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Ljubljana, 14 December 2020 – At today's closing online event, we presented the Pregl Awards for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in the field of chemistry and related sciences, and paid tribute to the doctoral candidates who defended their doctoral dissertations this year. The recipients of the prestigious Pregl Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in 2020 are Dr Sara Drvarič Talian, Dr Matija Gatalo, and Dr Tina Škorjanc.
 
Dr Sara Drvarič Talian
received the award for her doctoral dissertation titled “Study of selected processes and parameters influencing the internal resistance in lithium-sulfur batteries”. Her mentor, helping her with research, was Assoc. Prof. Robert Dominko, PhD.

Justification of the award by the Award Committee: In her doctoral work, Sara Drvarič Talian tried to deepen the fundamental understanding of the functioning of lithium-sulfur batteries. Through systematic use of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, she managed to explain several key mechanisms that give rise to losses during the operation of such batteries. For this purpose, she used simplified model experiments and symmetric battery cells, and she also augmented her knowledge by studying the impedance spectra of “traditional” battery cells with porous electrodes. She demonstrated that the two major problems with this type of battery are the solubility of polysulfide intermediates in the electrolyte, and their diffusion inside the battery. She proposed using new solvents or electrolytes, which showed significant improvement in the functioning of the lithium-sulfur batteries. A major breakthrough in understanding the functioning of these batteries was also contributed by her research in the formation of lithium sulfide, which showed that lithium sulfide, despite its electronic non-conductivity, does not passivate the electrode if it is deposited in a porous form. The impedance model developed by Sara, based on previous studies of polysulfide systems, has also been used to explain dendrite growth on lithium metal surfaces. The growth of dendrites is one of the key problems in many types of the new generation batteries, as it not only limits the capacity of the battery, but also poses a high risk of short circuits in the cell. The model designed is generic, and can also be applied for other lithium-metal batteries, and even batteries based on other metal anodes.

Sara Drvarič Talian received her PhD in 2018 from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana, and completed her research work at the Department of Materials Chemistry of the National Institute of Chemistry. She published the results of her research in as many as nine scientific articles in very reputable international journals, in all of which she was credited as the first or lead author. The prominence of her work is reflected in receiving many invited lectures at important international conferences. She is also the recipient of the Pomurje Research Award and the Maks Samec Award.

Dr Matija Gatalo
received the award for his doctoral dissertation titled “Synthesis development of binary and ternary alloy nanoparticles of platinum on a carbon support as an electrocatalyst”. The dissertation was mentored by Prof. Dr Miran Gaberšček.

Justification of the award by the Award Committee: In his doctoral dissertation, Matija Gatalo tried to find a way to reduce the cost of fuel cells that effectively convert the chemical energy from hydrogen into clean electricity. Specifically, he tried to come up with a catalyst that would reduce the use of the expensive platinum, while at the same time being efficient and also commercially interesting. Instead of pure platinum, he used alloys of platinum and transition elements such as copper, nickel, or cobalt as the base for the catalyst. He invented a new nano-tech process, which allowed him to produce morphologically and chemically very homogeneous platinum alloys, in quantities that were commercially appealing. The new procedure is simple, “green”, energy efficient, and extremely reproducible. Using innovative microscopic techniques, he also shed light on the mechanism of alloy formation during heat treatment. He used flow-through electrochemical cells connected to an inductively coupled plasma and a mass spectrometer to study the stability of the platinum-alloy catalysts. Lastly, he used the knowledge gained to develop a new method for the activation of platinum alloys, which is directly applicable in the incorporation of such alloys into real fuel cells.

Matija Gatalo received his PhD in 2019 at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana, and completed his research work at the Department of Materials Chemistry of the National Institute of Chemistry. He has published the results of his research in eight articles in extremely reputable international journals; in six of them he was credited as the first author. He is also an author of two international patents, a holder of several awards for best innovation, and the winner of the award for excellence in the communication of science.

Dr Tina Škorjanc
received the award for her doctoral dissertation titled “Insoluble Main-Chain Organic Macrocycle-Based Covalent Organic Polymers and Frameworks, and Their Applications in Pollutant Capture and Drug Delivery”. The mentor for her work was Prof. Dr Ali Trabolsi.

Justification of the award by the Award Committee: In her doctoral dissertation, Tina Škorjanc studied covalent organic polymers and covalent organic frameworks. She synthesised them, and studied their structure and properties by electron microscopy, thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and other methods. She tested the ready-made materials for use in various environmental and biomedical applications. She studied the removal of various pollutants from water, including organic dyes, perfluorooctanoic acid, herbicide paraquat, bromate, and mercury. She also investigated the adsorption of iodine vapour from the air. In her biomedically-oriented work, together with her colleagues, she synthesised nanometre-sized capsules from organic macrocycles calixarenes, and loaded them with the drug camptothecin. She finally tested the performance of the so-prepared composite particles on cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines.    

Tina Škorjanc received her PhD in 2020 from New York University (NYU). She published the results of her research in thirteen scientific articles, which were published in high impact factor journals. During her doctoral studies, she received several scholarships from her home university and other organizations, both for research itself and for presenting her work at international conferences.

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You can watch the online event with the award ceremony HERE.

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Contact for more information:

- Nataša Jager Radin: natasa.jager.radin@ki.si, phone: +386 1 476 04 78, +386 31 336 838

- Brigita Pirc: brigita.pirc@ki.si; phone.: 386 1 4760 225, 86 41 96 03 96