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Photo of the Month

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• On Wednesday, 22 November 2023, the Academy of Mechanical Engineering 2023 (Engineering - connecting for a sustainable breakthrough) took place in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. The K3 department also participated in the event through short papers and presentations in the poster section with the following contributions:
  
  - I. Milošev, A. Jeromen, P. Rodič, B. Kapun, D. Sačer, T. Poženel Kovačiča, D. Kramar, F. Pušavec, E. Govekar, The comparison between commercial and additive-manufactured Ti6Al4V alloys used for medical applications,
  - P. Rodič, N. Kovač, M. Može, Laser texturing of aluminium to obtain a superhydrophobic surface with enhanced corrosion protection,
  - S. Jereb, M. Može, P. Rodič, M. Zupančič, I. Golobič, The influence of laser processing parameters on the wettability of structured functionalized surfaces

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• The 19th Asia-Pacific Conference on Corrosion Control (APCCC) was held in Guangzhou, China from 16 to 18 November 2023. Organized by the China Corrosion and Protection Association, the conference is an important promoter of awareness of the importance of corrosion protection and a platform to exchange the latest scientific achievements in the field. In addition to the participants from China, some eminent invited lecturers from other parts of the world took part in the conference. As an invited lecturer, Prof. dr. Ingrid Milošev presented an invited keynote lecture entitled Conversion coatings and their role in the protection of different alloys in the "Advanced coatings and surfaces" section.

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• We have reached the first milestone in the research part of the project BIOAD, namely the development of a new titanium alloy with additive technology, which has great potential for use in biomedicine. On November 9, 2023, a meeting of partners in the BIOAD project was held at the Jožef Stefan Institute, which was aimed at reviewing the results after the first project year and planning further research. The BIOAD project was approved at the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) public call for (co)financing of research projects in 2022. BIOAD "Antibacterial alloys: development with additive 3D manufacturing, characterization and clinical applications" (J7-4639) project coordinated by Prof. Ingrid Milošev unites a consortium of five partners: Jožef Stefan Institute, Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Ljubljana. We continue the research work in full swing, along with the preparation of the first scientific publications.ana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology) and doc. dr. Ivo Jerman (National Institute of Chemistry). Congratulations!

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• On October 25, 2023, Damir Hamulić defended his PhD thesis entitled “Hybrid sol-gel coatings based on different acrylate derivatives for protectiobn of aluminium alloy and steel against corrosion and biofouling” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Damir Hamulić completed his thesis under the supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev and co-supervision of doc. dr. Peter Rodič. The commission for assessing the doctoral dissertation was composed of the following members: prof. dr. Stojan Stavber (Jožef Stefan Institute), prof. dr. Romana Cerc Korošec (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology) and doc. dr. Ivo Jerman (National Institute of Chemistry). Congratulations!

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• On Friday, September 29, 2023, various events took place at the Jožef Stefan Institute as part of the European Researchers' Night. The K3 department also presented a workshop at the event: Corrosion of Metals and Their Protection with Innovative Coatings.

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• On Thursday, September 28, a presentation of the operation and organization of the ELME unit took place at the IJS. In addition to IJS colleagues, representatives from the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, the Administration for Nuclear Safety, and the Radiation Protection Administration were also invited. The mobile chemical laboratory is composed of intervention teams from various sections of the institute. A member of the team is also a colleague from our department, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič.

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• On September 21, 2023, an international conference, Cutting Edge, took place at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology in Ljubljana. The K3 department was represented at the conference in the category of Young Scientists, Materials of the Future by:
  - Nina Kovač (young researcher) with a contribution titled: "Corrosion protection of aluminum using a superhydrophobic coating," and
  - Yusuf Kurupehlivan (ERASMUS+ student from Turkey) with a contribution titled: "The effect of methyl and butyl methacrylate in the hybrid sol-gel coating on corrosion protection of AA7075-T6."
  In the Young Minds category, high school students also presented research works:
  - Mija Kapun and Daniil Gainullov (students from the Jožef Plečnik Secondary School, Ljubljana) with a contribution titled: "Enhanced corrosion protection of aluminum using superhydrophobic coating," and
  - Ela Podboršek and Tim Strnad (students from the Vič Secondary School, Ljubljana) with a contribution titled: "Superhydrophobic coating for aluminum alloy 2024-T3 and glass."

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• In our department, we also pay a lot of attention to mentoring young people who conduct research in our laboratories. They also present their research at various competitions. High school students, including:
  - Mija Kapun and Daniil Gainullov (students from the Jožef Plečnik Secondary School, Ljubljana) with a contribution titled: "Superhydrophobic surface of aluminum with anticorrosive and antimicrobial effects," mentored by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič and Grega Celcar (physics teacher at the secondary school),
  - Ela Podboršek and Tim Strnad (students from the Vič Secondary School, Ljubljana) with a contribution titled: "Multifunctional superhydrophobic coatings applied to the surface of glass and aluminum," mentored by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič and Alenka Mozer (chemistry teacher at the secondary school). They received the Krka Award in this year's 53rd competition. This proves that, despite their youth, students possess the knowledge and courage that are essential qualities of breakthrough researchers.

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• Ela Podboršek and Tim Strnad, third-year students at the Vič Secondary School, participated in the Genius Olympiad in the United States on July 17, 2023. The GENIUS Olympiad is an international high school project competition on environmental issues. It is founded and organized by Terra Science and Education and takes place at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Ela and Tim presented a research project they conducted in our department titled: "Advanced superhydrophobic coatings based on modified silica nanoparticles deposited on glass and aluminum surfaces." They were mentored by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič (IJS) and Mrs. Alenka Mozer (Vič Gymnasium). The students won a gold medal in the natural sciences category.

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• The International Project Olympiad Vilnius International Project Olympiad (VILIPO) took place in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius. 51 projects from 14 countries from various continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, South America) advanced to the finals. At the Olympiad, high school students Ela Podboršek and Tim Strnad won a gold medal in the "Energy" category with their research project titled: "Advanced superhydrophobic coatings based on modified silica nanoparticles deposited on glass and aluminum surfaces." The mentors for this project were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič (IJS) and Mrs. Alenka Mozer (Vič Secondary School). Congratulations to the students and mentors!

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• At the 57th Meeting of Young Researchers in Slovenia (ZOTKS competition), which took place on May 15, 2023, Mija Kapun and Daniil Gainullov (students from the Jožef Plečnik Gymnasium, Ljubljana) were awarded a silver medal for their research work conducted in our department. They were mentored by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič (researcher at IJS) and Grega Celcar (physics teacher at the Jožef Plečnik Secondary School, Ljubljana). Congratulations.

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• Colleague, Dr. Peter Rodič, has written an article titled "Solidarity and the Contribution of Researchers to Society" in the September issue of Novice IJS magazine, under the section "IJS Helps." In the article, he reflects on the recent summer flood and emphasizes the significance of solidarity in society. You can read more in the digital edition of the magazine on page 10, which can be found here. (available only in Slovene language)

• Between July and October 2023, we are hosting Dr. Bojan Đ. Božić from the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry. Dr. Božić is an expert in physical, organic, and bioorganic chemistry. As a visiting researcher, dr. Božić is dedicated to the current hot topic of the development of hydrogels for use in biomedicine. Next year, we will deepen the collaboration with dr. Božić within the framework of the Slovenian-Serbian bilateral project financed by ARIS.

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• On September 14, 2023, Ana Koblar defended her MSc thesis entitled "Effect of organic inhibitor and pH and corrosion of copper alloys" at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering (FNSE) of the University of Ljubljana. Ana Koblar completed her thesis under the supervision of doc. dr. Blaž Karpe and co-supervision Prof. Ingrid Milošev. The commission for assessing the master thesis comprised the supervisors and the following members: prof. dr. Milan Bizjak and prof. dr. Peter Fajfar (FNSE). With the successful defence of the thesis, Ana earned a master's degree in metallurgy and materials engineering. Congratulations! Ana will continue her education in our department as a PhD student supervised by Prof. Milošev.

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• The 29th Annual Meeting of the Slovenian Chemical Society convened at the Grand Hotel Bernardin Congress Center in Portorož from 13 to 15 September 2023. One of the conference's highlights was a student competition for the best oral and poster presentations. We are delighted to announce that Katarina Kokalj, a chemistry master's student, won the second prize for her lecture entitled "The Role of Dipolar Interactions in Crystal Structures." Katarina conducted her research at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry. Congratulations!

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• Today, probably more than ever, we face a growing need for robust metal preservation and establishment of both greater sustainability and a circular materials economy. Prof. Ingrid Milošev of the Jožef Stefan Institute's Physical & Organic Chemistry Department and Prof. John R. Scully of the University of Virginia's Department of Materials Science and Engineering have published a perspective paper, Challenges for the Corrosion Science, Engineering, and Technology Community as a Consequence of Growing Demand and Consumption of Materials: A Sustainability Issue in the September issue of CORROSION journal intending to bring awareness to the material science and corrosion community that the growing demand for engineering metallic materials required for our increasingly technological society is unsustainable. The high metal consumption pushes the mining and production of metals to levels that should be counterbalanced with novel engineering and technological methods that incorporate strategies of circular metal sustainability.

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• From June 1st to June 15th, 2023, our young researcher Ana Kraš participated in a short doctoral exchange program funded by the ERASMUS+ program. During this period, she visited the Electrochemistry and Big Data Department, led by Dr. Sviatlana Lamaka, at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht, Germany. The primary objective of the exchange was to conduct local electrochemical measurements on zirconium conversion coatings. The visit resulted in the exchange of knowledge and experiences related to testing methods for these coatings, while the local electrochemical measurements significantly contributed to our understanding of Zr coating formation, simultaneously uncovering unexpected phenomena in the process. We are delighted with the results and look forward to the opportunities and impact that our joint research can bring in the future!

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• On June 23, 2023, Matjaž Dlouhy defended his PhD thesis entitled “Interactions of azole molecules with copper ions and copper surfaces covered with chemisorbed H, O, OH or Cl” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Matjaž Dlouhy completed his thesis under the supervision of prof. Anton Kokalj. The commission for assessing the doctoral dissertation was composed of the following members: prof. dr. Ingrid Millošev (Jožef Stefan Institute), assoc. prof. dr. Črtomir Podlipnik (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology), and dr. Christian Feiler (Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon). Congratulations!

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• On Tuesday, April 18th, the final competition of ScienceJam 2023 took place at the Development Center Novo mesto. The competition featured market-oriented scientific research projects by high school students. Ela Podboršek and Tim Strnad, both 3rd-year students at Vič Grammar School in Ljubljana, also participated in the competition, presenting a research task with the acronym Super Nano COAT. They prepared the research assignment at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Rodič and chemistry teacher at Vič Grammar School, Ms. Alenka Mozer. In strong competition, they won 1st place and qualified for the final of the international project Olympiad VILIPO, which will take place in Lithuania in May. Congratulations! The award is also a confirmation of successful research work carried out in our laboratories, contributing to the upgrade of knowledge for talented high school students.

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• Our two-part paper on the field testing of aluminium-silicon alloy in the Adriatic Sea published in CORROSION journal is introduced by Associate Editor Prof. Nick Birbilis. The introduction clip can be viewed here.

• Between December 5 and 7, 2022, we were visited by Prof. Philippe Marcus and Dr. Dominique Costa of CNRS – Chimie Paris Tech, Institute de Recherche de Chemie, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces Group, in Paris, France. Group leader Prof. Marcus is one of the world's leading scientists in the field of research on corrosion processes and electrochemistry and the winner of the ERC Advanced Grant CIMNAS. Dr. Costa is a renowned researcher in the field of modelling of molecular processes on surfaces. Our department has collaborated intensively for several years with the group of Prof. Marcus, which is confirmed by around 10 joint scientific articles, appearances at conferences, and joint projects. Our cooperation will continue in the future. During the visit, Prof. Marcus and Dr. Costa presented lectures as part of departmental seminars.

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• The kick-off meeting of the BIOAD project, which was approved at the Public call of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) for (co)financing of research projects in 2022, took place on November 11, 2022, at the "Jožef Stefan" Institute. BIOAD is the acronym of the three-year project "Antibacterial alloys: development with additive 3D manufacturing, characterization and clinical applications" (J7-4639) coordinated by Prof. dr. Ingrid Milošev from the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry. The project unites a consortium of five partners: Jožef Stefan Institute, Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Ljubljana and will be financed by 1,5 million € over three years.

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• On September 30, 2022, one of the events of European Researcher's Night took place at the Jožef Stefan institute where our department prepared a workshop on Anti-corrosion protection of metals and their alloys with smart coatings. The event attracted several curious younger and also some older visitors who got an insight into our work at the institute. They became familiar with the concept of corrosion, identified different metals and their properties, played with the change of colors in acid-base balance, and learned how superhydrophobic coatings work. (Photo: Marjan Verč)

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• The annual conference of the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) – EUROCORR took place between 28^th of August and 2^nd of September 2022. The European Corrosion Congress, which was this year held in Berlin, attracts around a thousand delegates from countries all over the world every year to present their new findings and research in the field of corrosion and corrosion protection. At this year's conference, which was focused on the motto: »Corrosion in a Changing World - Energy, Mobility, Digitalization«, we participated with contributions in the form of two 20-minute lectures:

  1. A. Kraš, I. Milošev, Optimization of Zr-based conversion coatings on different substrates via response surface methodology

  2. M. Dlouhy, A. Kokalj, How corrosion-relevant species affect the adsorption of imidazole on a copper surface

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• From 11^th to 15^th July 2022, we participated in the RSE-SEE conference (Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry - South East Europe). More than 150 participants joined at the conference giving an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues from South-East Europe involved in research in electrochemistry. At the 2022 conference, we participated with six contributions: one keynote lecture, four oral presentations, and a poster.

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• On June 24, 2022, Ivan Spajić defended his PhD thesis entitled “Protection of biomedical alloys by thin films of alumina and hafnia prepared by atomic layer deposition” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Ivan Spajić completed his thesis under the supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev. The commission for assessing the doctoral dissertation was composed of the following members: prof. dr. Dragan Mihailović (Jožef Stefan Institute), doc. dr. Matjaž Spreitzer (Jožef Stefan Institute) and prof. dr. Mustafa Ürgen (Technical University Instanbul, Turkey). Congratulations!

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• On June 21, 2022, Dževad Kozlica defended his PhD thesis entitled “Synergistic action of organic inhibitors to mitigate corrosion of aluminium, copper, and aluminium-copper alloy in chloride solution” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Dževad Kozlica completed his thesis under the supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev. The commission for assessing the doctoral dissertation was composed of the following members: prof. dr. Miran Gaberšček (National Institute of Chemistry), doc. dr. Peter Rodič (Jožef Stefan Institute) and prof. dr. Ricardo M. Souto (University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain). Congratulations!

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• On May 31, 2022, Prof. Ingrid Milošev presented a webinar within the second season of the CorroZoom series organized by Prof. G. S. Frankel at The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA. This year, six top scientists from all over the world gave lectures on different corrosion-related topics, where Prof. Milošev had the honor of concluding the second season. Lecture entitled “Cerium conversion coatings on aluminium alloys” covered some fundamental considerations of the chemistry of Ce salts and general mechanisms of coatings formation, followed by examples from her group's research work on this type of coatings. The lecture, attended by around 300 participants worldwide, was followed by a broad discussion on the topic. Presenting at the CorroZoom webinar is a great acknowledgment and compliment to Prof. Milošev's over three decades-long research work dedicated to corrosion protection, including conversion coatings.

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• April 24th marks the Corrosion Awareness Day. On this day, we are publishing a video with 12 photographs with visible consequences of corrosion with short captions created as part of the "Photo of the Month" series. Metal corrosion is a process that takes place in different environments all around us. Our research is focused on the study of mechanisms of corrosion processes and corrosion protection. You are invited to submit your corrosion glimpse here!

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• February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, proclaimed in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize the importance of women's role in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). On this occasion, we announce a special focused issue of Women in Electrochemistry, prepared by the Journal of The Electrochemical Society. This issue aims to celebrate and promote many achievements of women researching in various fields of electrochemistry. In addition, the issue was edited by 50 top female scientists from around the world. In the Corrosion Science and Technology section, one of the guest editors and authors was also dr. Ingrid Milošev.

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• The recipient of this year's title of “Engineer of the Year” is dr. Nataša Kovačević. She is a project manager at the Research Department at Kolektor Group. The goal of the “Engineer of the Year” project is to address the problem of the “invisibility” of female engineers in society and to promote how interesting and important work they do. The award, presented by President Borut Pahor, is an example and inspiration to younger generations of women and encourages their decision to take on engineering professions. This week, dr. Kovačević also became “Name of the week” at Val 202. Nataša Kovačević became a scholarship holder of the Jožef Stefan Institute while studying chemistry. She completed her Bachelor's thesis in 2009 and Doctoral thesis in 2013 at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry in the field of corrosion protection of materials. Dr. Kovačević maintains cooperation between the K3 Department and Kolektor Group in the field of material protection. Congratulations to Nataša on the recognition!

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• As part of the Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN MAMI project, we are announcing a symposium “Neutron & Synchrotron Radiation for Science & Technology” to be held online on the 13th and 14th of December 2021. A detailed program is available here. Applications are possible at this link.

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• The third edition of the book Joint Replacement Technology has been published by Woodhead Publishing (Cambridge, England). It was edited by prof. Peter A. Revell. The book describes the current state-of-the-art knowledge as well as the latest achievements and developments in the field of joint replacement technology. The emphasis is on interdisciplinarity and close cooperation of experts in materials science engineering and medical professions. Prof. Ingrid Milošev and co-authors from the Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital, the University of Helsinki, the ORTON Orthopedic Hospital of the Invalid Foundation in Helsinki and the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg contributed a chapter entitled Metals for joint replacements. In the first two editions of the book in 2008 and 2014, the leading author was the late prof. dr. Yrjö Konttinen, whose role in the creation of this chapter has been invaluable. The third edition provides an updated comprehensive review of recent developments in joint replacement technology.

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• As part of the Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN MAMI project, we are announcing a symposium “Neutron & Synchrotron Radiation for Science & Technology” to be held online on the 13th and 14th of December 2021. A detailed program is available here. Applications are possible at this link.

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• The third edition of the book Joint Replacement Technology has been published by Woodhead Publishing (Cambridge, England). It was edited by prof. Peter A. Revell. The book describes the current state-of-the-art knowledge as well as the latest achievements and developments in the field of joint replacement technology. The emphasis is on interdisciplinarity and close cooperation of experts in materials science engineering and medical professions. Prof. Ingrid Milošev and co-authors from the Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital, the University of Helsinki, the ORTON Orthopedic Hospital of the Invalid Foundation in Helsinki and the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg contributed a chapter entitled Metals for joint replacements. In the first two editions of the book in 2008 and 2014, the leading author was the late prof. dr. Yrjö Konttinen, whose role in the creation of this chapter has been invaluable. The third edition provides an updated comprehensive review of recent developments in joint replacement technology.

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• Between 22 and 24 September 2021, Grand Hotel Bernardin hosted the traditional annual symposium of Slovenian Chemical Society, organized for the 27th year in a row, which on the occasion also celebrated its 70th anniversary. The event attracted more than 300 participants from the wider Central European region. Within the lecture section, 32 students competed for the best lecture award. The expert commission of six established doctors of science awarded the first prize for the best lecture to our doctoral student, Matjaž Dlouhy. In the award-winning presentation entitled "The effect of corrosion of relevant species on the adsorption of imidazole on copper", the student presented the results, as part of the training of a young researcher under the mentorship of Dr Anton Kokalj. Congratulations!

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• In the school year 2020/2021, a student of the high school Gimnazija Franca Miklosica Ljutomer under the mentorship of Mateja Godec, prof. kem., and our young researcher Matjaž Dlouhy, investigated the antibacterial properties of isolated essential oils of some plants from the home environment. The authors submitted their work to the Regional Meeting of Young Researchers of Pomurje, where the research won a gold award. The student also presented the research at the National Meeting of Young Researchers, organized for the 54th time in a row by the Association for Technical Culture of Slovenia, and was awarded a gold award for it. The work entitled “Potential use of isolated essential oils as disinfectants” also competed in the 51st Krka Awards for High School Research Tasks, where the authors won the Krka Award with an additional invitation to present the results of the research at an online symposium. A recording of the presentation from the symposium can be viewed here (start: 15 min. 56 sec.). We sincerely congratulate the student and mentors.

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• Dr Ingrid Milošev has been named to the CORROSION journal Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. CORROSION was started in 1945 by the Association of Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP, former NACE). AMPP is a global community of professionals dedicated to materials protection through the advancement of corrosion control and protective coatings with more than 40,000 members in 130 countries CORROSION journal, led by Technical Editor in Chief Dr John Scully, provides a permanent record of progress in the science and technology of corrosion prevention and control, featuring peer-reviewed technical articles from the world’s top researchers.  Prof. Milošev interests include corrosion processes and corrosion protection of technological and biomedical materials aiming to prolong their lifetime and functional abilities. CORROSION journal welcomed new Associate Editor by Editorial article and podcast interview. The majority of 16 Associate Editors are from the USA, three members are from Europe. Dr. Milošev has been named to the Board as the second female member.

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• On June 9, 2021, Prof. Anton Kokalj presented the webinar within the "CorroZoom" series organized by Prof. G.S. Frankel of The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA. This series hosted six top-research scientists from all over the world. Prof. Kokalj’s lecture entitled "Molecular modeling of corrosion inhibitors" is currently hot-topic of corrosion research and was devoted to DFT modeling of mechanism of adsorption and bonding of organic molecules on metal surfaces. Prof. Kokalj elaborated different issues from basic premises of molecular bonding to the cutting-edge issues such as penetration of chloride through self-assembled monolayer. Lecture, attended by more than 300 participants all over the world, was followed by stimulating discussion. The presentation at the "CorroZoom" seminar is a great honor and compliment to Prof. Kokalj’s over a decade long research work in the field of DFT based modelling.

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• MaX e-School on Advanced Materials and Molecular Modelling with Quantum ESPRESSO (live streamed on YouTube here), will took place from 17 to 28 May 2021. e-School is organized by SISSA and ICTP in collaboration with various international institutions, including CINECA, CECAM, Jožef Stefan institute, Arnes, and University of Shanghai, all under the auspices of MaX CoE and Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation. The school will introduce students and young researchers to materials and molecular modelling with Quantum ESPRESSO (QE), covering basic concepts, recent advances and developments, with emphasis on density-functional-theory (DFT) based methods and High-Performance Computing (HPC). A MaX e-School aims to train beginners in computational materials sciences from around the world to the efficient use of QE on modern massively parallel architectures, with special emphasis on the emerging architectures based on GPGPUs and on the use of advanced tools for generating, managing, storing, and sharing results. The e-School received a record number of applications among the ICTP schools: almost 1300 requests arrived from 92 countries for the approximately 120 places available.

• In the month marking the International Corrosion Awareness Day, we launched photo series under the title “Photo of the Month”. Every month we will publish an interesting clip of corrosion in everyday life. We would like to point out that the process of metal corrosion takes place all around us and we cannot prevent it except in rare cases. Prevention or mitigation of the corrosion process requires actions, so strategies are needed to extend the life cycle of metals with contemporary corrosion protections. The first photo of the month can be seen below, or by clicking on the link where future photos will also be located. Submit you photo here.

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• The World Corrosion Organization has declared April 24 as Corrosion Awareness Day. The growing population with the need for modern and high-tech technologies is increasing the consumption of basic technological metals such as iron and steel, copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel. The use of metals is necessarily related to corrosion protection, as metals are subject to corrosion in all environments. The cost of corrosion and related measures is huge globally, reaching $ 2.5 trillion per year (3.4% of GDP). The largest share goes to infrastructure and transport. It is generally accepted that 15-35% of the cost of corrosion ($ 370-870 billion) per year could be avoided through appropriate corrosion mitigation approaches. It further worries that access to metals in the future is also limited by the depletion of natural ores, as forecasts show a 2-6-fold increase in demand by 2100. Strategies to promote sustainable material cycles such as the circular economy and the 3R concept must become our guiding principles. At the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry, we actively focus on strategies for extending the life cycle of metals with contemporary corrosion protection, thus contributing to reducing the gap between high demand and resource availability. On the occasion of the Corrosion Awareness Day, a video was created at our department, which can be viewed by clicking on the video below or via this link.

• On Monday 8 March 2021, prof. Anton Kokalj presented an invited on-line lecture at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University as part of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Seminar Series. Every two weeks one established scientist from all around the globe presents a seminar to around 60 PhD students and other attendees. Prof. Kokalj gave a seminar entitled “DFT based modeling of corrosion inhibitors: understanding their interaction with metal surfaces” within which he illustrated what kind of insight one can get from DFT modeling, focusing on the interaction of corrosion inhibitors with metal surfaces. The seminar was followed by an interesting discussion between a number of students and professors.

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• On January 18, 2021, the first on-line lecture in a webinar series "CorroZoom" took place, which is organized by Prof. G.S. Frankel of The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA. The purpose of the webinars, which are free of charge, is to connect corrosion researchers from all over the world. During the pandemic contacts are limited, so socializing and sharing achievements and innovations are especially important. This series will host top-research scientists from all over the world. The first webinar in the "CorroZoom" series was given by Prof. Philippe Marcus from CNRS, Chimie-ParisTech from France. Excellent lecture by Prof. Marcus was attended by more than 2,000 attendees, far more than at any corrosion conference.

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• Our former young researcher fellow, Dr. Klara Čebular was for her PhD thesis entitled 'Transformations of oxygen functional groups in organic molecules mediated by molecular iodine or/and N-halo compounds' awarded by the 50^th Krka Award (Click on the link, time scale 2.24.40 forward). Klara has under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Stojan Stavber investigated as the young researcher fellow at our department over the period of 2014-2019 and defended her thesis at the International Postgraduate School Josef Stefan in October 2019. Actually Klara is affiliated in Lek d.d., Sandoz Group, Ljubljana. Congratulations.

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• This year, the 26th annual meeting of the Slovenian Chemical Society entitled "Slovenian Chemical Days 2020" took place between 16 and 18 September in the congress center of the Grand Hotel Bernardin in Portorož. As part of the conference, student participants competed for the prizes in the category for the best posters and lectures. Our doctoral student Matjaž Dlouhy received the first prize for the poster entitled "Adsorption of imidazole on Cu (111), covered with corrosion-important species". Congratulations!

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• On June 16, 2020 Gavrilo Šekularac has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Corrosion and corrosion protection of aluminium alloys by zirconium conversion coatings” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Gavrilo Šekularac completed his thesis under supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev. Commission for the assessment of the doctoral dissertation composed of the following members: prof. dr. Janez Kovač (Jožef Stefan Institute), prof. dr. Miran Gaberšček (National Institute of Chemistry) and prof. dr. Vladimir Panić (University of Belgrade, Serbia).

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• The 24th of April was the Corrosion Awareness Day and the students studying corrosion in different fields met the challenge launched by Young EFC to spread knowledge about the important role corrosion and corrosion protection has in today's society. If you are curious about how students part of the mCBEEs project are tackling this problem, follow this link where you will find 14 short videos of PhD students explaining the corrosion problems they are trying to solve in the course of their studies.

• On November 21, 2019, the conference Road to Market Innovation within the Innovation Day was held at the Development department of JUB in Dol, Ljubljana. The company's strategic policy also includes in-depth collaboration with researchers from public research organizations. Dr. Peter Rodič of the Jožef Stefan Institute presented the idea: Smart coatings - from the laboratory to commercial use, developed by researchers from the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry: dr. Peter Rodič, dr. Ingrid Milošev, Damir Hamulić and Barbara Kapun. The coatings presented demonstrate the potential for self-healing and self-cleaning of the surface and are therefore extremely interesting for various applications. The presentation is the recipient of the Best Idea Award as part of a development challenge.

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• On October 2 2019 Klara Čebular successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled Transformation of oxygen functional groups in organic molecules mediated by molecular iodine or/and N-halo compounds at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Klara Čebular completed her thesis under the supervision of prof. dr. Stojan Stavber.

• 

• From 25 to 27 September the 25. annual meeting of the Slovenian Chemical Society entitled Slovenski kemijski dnevi took place in Hotel Habakuk in Maribor. Students, participating at the conference, compete for best poster/presentation prizes and the 3. best poster prize was awarded to Lea Gašparič, for her poster entitled Hydrogen bonding between common organic functional groups and metal hydroxides. Congratulations!

• 

• From 15 to 20 September a summer school entitled Quantum ESPRESSO Summer School on Advanced Materials and Molecular Modelling took place at the Jožef Stefan Institute. The school attracted more than 70 participants from all around the world. The participants presented their recent research work in the form of poster presentations and elevator pitches. A three-member committee as well as the participants then chose the best poster prize among the 27 presented posters and pitches. They chose the poster presented by Matic Poberžnik, entiteld Lateral interactions between electronegative adatoms on metallic surfaces: a high-throughput computational study.

• 

• From September 15 to 20 a summer school entitled Quantum ESPRESSO Summer School on Advanced Materials and Molecular Modelling took place at the Jožef Stefan Institute. The summer school was organized by the Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation, the EU MaX Centre of Excellence for Supercomputing Applications, and the Jožef Stefan Institute. The school was attended by over 70 participants, tutors, and lecturers from all around the world. The aim of the school was to introduce students, postdocs, and other researches to materials and molecular modeling with Quantum ESPRESSO. The school covered basic concepts as well as more recent developments, focusing, among other things, on high-throughput calculations and high-performance computing. The lectures are available for download from the school site, while all hands-on exercises are available on GitLab. The participants also presented their recent research in the form of poster presentations and elevator pitches. The best poster award was given to Matic Poberžnik.

• 

• From 9th to 13th September 2019 we attended the largest European conference on corrosion protection EUROCORR, this year with more than 1200 participants held in Seville, Spain. EUROCORR's 2019 motto New times, new materials, new corrosion challenges emphasized the importance of developing new materials that allow for ecological and sustainable corrosion protection. We have been following this motto at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry for some time now, as evidenced by our rich participation in the conference this year - nine contributions, all in the form of 20-minute lectures:

  1. I. Milošev, D. Zimerl, B. Menczinger, A. Nemes, J. Rábai, A. Kokalj, P. Marcus, Corrosion inhibitors for aluminum investigated using an integrative experimental-modeling approach: Fabrication and electrochemical study

  2. M. Poberžnik, F. Chiter, D. Costa, P. Marcus, I. Milošev, A. Kokalj, Corrosion inhibitors for aluminum investigated using an integrative experimental-modeling approach: A DFT modeling study

  3. M. Poberžnik, D. Costa, I. Milošev, A. Kokalj, How silanol headgroups bond to oxidized aluminum surfaces: A DFT modeling study

  4. Dž. Kozlica, A. Kokalj, I. Milošev, Efficiency of mercapto and phosphonic inhibitors for copper and aluminum as a function of surface preparation

  5. I. Milošev, B. Kapun, P. Taheri, A. Kokalj, J.M.C. Mol Inhibitors for copper in chloride solution with different functional and side groups studied by electrochemical methods and XPS

  6. A. Kokalj, M. Lozinšek, B. Kapun, U. Tiringer, P. Taheri, S. Neupane, P. Losada-Perez, C. Xie, P. Bruna, E. Pineda, S. Stavber, D. Crespo, FU Renner, J.M.C. Mol, I. Milošev An integrative modeling and experimental approach to corrosion inhibition: heterocyclic organic molecules as potential corrosion inhibitors for Cu and Zn

  7. D. Hamulić, I. Milošev, The Influence of alkyl chain length on chemical structure and corrosion resistance of hybrid acrylic sol-gel coatings

  8. G. Šekularac, J. Kovač, I. Milošev, Self-sealing of zirconium based conversion coatings applied on aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg0.3

  9. U. Tiringer, G. Šekularac, J.M.C. (Arjan) Mol, J. Kovač, I. Milošev, Corrosion protection performance and in-depth composition analysis of hybrid sol-gel coatings based on CeO2 nanoparticles applied on AA7075

  We co-authored five additional contributions. Contributions 1-7 are the result of work on the European projects COR_ID and COIN DESC, coordinated by I. Milošev and A. Kokalj under the M.Era-Net programme. These contributions were presented at the mini-symposium within the section Mechanisms, Methods & Modeling, chaired by I. Milošev and A. Kokalj.

• 

• The third training event within the mCBEEs project (“Advanced integrative solutions to corrosion problems beyond micro-scale: towards long-term durability of miniaturized biomedical, electronic and energy systems”, H2020 MSCA - ITN - 2017-764977) took place between 24th and 29th June 2019 at the Jožef Stefan Institute and was organized by the project coordinator dr. Maria Lekka, training manager dr. Catarina Zanella and local organizer dr. Ingrid Milošev. Training school entitled »Fundamentals of corrosion protection and coatings production« comprised scientific and experimental tutorial on corrosion protection mechanisms, metallic, organic and sol-gel coatings, electrodeposition and PVD, CVD and ALD coatings. Experimental tutorial included electrochemical, corrosion, adhesion and porosity testing of eight types of coatings. Scientific tutorials were given by eight eminent lecturers. Experimental tutorial was organized at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry. Training was attended by 18 Early stage researchers.

• 

• On June 6 2019 Dunja Gustinčič successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled Adsorption of azole molecules on oxidized copper surface and their inhibition of copper corrosion at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology University of Ljubljana. Dunja Gustinčič completed her thesis under the supervision of doc. dr. Anton Kokalj.

• 

• The 7th conference RSE-SEE (Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry - South East Europe) took place from 27th to 30th May 2019. More than 150 participants joined at the conference giving an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues from South-East Europe involved in research in electrochemistry. Within the conference the organizing committee awarded three Best Poster Awards. Dolores Zimerl, MSc, specialist assistant at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry was awarded for the presentation entitled From organic synthesis to testing of compounds with different anchor groups as corrosion inhibitors for aluminium. The research work was a part of the M.ERA.Net project COR_ID (»Design of corrosion resistant coatings targeted for versatile applications«).

• 

• From 27th to 30th May 2019 we participated at the 7th conference RSE-SEE (Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry - South East Europe). This year the conference was combined with 8th Kurt Schwabe Symposium. More than 150 participants joined at the conference giving an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues from South-East Europe involved in research in electrochemistry. The first RSE-SEE conference was held in 2008 at Red Island (Croatia), 2010 in Belgrade (Srbia), 2012 in Bucarest (Romania), 2013 in Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2015 in Pravetz (Bulgaria), and in 2017 in Balatonkenese (Hungary).
  
  At the 2019 conference we participated with seven contributions: one key-note lecture, four oral presentations and two posters:

  1. Anton Kokalj, I. Milošev (key-note lecture) Molecular modeling of corrosion inhibitors: a search for physically sound descriptors

  2. Urša Tiringer, J. Kovač, S. Abrahami, J. van Dam, I. Milošev, A. Mol The effect of pre-treatment on the surface chemistry and interfacial properites of sol-gel coating applied on aluminium and aluminium alloy (oral presentation)

  3. Peter Rodič, D. Zimerl, I. Milošev Hybrid sol-gel coatings modified with fluorinated (meth)acrylates for corrosion protection of AA2024-T3 in 0.5 M NaCl (oral presentation)

  4. Ivan Spajić, I. Milošev Al₂O₃ and HfO₂ films prepared by atomic layer deposition for protection of commercially pure titanium for biomedical applications (oral presentation)

  5. Dževad Kozlica, I. Milošev The influence of surface preparation on efficiency of mercapto and phosphonic inhibitors adsorbed on aluminium and copper metal (oral presentation)

  6. Dolores Zimerl, S. Stavber, I. Milošev From organic synthesis to testing of compounds with different anchor groups as corrosion inhibitors for aluminium (poster)

  7. Barbara Kapun, I. Milošev Sol-gel coating based on zirconium(IV) isopropoxide and epoxysilane for corrosion protection of aluminium alloy in deep-sea environment (poster)

  Contribution No. 6 presented by Dolores Zimerl, MSc, was awarded »Best poster award«. Congratulations!

• 

• The second workshop within the MAMI project (Magnetism and Microhydrodynamics, H2020 MSCA - ITN - 2017-766007) took place between 15th and 17th May 2019 at the University of Latvia in Riga organized by Prof. Andrejs Cebers. The project coordinates 15 ESRs (Early Stage Researchers). The purpose of the workshop entitled "Magnetism and Life" was to present the possibilities to use magnetism in biological systems and medicine. The presentations were given by 12 excellent speakers from eminent institutions. Within the workshop 15 ESRs presented their results obtained in this early stage of the project, among them also Nikolina Lešić. Prof. Ingrid Milošev attended the workshop as well as the meeting of the Supervisory board of the MAMI project.

• 

• The QUANTUM ESPRESSO Foundation and the EU MaX Center of Excellence for Supercomputing Applications in association with the Jožef Stefan Institute are organizing a one-week summerschool entiteld " Advanced Materials and Molecular Modelling with Quantum ESPRESSO". The aim of the school is to introduce students, postdocs, and other researchers to materials and molecular modelling withQuantum ESPRESSO programskim paketom. The school will take place from September 16 to September 20 at the Jožef Stefan Institute. More information is available at the school web page.

• 

• The third training school of the ITN project Advanced integrative solutions to corrosion problems beyond micro-scale: toward log-term durability of miniturized Biomedical, Electronic and Energy systems (mCBEEs) entitled "Fundamentals of Corrosion Protection and Coatings Production " will take place from 24 to 29 June 2019 at Jožef Stefan Institute. Both PhD students recruited in the frame of mCBEEs as well as external PhD students are invited to attend. For more information please visit the school website.

• 

• On April 25, 2019 Matic Poberžnik successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled Quantum mechanical modeling of the oxidation of aluminum surfaces and their interactions with corrosion inhibitors at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. Matic Poberžnik completed his thesis under the supervision of dr. Anton Kokalj.

• 

• The first workshop within the MAMI project (Magnetism and Microhydrodynamics, H2020 MSCA - ITN - 2017-766007) took place between 5 and 7 December 2018 at the Jožef Stefan Institute, organized by Prof. Ingrid Milošev. The project, co-ordinated by prof. dr. Bernard Doudin from the University of Strasbourg, will run from May 1, 2018 to April, 30 2022 and coordinates 15 ESRs (Early Stage Researchers). The purpose of the workshop entitled How to Conduct a Successful PhD was to present a broader thematic framework of the project and other contents that can contribute to successful completion of a study. The presentations were given by project partners Prof. Michael Coey, Prof. Lourdes Basabe Desmonts, Prof. Thomas Hermans and dr. Sasha Cai Lesher Pérez, and invited speakers dr. Sašo Dolenc (Kvarkadabra), Anže Erjavec (Kolektor), mag. Robert Blatnik (IJS, Center for Technology Transfer), dr. Mark Pleško (Cosylab), and Maja Ratej (Radio Slovenia).

• 

• At the 11th International Conference on Technology Transfer (ITTC), the international evaluation commission for Best Invention / Innovation with the commercial potential in 2018 has rewarded two contributions: KATRI: Anti-fouling and corrosion protection top-coat by Damir Hamulić, Peter Rodič, Dolores Zimerl and Ingrid Milošev from the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry (K-3) and The ultimate European Assistant for the Elderly by Jani Bizjak, Anton Gradišek and Matjaž Gams from the Intelligent Systems Department (E-9). The conference was held between 8 and 12 October at the IJS and was an excellent opportunity for research teams to present their scientific results, products or prototype as entrepreneurial ideas.

• 

• The authors of the poster »The self-healing effect of hybrid sol-gel coatings based on CeO₂ nanoparticles modified with Ce³⁺ ions applied to AA7075-T6« U. Tiringer and G. Šekularac were awarded the "Young Author's EFC Poster Prize EUROCORR 2018" rewarded by the European Federation of Corrosion. The authors developed a hybrid sol-gel coating based on precursors (3-glicidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTMS), tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), and SiO₂ nanoparticles. Coatings were added by CeO₂ nanoparticles and cerium nitrate (Ce(NO₃)₃) for better corrosion properties of the coating. The addition of CeO₂ nanoparticles in combination with Ce(NO₃)₃ in the coating improves its corrosion properties and provides the effect of self-healing.

• 

• From 9th to 13th September 2018 we participated at EUROCORR 2018 which is the largest event in the field of corrosion protection in Europe. We presented seven contributions: five oral presentations and two posters, and for two additional oral presentations we were coauthors:
  1. M. Poberžnik, D. Costa, A. Kokalj: »Bonding of silanols to oxidized aluminium surfaces: an insight from DFT modeling« (lecture)
  2. I. Milošev, B. Kapun, U. Tiringer, D. Hamulić, D. Zimerl, G. Šekularac, P. Rodič, S. Zanna, A. Seyeux, P. Marcus: »Field testing of different sol-gel coatings on aluminium alloys suitable for marine applications« (lecture)
  3. I. Milošev, D. Zimerl, S. Zanna, A. Seyeux, J. Iskra, S. Stavber, M. Poberznik, A. Nemes, D. Costa, J. Rabai, A. Kokalj, P. Marcus: »The effect of anchor group and backbone chain on performance of organic compounds as corrosion inhibitors for aluminium investigated using iterative experimental-modeling approach« (lecture)
  4. P. Rodič, I. Milošev, M. Lekka, F. Andreatta, L. Fedrizzi: »Corrosion protection of AA2024-T3 by »smart« coatings« (lecture)
  5. A. Kokalj, M. Lozinšek, B. Kapun, P. Taheri, S. Neupane, P. Losada-Perez, C. Xie, P. Bruna, E. Pineda, S. Stavber, D. Crespo, F.U. Renner, A. J.M.C. Mol, I. Milošev: »A combined experimental and modeling search for corrosion inhibitor descriptors: functionalized azole molecules as potential corrosion inhibitors for Cu and Zn« (lecture)

  6. U. Tiringer, G. Šekularac, I. Milošev: »The self-healing effect of hybrid sol-gel coatings based on CeO₂ nanoparticles modified with Ce³⁺ ions applied on AA7075-T6« (poster)

  7. G. Šekularac, I. Milošev: »Investigation of zirconium-based conversion coatings applied on aluminium alloy ENAC-AlSi7Mg0.3« (poster)

  8. P. Taheri, O. Bottazzi, I. Milošev, A. Kokalj, J.M.C. Mol: »Corrosion inhibitors of copper, zinc and copper-zinc alloys, using imidazole-based compounds with different functional groups« (lecture)
  9. D. Costa, P. Cornette, M. Poberžnik, A. Kokalj, S. Zanna, A. Seyeux, I. Milošev, P. Marcus: »Self-assembly of linear carboxylic acids on an Al surface and its effect on corrosion inhibition: insight from modelling and experiment« (lecture)

  Majority of studies presented were carried out within the framework of M-ERA.NET projects COR_ID (No. 1, 2 and 3) and COIN DESC (No. 5 and 8) and Talents Fellowship programme (No. 4).

• 

• Journal of The Electrochemical Society published the review on conversion coatings based on zirconium and/or titanium written by I. Milošev and G.S. Frankel (Fontana Corrosion Center, The Ohio State University, USA). Conversion coatings based on Zr or Ti seem to be a good choice as an alternative technology to legacy chromate and phosphate conversion coatings associated with the health and environmental issues. This literature review summarizes the scientific results in this rapidly growing area of research. Following the description of composition of conversion bath and deposition mechanism, the effects of process parameters for conversion baths are presented together with coating characteristics such as composition, morphology and thickness. The effects of the type of substrate and substrate pre-treatment are explored for the most-studied substrates. The corrosion performance of the conversion coatings is discussed, as well as adhesion of organic coatings. Advantages and potential drawbacks are also presented. This review paper was the most-downloaded article in the topical area Corrosion Science and Technology.

• 

• COIN DESC and COR_ID project teams organized the CorrTalk workshop, dedicated to integrative approaches to corrosion research. The workshop took place in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 11 to 13 June 2018. More info about the workshop is available at the workshop web-page: corrtalk2018.ijs.si

• 

• On May 22, 2018 Urša Tiringer has successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled Hybrid sol-gel coatings with barrier and self-healing properties for corrosion protection of aluminium alloys at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Urša Tiringer completed her thesis under supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev.

• 

• Kick-off meeting for the project MAMI financed within the call H2020 MSCA – ITN – 2017 (Marie Skłodowska Curie Action – Innovative Training Network) took place on May 17-18, 2018 in Strasbourg, France. MAMI is the acronym for »Magnetics and Microhydrodynamics« (No. 766007). Duration of the project is from May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2022. Consortium comprises 9 beneficiaries and 4 partner organizations from 7 countries, 4 universities, 5 research centres and 4 industrial organizations. 15 early stages researchers (ESRs) will be trained within the project. Project coordinator is prof. dr. Bernard Doudin from the University of Strasbourg. MAMI on social networks:
  

• 

• M-ERA.NET published a Success story on the project COR-ID, acronym for Design of corrosion resistant coatings targeted for versatile applications. Project is coordinated by dr. Ingrid Milošev of the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry and comprises partners from Slovenia (Talum d.d. Kidričevo), France (ENSCP, CNRS) and Hungary (Eötvös Loránd University). The objective of the project is to design multifunctional coatings which would simultaneously act as high-quality corrosion inhibitors and offer additional properties like hydrophobicity. These coatings will be used also for less corrosion resistant Al alloys or secondary Al alloys by industrial partner Talum. A “virtual laboratory” is being established to enable the construction of parameters used in larger-scale simulations, such as, semi-empirical based molecular-dynamics. Pilot device for large-scale testing is under construction. The project goals are being realized through the ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering) paradigm consisting of integration of three fundamental disciplines: multi-scale modeling, multi-scale chemical synthesis, and high-throughput electrochemical and corrosion experimental testing and verification.

• 

• Journal of The Electrochemical Society published the review on conversion coatings based on zirconium and/or titanium written by I. Milošev and G.S. Frankel (Fontana Corrosion Center, The Ohio State University, USA). Conversion coatings based on Zr or Ti seem to a good choice as an alternative technology to legacy chromate and phosphate conversion coatings associated with the health and environmental issues. This literature review summarizes the scientific results in this rapidly growing area of research. Following the description of composition of conversion bath and deposition mechanism, the effects of process parameters for conversion baths are presented together with coating characteristics such as composition, morphology and thickness. The effects of the type of substrate and substrate pre-treatment are explored for the most-studied substrates. The corrosion performance of the conversion coatings is discussed, as well as adhesion of organic coatings. Advantages and potential drawbacks are also presented. This review paper was one of five most-downloaded articles in the topical area Corrosion Science and Technology.

• 

• A two day annual meeting of the M-era.Net project "COIN DESC: Corrosion inhibition and dealloying descriptors" took place on 16–17 November, 2017, at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. The principle objective of the project is to design corrosion resistant copper-based alloy systems by using corrosion inhibitors and to deepen the mechanistic understanding of corrosion inhibition. The purpose of the meeting was twofold: (i) to present, review, and discuss the results obtained during the first project year, and (ii) to plan the project activities for the following year.

• 

• Annual meeting of the project COR_ID within M-ERA.NET (European Research Area, an EU funded network) took place on November 9 and 10, 2017 at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. The main aim of the project Design of corrosion resistant coatings targeted for versatile applications (acronym COR_ID) is to design and engineer new coatings for aluminum alloys with targeted properties of increased corrosion resistance, specific hydrophobic properties, prolonged service life-time and reduced ecological impact. The project work-plan proceeds according to the integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) principles. The meeting was devoted to the presentation of the results and plan of future activities. Partners: Jožef Stefan Institute (Slovenia), Talum d.d. Kidričevo (Slovenia), Chimie ParisTech, CNRS (France) and Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary).

• 

• The CORROSION journal has published a special issue devoted to biocorrosion of metals in human body edited by Ingrid Milošev, Ph.D. Understanding the mechanism of biocorrosion and metal degradation in human body—identification of the metal corrosion and wear products, and their effects on human body is of paramount importance for the safety and long-term well-being of patients with metal implants. Special issue features twelve articles divided into in vitro studies, retrieval and model clinical studies. Two articles are review papers written by Jeremy Gilbert from Clemson University and Ingrid Milošev. The special issue is aimed for readers not yet familiar with the biocorrosion topic, as well as for researchers already devoted to this topic.

• 

• On Thursday, November 23, 2017, the award of the Zois prizes, the recognition of Zois and Puh's recognitions for the year 2017 was held at the Union Hall in Ljubljana. Doc. dr. Anton Kokalj from the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry received Zois's recognition for important achievements in the field of molecular modeling of chemical processes on metal surfaces. Dr. Kokalj is a top international researcher with original and high ranking publications in the field of theoretical physicochemical studies of processes on the surfaces of technologically important metallic materials. His contribution to the development of software tools for molecular modeling is remarkable, the developed software is open source and freely accessible. Dr. Kokalj is the most frequently cited author in Slovenia in the field of chemistry, and he is also ranked at the top in other indicators of excellence.

• 

• The show "Ugriznimo znanost" (Let's take a bite of science) entitled "Boj proti rji" (The fight against rust) which aired on RTV Slovenija 1 on 19. 10. 2017, was dedicated to corrosion and methods used for corrosion prevention of metallic materials. "The industry is thought to have more than a trilion euro of yearly losses due to corrosion, moreover the cost often includes the loss of human life. How and why does it occur? How do we protect against it? How can we identify corrosion in tough to reach places, such as concrete pillars, constructions and other systems? New coatings are being developed at the Jožef Stefan Institute, with the aim of replacing the all around present but dangerous chromate based coatings. Will they be able to defeat corrosion?" Coworkers of the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry appeared in the show. In the studio dr. Peter Rodič concisely explained and demonstrated how and why corrosion occurs. We demonstrated how modern corrosion prevention coatings, such as sol-gel, conversion, superhydrophobic and self-healing coating are developed at our department. Besides dr. Rodič, young researcher Urša Tiringer (MSc in Chemistry) and Barbara Kapun (BSc in Chemical Technology) also appeared in the show. Researchers from the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute also appeared alongside our coworkers. Protection against corrosion is an extremely relevant field in all areas of life - from the protection of ordinary metallic fences and bridges to ships, cars, airplanes and it is even relevant in mobile phones and microelectronics.

• 

• Kick-off meeting for the project mCBEEs financed within the call H2020 MSCA – ITN – 2017 (Marie Skłodowska Curie Action – Innovative Training Network) took place on October 16-17, 2017 in Udine, Italy. mCBEEs is the acronym for »Advanced integrative solutions to Corrosion problems beyond Micro-scale: towards long-term durability of miniaturized Biomedical, Electronic and Energy Systems« (No. 764977). Duration of the project is from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2021. Consortium comprises 15 beneficiaries and 3 partner organizations from 11 countries, 10 universities, 4 research centres and 4 industrial organizations. 15 early stages researchers (ESRs) will be trained within the project. Besides Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry (prof. dr. I. Milošev) also the Department of Complex Matter and CENN Nanocentre will collaborate in the project. Project coordinator is dr. Maria Lekka from the University of Udine.
  
  Webpage: http://mcbees.eu/
  mCBEEs on social networks:
  
  Gmail: itn.mcbees@gmail.com

• Dr. Jerca Pahor, during the years 2012-2016 young researcher at the Department for Physical and Organic Chemistry, was awarded by Krka Award 2017 for her PhD thesis entitled »New approaches to the synthesis of prodrugs of phosphates and phosphorylated derivatives of pantothenic acid«. In the framework of PhD research, performed at Jožef Stefan Institute and ACIES BIO under supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Ajda Podgoršek Berke and Prof. Dr. Stojan Stavber and defended at Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School in July 2017, Jerca Pahor synthesized numerous new derivatives of phosphopathotenate and phosphopantetheine suitable for further testing on their potential biological activity. The research has notably contributed to the still deficient knowledge in the field of the synthesis of phosphorylated derivatives of panthotehenic acid and acyloxyalkyl prodrugs of phosphates.

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• From 11th to 15th June we participated at the 6th conference RSE-SEE (Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry - South East Europe). This year conference with more than 100 participants is excellent opportunity to meet colleagues from South-East Europe involved in research in electrochemistry. The first RSE-SEE conference was held in 2008 at Red Island (Croatia), 2010 in Belgrade (Srbia), 2012 in Bucarest (Romania), 2013 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and 2015 in Pravetz (Bulgaria). We are already looking forward to the next conference in 2019 to be held in Croatia!

  
  At the 2017 conference we participated with six contributions (four oral presentations and two posters):

  1. I. Milošev, T. Bakarič, D. Zimerl, M. Žnidaršič, P. Rodič, J. Rábai, J. Iskra: Alkyl and perfluoro compounds as corrosion inhibitrs for aluminium alloys containing Si (oral presentation)

  2. U. Tiringer, I. Milošev, A. Duran: Self-healing effect of Ce(NO3)3 in coating based on GPTMS, TEOS and SiO2 nanoparticles applied on aluminium alloy 7075-T6 (oral presentation)

  3. P. Rodič, I. Milošev: Simple and fast fabrication of superhydrophobic and corrosion resistant coatings based on fluoroalkyl silanes (oral presentation)

  4. M. Poberžnik, D. Costa, A. Kokalj: Atomistic insight into the bonding of silanol molecules to oxidized aluminium surfaces (oral presentation)

  5. G. Šekularac, I. Milošev: Investigation of corrosion behaviour of aluminium alloy ENAC-AlSi7Mg0.3 in artificial seawater with addition of inorganic sulfides (poster)

  6. I. Milošev, B. Kapun, P. Taheri, J.M.C. Mol, A. Kokalj: Imidazol-based compounds with different functional groups as corrosion inhibitors for copper and zinc (poster)

  
  

• Within H2020-MSCA-ITN-2017 call MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE INNOVATIVE TRAINING NETWORKS two projects were approved in May 2017:

  1. Magnetic and Microdynamics – from guided transport to delivery, acronym MAMI, 2018 do 2022, project coordinator Prof. B. Doudin, CNRS, Paris, Francce, and

  2. Advanced integrative solutions to corrosion problems beyond micro-scale: toward log-term durability of miniturized Biomedical, Electronic and Energy systems, acronym mCBEEs, 2017-2021, project coordinator dr. M. Lekka, University of Udine, Italy.

• Within these two projects two doctoral students will be financed starting in 2018 under the supervision by Prof. Ingrid Milošev. Call for candidates will be announced soon.

• 

• The 9th Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School (IPS) Students' Conference will be organized from April 19th to April 20th 2017 in the Main Lecture Hall of the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI). The target participants are master and doctoral students from IPS, JSI and other postgraduate students from Slovenia and abroad. Participants are required to submit a short abstract, prepare a 3-minute oral presentation and a poster presentation with a more detailed description of the performed research. The deadline for abstract submission is March 15th 2017. More information is available on the conference poster and the website.

• A two day kick-off meeting of the COIN DESC project took place on October 27 and 28 at Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Project consortium, coordinated by Dr. Anton Kokalj, links scientist from one research organization and three universities. During the kick-off meeting the representatives of each partner discussed the work plan and set the road map for the utilization of the project goal, which is to deepen the mechanistic understanding of corrosion inhibition and to design corrosion resistant copper-based alloy systems by using corrosion inhibitors.

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• On October 21, 2016 young researcher Simon Tušar has successfully completed her PhD study at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana with the defense of her doctoral thesis entitled: Modeling of Water and Acids Mediated Radical Reactions in the Atmosphere (Modeliranje reakcij radikalov ob prisotnosti vode in kislin v atmosferi). Research training at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry was carried out under the supervision of Dr. Antonija Lesar.

• 

• Springer has published the 60th volume of the series Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry edited by Stojan S. Djokić. This eminent and most known series of books in electrochemistry provides an overview of broad issues in electrochemistry and has been published since early 1950's. The 60th volume is entitled "Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Electrochemistry". Ingrid Milošev authored the chapter "Surface Treatments of Titanium with Antibacterial Agents for Implant Applications" . Bacterial infection of an implant is a serious complication after implantation. Contemporary results of various surface treatments aimed to prevent or reduce the incidence infection are reviewed and critically discussed. There are two general approaches: passive and active coatings. Passive coatings comprise antiadhesion and bacteria repellent coatings obtained via surface nanostructuring, substrate composition or surface chemistry. Active coatings are based on intrinsically antimicrobial materials like chitosan, hyaluronic acid and inorganic agents like silver and zinc oxide. General characteristics of these agents are reviewed, as well as their efficiency against different bacteria when added to titanium oxide or hydoxyapatite coatings.

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• The largest green chemistry conference in 2016 - The 6th International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry (ICGC-6), consisting of 326 participants, took place in September 4-8 2016 in Venice, Italy. Young researcher Klara Čebular, employed at The Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins (CIPKeBiP) and coworker at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry, received an award for the best poster entitled “Direct metal-free dehydrative cross-coupling of alcohols and alkenes catalysed by molecular iodine under solvent-free reaction conditions”. The formation of chemical bonds between carbon atoms is of fundamental significance in organic chemistry. A major goal in the emerging field of green chemistry is following the 12 principles of green chemistry, including the design of by-product-free chemical processes, use of renewable chemical sources, use of metal-free and recyclable catalysts and avoidance of use of solvents in the chemical processes. Klara Čebular, PhD student under the supervision of prof. dr. Stojan Stavber, has developed a method of carbon-carbon bond formation between alcohols and alkenes using molecular iodine as catalyst under solvent-free reaction conditions.

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• On Tuesday 7 June at the gala ceremony in the Great Hall of the Grand Hotel Union in Ljubljana "Pregl Awards" were awarded as a part of the main event of the 70th anniversary of the National Institute of Chemistry. Pregl Awards for outstanding achievements were awarded to prof. dr. Ingrid Milošev, Head of the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry (JSI), and dr. Zdenko Časar (LEK). Congratulations to both winners!

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• Prof. Lorenzo Fedrizzi from University of Udine, Italy, visited our Department on May 18, 2016. Prof. Fedrizzi was the Head of Department of Chemical Science and Technology at the University of Udine since 2009 and Full Professor of Material Science and Technology. He is respected expert in the field of corrosion protection and is a member of several international association including EFC (European Federation of Corrosion), where he was the President and also Chairman of the Working Party “Coatings”. Prof. Fedrizzi is the author of numerous scientific papers and is a member of several editorial board of high ranking journals in the field of materials science and corrosion. The aim of the visit is the planning and extending the collaboration with Prof. I. Milošev’s group in the field of corrosion protection. During the visit Prof. Fedrizzi presented the lecture within the framework of Colloquium of IJS entitled “Improvement of corrosion protection of metals using atomic layer deposition”.

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• Kick-off meeting of the project COR_ID within M-ERA.NET (European Research Area, an EU funded network) took place on April 11 and 12, 2016 at the Jožef Stefan Institute. The main aim of the project “Design of corrosion resistant coatings targeted for versatile applications” (acronym COR_ID) is to design and engineer new coatings for aluminum alloys with targeted properties of increased corrosion resistance, specific hydrophobic properties, prolonged service life-time and reduced ecological impact. Industry driven needs will be solved using an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach and produce economical material benefiting with increased market competitiveness. Project consortium coordinated by Prof. Ingrid Milošev comprises researchers from Slovenia, France and Hungary: Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry of the Jožef Stefan Institute, Talum d.d. Kidričevo (partner mag. Dejan Lorber), Chimie ParisTech (CNRS) from Paris (partner Prof. Philippe Marcus) and Eötvös Loránd University from Budapest (partner Prof. József Rábai). The project consortium links scientists from three partner countries and one technological company aiming to stimulate advances in basic and applied research and technology transfer.

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• Jerca Pahor, young researcher at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry, received an award for the best poster at the International Conference on Current Challenges in Drug Discovery Research (CCDDR 2015), 23-25. November 2015, Jaipur, India, where she presented her work entitled "NEW APPROACHES TO THE SYNTHESIS OF ACYLOXYALKYL PRODRUGS OF PHOSPHATES". Jerca Pahor developed new reagents for the phosporylation of hydroxi derivatives of organic molecules. She first tested them on a few simple alcoholic species and later applied them to potentially bioactive compounds, which might have properties of prodrug phosphates and are thus important for the synthesis of some pharmaceuticly active compounds. The presented work is a result of collaboration between the Laboratory for Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry from JSI and a high-tech company ACIES BIO from the Technology park Ljubljana.

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• On November 20, 2015 Gregor Žerjav has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled ”Modified surfaces of Cu, Zn, Cu10Zn and Cu40Zn with expressed hydrophobic properties for the purpose of corrosion protection” at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology University of Maribor. Gregor Žerjav completed his thesis under supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev.

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• The 5th conference Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry South-East Europe (RSE-SEE) took place in June 7-11, 2015 in Pravets, near Sofia in Bulgaria. Within the conference ISE Student Satellite Symposium took place which traditionally proceeds under the auspecies of ISE (International Society of Electrochemistry) as the world largest organization in the field of electrochemistry. Student Satellite Symposium hosted fourteen PhD students which presented their achievements during 20 minutes oral presentations. Jury committee appointed by the Organizer selected three Best Student Presentations. Barbara Volarič, PhD student at the Department of Physical and Organic Chemsitry under the supervision of Prof. Ingrid Milošev, was awarded for the presentation entitled »Conversion coatings based on lanthanide salts and their mixtures as a corrosion protection of 7075-T6 aluminium alloy in chloride solution«.

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• Barbara Volarič recieves the Best Student Presentation award from the members of the jury - Prof. Tsvetina Dobrovolska from Bulgaria and prof. Alain Thorel from France.

• Ingrid Milošev (Jožef Stefan Institute) and Miran Gaberšček (National Institute of Chemistry and Center of Excellence Low Carbon Technology) are the guest editors of the special issue of journal Acta Chimica Slovenica published in June 2014. Special issue contains 19 invited contributions presented at the 4th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry – South East Europe (RSE-SEE) organized by I. Milošev and M. Gaberšček in June 2013 in Ljubljana. Conference hosted more than 200 participants which presented contemporary achievements in general electrochemistry and physical chemistry, energy conversion and storage devices, corrosion, electrochemical synthesis and engineering.

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• Dr. Jernej Iskra, member of Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry, received together with Krka, d.d. Silver Award for Innovation of Chamber of Commerce of Dolenjska and Bela Krajina for Inventive procedure for preparation of active ingredient and its incorporation into pharmaceutical product for treating animal infection. (Otočec, 5. junij 2014. Author of photography: Boštjan Pucelj)

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• Dr. Rok Prebil and Prof. dr. Stojan Stavber have published scientific article titled “The α-Chlorination of Aryl Methyl Ketones under Aerobic Oxidative Conditions” in the most prestigious journal in the organic chemistry field, Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis.

• Our co-worker dr. A. Kokalj is ranked as the most cited Slovenian scientist in the field of Chemistry (source: SICRIS). Among the top twenty most cited Slovenian chemists are three co-workers of our department (Anton Kokalj, Ingrid Milošev and Stojan Stavber).

• "Fourth Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry of South-East Europe (RSE-SEE4)"

• Sprineg has published the 55th volume of the series Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry edited by Stojan S. Djokic as guest editor. This eminent and most known series of books in electrochemistry provides an overview of broad issues in electrochemistry. Series Editors are Ralph E. White and Constantinos G. Vayenas. The 55th volume is entitled »Biomedical Applications«. Ingrid Milošev authored the chapter CoCrMo Alloy for Biomedical Applications.

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• Doc. dr. Jernej Iskra has edited a book entitled Halogenated Heterocycles: Synthesis, Application and Environment that was published by Springer within book series Topics in Heterocyclic Chemistry. Both, heterocyclic compounds and organo-halogen compounds encompass a large area of chemistry. Those two subjects interweave in this book and since the research in both subjects is very vivid and broad, the book is oriented to present recent research on the characteristic transformations and strategies leading to halogenated heterocycles. Furthermore, since the halogenated heterocycles are intrinsically connected with their bioactivity, the interaction of reactions and compounds with the environment was also included.

• Nova Biomedical Books (New York, USA) has published the book Hip Replacement: Approaches, Complications and Effectiveness edited by T. Aoi and A. Toshida. This book provides an overview of different types of hip replacements and success and complications that may occur. I. Milošev co-authored the chapter Materials development and latest results of various bearings for total hip arthroplasty.

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• Members of the group - Ajda Podgoršek and Jernej Iskra have published together with prof. Zupan a review paper entitled "Oxidative halogenation with “green” oxidants: oxygen and hydrogen peroxide" in a prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie.

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• Sebastijan Peljhan and Anton Kokalj are the authors of Journal of Physical Chemistry C cover picture. (vol. 113, no. 32, y. 2009)
  

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• Springer has published the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science edited by Robert A. Meyers. Anton Kokalj authored a chapter titled Computer-Aided Design of the Reaction Site in Heterogeneous Catalysis.
  

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• Young researcher Matjaž Finšgar attended the 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates. From June 28th to July 3rd, 2009 23 Nobel Laureates and 580 young researchers from 67 countries met at Lindau. The 2009 Lindau Meeting was dedicated to chemistry. IJS Novice
  
  

• Jernej Iskra and Stojan Stavber received together with researchers from pharmaceutical company Krka, d.d. silver award for innovation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Dolenjska and Bela krajina for their discovery of new method for preparation of 2-sulfinyl -1H-benzimidazoles that was a result of joint research project between Department of physical and organic chemistry of the Jožef Stefan Institute and Krka, d.d..
  

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• International patent WO 2009/027533 "Process for preparing 2-sulfinyl-1H-benzimidazoles" resulted from the joint research project of Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry (K-3, Jernej Iskra with coworkers) and pharmaceutical company Krka, d.d. on the alternative synthesis of pharmaceutically active compounds, where new process for synthesis of gastric proton pump inhibitors was discovered.
  
  

• Junior assistant Dejan Vražič has received Prešern Award for Transformations of aryl-substituted alcohols and aldehydes with iodine and F-TEDA-BF4, granted by Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana.
  
  

• Woodhead Publishing (Cambridge, England) has published the book Joint Replacement Technology edited by prof. Peter A. Revell. The aim of the book is to provide an update on progress in technology of joint replacement for the medical and scientific world. The book should be useful not only to the engineering and materials scientific communities but also to the surgeons seeking the best treatement for their patients. I. Milošev co-authored the chapter »Metals for joint replacements« (contents).
  
  

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• Young researcher from our department received a Loreal-Unesco scholarship L'oreal Slovenia with the support of the Slovenian national comission for UNESCO awarded two young women researchers with the fellowship of 5.000 EUR.
  
  Among 28 candidates, whose PhD studies have to be finished by the end of the year 2008 and are less than 35 years old, our co-worker Saša Kovačič was awarded. The second receiver of the UNESCO-L'Oreal fellowship in 2008 is Zrinka Abramović, who is comming also from Jožef Stefan Institute. The UNESCO-L’Oréal fellowship award ceremony was held on Thursday, January 31, 2008, in the City museum, Ljubljana.
  
  

  Saša Kovačič will defend her PhD work entitled Study of the elementary reactions of nitrogen oxide radicals relevant to atmospheric processes this year. Saša is also a mother to 2-year old Žiga and 4-year old Jure.
  
  

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• Junior assistant Sebastijan Peljhan has received Prešern Award for Physical and chemical research of water solutions of poly(ethacrylic acid), granted by University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Chemistry and Chemical Technology.
  
  

• Paper by our co-workers Ajda Podgoršek, Stojan Stavber, Marko Zupan and Jernerj Iskra published in Green Chemistry journal was one of the top 10 highest-accessed Green Chemistry papers. To view the Top 10 downloaded articles, please follow this link: http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/gc/top10.asp