The 25th International Conference-School “Advanced Materials and Technologies“ was traditionally held in Palanga on 21-25 August 2023.
The poster presentations of Mindaugas Ilickas and Shahd Fateh El-Rahman Bakhet Elkhider, PhD students of Materials Engineering at Kaunas University of Technology, Institute of Materials Science, received recognition at the conference and by the decision of the international jury they were awarded with the “Young Scientist Award” for the best poster presentations.
PhD student Mindaugas Ilickas poster presentation “Photochemical Synthesis of AgNP-PVB Nanocomposite Coatings and Investigation of Their Optical Properties” deals with photochemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles and the incorporation of these synthesised particles into PVB polymer network to form a nanocomposite. The focus of this work was the evaluation of the optical properties of the formed nanocomposite coatings.
According to PhD student M. Ilickas, antiviral/antibacterial surfaces are particularly popular, and these silver-based nanocomposite coatings can be used in medical institutions or laboratories where the aim is to maintain the most sterile environment. The economic advantage of this synthesis is that the photochemical reaction is initiated on the surface of the coating, so that a single concentration of solution is sufficient, and by varying the time of UV irradiation, we can form silver nanoparticles of the desired size. The poster presented an analysis of the absorption spectra of samples irradiated with two different UV lamps in order to optimise the process time. The absorption spectra of coatings and solutions were also compared.
PhD students Shahd Fateh El-Rahman Bakhet Elkhider poster presentation was titled “Laser Generated Copper Nanoparticle-Based Coating Antiviral Efficacy Against Corona & Herpes Viruses”. This work aimed to synthesize CuNPs by femtosecond laser ablation of the pure copper target in water. The copper nanoparticles were spray coated on glass and their antiviral efficacy was tested against model Infectious Bronchitis and Bovine herpesvirus viruses of animal origin.
According to PhD student Shahd Elkhider, high-efficiency antiviral surfaces can be an effective means to fight against viral diseases such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Copper is the most used metal for the development of antimicrobial surfaces and copper nanoparticles can be synthesized by exploiting various approaches. The poster presented the virucidal efficacy of the different CuNP coating against coronavirus IBV and herpesvirus BoHV-1 indicating a definite copper content dependant negative effect on the biological activity of both model viruses leading to virus inactivation and viral nucleic acid degradation.
The conference was organised by the Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, the Lithuanian Materials Researchers Association, Vilnius, Latvia, Riga Technical, Tartu and Southern Denmark Universities, the Centre for Physical and Technological Sciences and the Institute for Applied Research in Perspective Technologies.
For more information visit the conference website and Facebook page. The conference book of theses can be read here.
