Researchers from the Materials-Envi Lab (MEL) received the CEET Director’s Award for the Best Fundamental Research Result as well as the award for the Best Poster at the CEET Employees’ Christmas gathering held on 11 December. The head of MEL and Scientific Director of the Nanotechnology Centre, Radek Zbořil, also took part in a panel discussion titled Smart Materials and Circular Economy for the Industry of the Future.
The fifth annual meeting focused on strengthening links between research, practice, and industry in the context of the energy transition. A new addition to the programme was a poster session for PhD students and early-career researchers, who presented their current research projects. The Best Poster Award was won by Ajith Manayil Parambil from MEL.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this award. I would like to thank the Nanotechnology Centre, CEET, and VSB–Technical University of Ostrava for providing outstanding research facilities and opportunities that significantly supported my work. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Radek Zbořil, the entire Materials-Envi Lab team, and our research group led by Štěpán Kment and Lukáš Zdražil for welcoming me and creating such an inspiring and collaborative research environment. I am also very grateful to all members of our team for their continuous encouragement, teamwork, and support. This award further motivates me, and I look forward to our future work together,” commented Ajith Manayil Parambil, whose current research is part of the project Advanced Materials and Single-Atom Engineering for Environmental Technologies.
Another new feature of this year’s event was the introduction of awards for outstanding achievements in research and collaboration with industry, presented in several categories. The award for the Best Fundamental Research Result was given to the study Harnessing enhanced lithium-ion storage in self-assembled organic nanowires for batteries and metal-ion supercapacitors.
In a study published in the prestigious journal Energy & Environmental Science, the researchers presented a new method of producing battery electrodes based on organic materials, which show high storage capacity, speed and stability in energy storage, without the need to use harmful organic solvents. The authors include Radek Zbořil and Aristeidis Bakandritsos from MEL.
As in previous years, the programme also featured panel discussions with experts from academia, industry, and the public sector. The discussion titled Smart Materials and Circular Economy for the Industry of the Future included, alongside Radek Zbořil, Gražyna Simha Martynková and Pavel Leštinský from CEET, with industry represented by Libor Dluhoš and Stanislav Cingroš.
Photo: Petr Havlíček