Department of Surface Engineering and Heat Treatment

The scientific activity of the department primarily focuses on research in the field of heat treatment of metal alloys, including thermochemical treatment. As part of the conducted research, technologies such as low-pressure carburizing (also known as vacuum carburizing), nitriding, and a globally unique low-pressure carburizing process with preliminary nitriding, as well as gas nitrocarburizing, have been developed and implemented in industry. The department operates a technological laboratory equipped with devices for heat treatment in vacuum, reactive, and inert atmospheres. This allows for the development of new heat treatment technologies from initial concept to pre-implementation scale.

The second area of the department’s scientific activity is nanotechnology, with a focus on the production and application of graphene. An original and unique technology for producing large-area monolayer graphene on a liquid copper substrate (HSMG® graphene) has been developed in the department. Due to its structure (quasi-monocrystalline graphene with a low degree of defects), graphene produced with this method exhibits superior physicochemical properties compared to monolayer graphene manufactured using other techniques. Research is also being conducted on the application of HSMG® graphene and graphene derivatives (GO, rGO, n-rGO), with a particular emphasis on the development of graphene-based composites for water purification using filtration, sorption, and electrodeionization methods.

The department is open to collaboration not only in the areas of current research but also in the development of new technologies.