to create a system of periodically arranged channels inside the laser structure, under the active area, with a diameter of several dozen to several hundred nanometers, creating a diffraction grating. This is extremely attractive from both a scientific and practical point of view, explains the project manager.

What are the chances of achieving this? – After half a year of implementation, we already have confirmation that the proposed path by which we want to reach the goal is the right one. We have already filed a patent application for this method. In addition to epitaxy, we use selective ion implantation and electrochemical etching. We are going to present gratings with a periodicity of several hundred nanometers and then integrate them into the laser structure – reveals Ph.D. Marta Sawicka.

The implementation potential of the project is significant. Stable operation and laser emission at one wavelength with a high side mode attenuation factor are required for applications such as fast short-range communications based on plastic optical fibers, precise time measurements by atomic clocks, or advanced interferometry-based sensors. – I really hope that at the end of the project, I will be able to say that our solution has the potential to fill the market niche of semiconductor blue lasers with a single-mode emission spectrum – concludes the researcher.

How to keep hydrogen in the tank?

The problem that, together with his team, was undertaken by Ph.D. Justyna Krzak, a researcher at the Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, is the sealing of hydrogen storage tanks.

The solutions he is working on are expected in the hydrogen technology market. The problem is that hydrogen is the smallest and most mobile molecule known, so it penetrates virtually any type of material; only the penetration mechanism changes. – Hydrogen penetration through the walls of storage tanks, depending on the degree, causes financial losses or safety hazards. It is also bad for the environment. Therefore, in the HyStor project, we aimed to limit the penetration of hydrogen through the walls of composite pressure vessels, says Dr. Krzak.

As he explains, such a tank, apart from the composite outer wall, is also made of a liner (a kind of inner tube), responsible for keeping the gas inside the tank. In this type of tank, hydrogen is under a pressure of 700 bar, which is an additional factor affecting permeability (for comparison, propane-butane cylinders have a maximum pressure of 20 bar). The liner in fourth-generation tanks is made of a polymer, e.g. HDPE. – In the project, we are developing a sealing coating for such a liner to limit the escape of hydrogen from the tank as much as possible – says Dr. Krzak.

The team she leads will also examine the mechanism of hydrogen penetration through the developed sol-gel coatings, which will allow for targeted design of sealing materials. – We are developing a measurement procedure that will enable in situ testing of sealing coatings, in particular, the interaction of the obtained materials with hydrogen – explains Dr. Krzak. – Additionally, to provide the most complete solution possible, we are developing a system for applying coatings, stabilizing them and detecting discontinuities on large-format surfaces – she adds.

Currently, the project “Improving the efficiency of hydrogen storage tanks thanks to innovative oxide coatings” is conducting basic research aimed at explaining the permeation mechanism. – We develop new recipes for barrier coatings and conduct basic tests. However, we are preparing to start work on a system for the effective production of thin coatings on large-format substrates – says the project manager.

The technologies that Dr. Krzak’s team is working on will be attractive to the industry related to the transport and storage of gases with the smallest molecules, in particular hydrogen. The method of producing oxide barrier coatings, developed for years at the Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, will also allow the application of the newly obtained materials to be extended to other gases, e.g. helium, carbon dioxide or methane.

Who will benefit from the project results? Coatings that limit hydrogen penetration are technologies sought by manufacturers of liners for composite tanks or storage tanks themselves.  – We will apply the coating to finished products – liners, tanks, pipes, or entire hydrogen storage or transmission installations. Moreover, we are developing a system that will allow us to apply a barrier coating to existing installations – says Ph.D. Justyna Krzak.

Green method of producing hydrogen

Carrying out research under a Norwegian grant at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the team under the supervision of Dr. Anna Ilnicka is working on the project “Platinum-free graphene-based catalysts for water splitting technology as a green method of hydrogen production”. The research, conducted at the interface of nanotechnology and materials engineering, began in February this year.

– Our project will be an important contribution to solving the global environmental problem – predicts Dr. Ilnicka. – Efficient water electrolysis is widely seen as a way to accumulate excess energy that can be produced by some renewable sources, such as photovoltaics. This excess could power the electrolysis process, which produces hydrogen, the fuel with the highest energy density per unit volume. This concept is consistent with the prospects of the hydrogen economy, she adds.

The key element for water electrolysis is the efficient design of the electrode, which enables low potential distribution while maintaining high durability. Another important issue is the elimination of platinum from the production of electrodes.

As the chemist emphasizes, the aim of the project carried out under the wings of NCBR is the synthesis of such electrode materials and practical verification of their application properties. – We want to obtain catalysts, i.e. graphene with a 3D structure enriched with heteroatoms, metal oxides, and perovskite-type metal oxides. The key innovation is the synthesis of new electrode materials free of precious metals, emphasizes Dr. Anna Ilnicka.

The most promising catalysts from the point of view of water splitting will be identified and described in detail based on physicochemical analyses. The team will examine and characterize the chemical state of atoms to enable the selection of the most effective catalysts for the oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions. – This will allow us to precisely determine the types of catalyst sites, which will be particularly important when interpreting electrochemical measurements. An important step will be to determine the relationship of morphology and elemental composition with the electrochemical and photoelectrochemical activity of the materials, as well as their activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction in contact with aqueous electrolytes – explains the researcher.

From the point of view of the commitment to achieve climate neutrality in 2050, the possibilities of practical application of the results of this research are wide. It is needed, among others: a new type of energy source for transport, electricity, heat, housing, agriculture, maritime, and manufacturing industries.

It is hydrogen produced on a large scale using ecological energy sources or using low-emission technologies that represent a promising future for multi-sector decarbonization. – Hydrogen has huge potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It is an abundant material and has the highest energy content by weight, almost three times higher than the content of gasoline – says Dr. Anna Ilnicka. – The growing electrolysis capacity will have an additional impact on reducing the costs of producing “green” hydrogen – she notes.

Technology is a woman

What made researchers submit their projects in the NCBR competition addressed to women scientists in the field of technical sciences?

– Science is a passion for me. I have been interested in scientific issues since I was a child. I always wanted to know more and wasn’t satisfied with simple answers. Thanks to my scientific work, I can find fulfillment. The competition for women scientists in technical sciences was an opportunity for me to materialize my scientific ideas. It was also a chance to prove that not only men can effectively solve engineering issues – says Ph.D. Lucyna Bilińska from the Lodz University of Technology.

– I was interested in the nature of the competition and the fact that it is addressed only to women scientists. This, I must admit, aroused my curiosity – admits Ph.D. Dominika Sobotka, working at the Gdańsk University of Technology. – The careers of women who want to pursue themselves as mothers and scientists are extremely demanding. For a woman, maternity leave often means a break from scientific work – especially in the field of technical sciences. That is why competitions such as the Small Grant Scheme are extremely important, as they take into account the specificity of the work of women scientists and promote the development of their scientific careers, she adds.

Also Ph.D. Justyna Krzak (Wrocław University of Science and Technology) was pleased with the proposal addressed to women involved in scientific research. – Although I do not care about preferential conditions, because research conducted by women is usually at the highest level, I believe that it is worth proposing new solutions to this group of scientists in the programs being prepared because I can be sure that they will be used effectively. Moreover, significantly fewer women than men work in the area of ​​applied research in technical sciences, so it is worth supporting this minority, she says.

– Another thing is that there is a great need for women to multitask, otherwise we would not be able to cope with everyday duties. In this context, it’s really nice to see a competition designed just for us – it’s a kind of light shed on our environment. Ultimately, please see how many applications there were in the Small Grant Scheme competition alone: ​​as many as 337. We are ambitious and it is worth creating opportunities for our development. Everyone can only benefit from this – there is no doubt about it, Ph.D. Justyna Krzak.

About her motivation to submit a project in the competition for women scientists, Ph.D. Marta Sawicka (Institute of High Pressure of the Polish Academy of Sciences) says briefly: – The moment when the idea of ​​using a porous material in the construction of a blue laser appeared coincided with the announcement of the Small Grant Scheme competition.

Dr. Anna Ilnicka, a researcher from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, hopes that project management in the Small Grant Scheme competition will allow their managers to develop their scientific careers and will contribute to strengthening the Polish scientific community by increasing the participation of women scientists, both in terms of numbers as well as their professional role in technical sciences. As he notes, many of the projects selected for funding have a strong environmental aspect, which brings Poland closer to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal strategy. – In addition to the impact on the environment, the initiated research will generate a significant number of articles published in renowned scientific journals, the authors of which will be women scientists – notes the specialist.

More information about the results of the Small Grant Scheme competition can be found on the website of the National Center for Research and Development.