Tag: Tomsk Polytechnic University

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University were able to obtain polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes using electrospinning. PTFE is known to be the most stable existent polymer.

According to the scientists, it is a simple, affordable and easily scalable method, which will allow obtaining chemically stable membranes in industrial-scale production. The membranes can be used in petrochemical, aerospace, nuclear industries, carbon-free energy and medicine.

The latest results of the research of physical and chemical properties and biocompatibility of the obtained membranes are published in the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry (IF: 2,332; Q1). The obtained membranes were tested using cells and laboratory animals. The research confirmed that the membranes are not rejected by the cells and are not destroyed in the biological matrix. The interdisciplinary team consisting of physicists and chemicals is currently conducting the research at TPU.

“The material and methods of work with it were noteworthy for us. PTFE is a polymer containing fluorine. Fluorine and similar compounds are called fluoropolymers. They are noteworthy for scientists and experts working at industrial enterprises due to their inert. Fluoropolymers can be used in corrosive media or where material stability is crucial. These either can be hydrogen fuel cells operating in the conditions of corrosive media or a medical implant inside a human body. It means that obtaining membranes is very perspective, however, there is no large capacity technology in the world yet. It is either expensive or labour-intensive, even if the raw material is affordable,” Evgeny Bolbasov, Research Fellow of the TPU Butakov Research Center, says.

The TPU scientists used electrospinning. It is drawing charged threads of polymer solutions under the effect of an electric field. The result is a knitted material of polymer threads.

“The main advantage of the method is that the small laboratory installation is not different from an industrial one by its core and processes. Everything that can be done in the laboratory is easily reproducible at the enterprise. Previously, it was believed that obtaining a PTFE membrane using electrospinning is simply impossible. PTFE is not pulled into threads. To solve this problem, we added polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a crosslinking agent in the synthesis chain,” the scientist says.

The process of obtaining the membrane described in the article carries two stages. First, very fine powder is mixed with PVA. A solution loading in the electrospinning installation is obtained. The thinnest threads are pulled inside of the electrospinning installation and the white porous bed is spun from these pulled threads. It is the membrane. At stage two, the membrane is fired in an oven at about 400°С. The added PVA completely evaporates in the oven and the membrane is getting dark a bit. The entire process takes no longer than three hours.

The researchers note that all raw materials used for the synthesis are commercially affordable and are produced in Russia.

These membranes possess a wide range of potential applications. Only a scalable technology is required. Industrial methods of obtaining membranes from fluoropolymers are searched in Europe, the USA, China. Meanwhile, the Russian scientists possess an opportunity to offer a commercially interesting solution. From our point of view, electrospinning is such a solution.

This method is a dozen folds cheaper than its alternatives, it allows easily controlling the pore structure of the membranes. Moreover, this method is reproducible and scalable, which is very interesting for potential industrial partners,” Vyacheslav Buznik, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the article authors, says.

“Currently, the main task of the TPU researchers is to show the method opportunities for solving specific applied problems. The task is complicated, complex. It can be solved only by interdisciplinary teams consisting of materials specialists, chemists, physicists. It is crucially important for us that there are all the required experts and competencies at TPU. It will help us to actively develop this field,” Marina Trusova, Director of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, notes.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with colleagues from Spanish universities have offered a simple method how to enhance the responsivity of terahertz radiation detectors by 3.5 folds using a small Teflon cube.  The 1 mm cube must be put on the surface of the detector without changing the inner design of the detector.

Such detectors are applied, for instance, in a full-body scanner, spectrometer, in medical devices for diagnosing skin cancer, burn injuries, pathological changes in the blood.  The research findings are published in the Optics Letter academic journal (IF: 3,714; Q1).

Terahertz range lies between microwave and infrared ranges in the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves shorter than 1 mm refer to the terahertz range. Their feature lies in that they are capable to percolate various materials and at the same time, they do not lead to atomic ionization of matter alternatively to X-rays.

“Terahertz radiation detectors are, as a rule, rather compact devices.  Nowadays, researchers from different countries are interested in the enhancement of their responsivity and other parameters.  The higher responsivity, the weaker signals can be received and more precise measurements can be carried out,” Oleg Minin, Professor of the Division for Electronic Engineering of the TPU School of Non-Destructive Testing, one of the authors of the article, says.

“Most researchers are trying to solve this problem by changing the design of the detector and the materials it is made from. It is complicated and often very expensive. Meanwhile, our solution is plain to see.”

In their experiments, the scientists used a microparticle in the form of the Teflon cube, an available dielectric material through which electromagnetic waves of the terahertz range are capable to percolate.  The cube was put on the surface of the detector.

“There is a responsive site inside of the detector.  The site can be made from various materials but its typical scale is always less than the wavelength.  It is the area responsible for trapping electromagnetic waves and transferring them. Due to the form and material, our cube possesses a capability to focalize radiation well, falling on the responsive site of the detector, in the scale limited to or smaller than a diffraction-limited system. The experiments conducted jointly with the Spanish colleagues proved it: the particle focalized the radiation and the emitted radiation fell into the responsive area,” Oleg Minin explains.

According to the scientists, the developed method of detector responsivity enhancement without changing its design is applied to almost any detectors of various ranges.

During the experiments, the scientists fixed responsivity enhancement by 11 decibels, which is 3.5 folds higher than the standard parameters of the detector.

The researchers from the University of Salamanca (Spain), Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), Institute of High-Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland) and Imperial College London (England) took part in the research. The research was conducted with the support of the TPU Competitiveness Enhancement Program.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) are developing a unique nano-coating for radiation protection, capable of self-healing. It will help protect electronics and seriously increase the radiation resistance of various materials in the nuclear and space industries, the authors said. The research findings are published in the Metals academic journal.

New radiation-resistant materials, as experts explained, will not only improve many nuclear facilities but also will effectively protect electronics from radiation damage. Such protection is especially relevant for astronautics as cosmic radiation can disable electronics outside the Earth’s atmosphere very fast.

The main danger of radiation is exposure to charged particles and neutrons. The TPU scientists have experimentally confirmed that the multilayer composite nano-coating of zirconium and niobium can heal the defects caused by these factors.

“Radiation defects in materials are caused by vacancy defects, which are atoms knocked out of the crystal lattice, or additional atoms which stuck in it. Both types of damage can accumulate resulting in product failure. After long-term irradiation of our coating with a proton flux, the concentration of defects either remains unchanged or decreases due to the drain of defects to the boundaries of the layers, where they eliminate each other,” Roman Laptev, Associate Professor of the Division for Experimental Physics of the TPU School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, explained to the Sputnik international news agency.

Such properties of the coating offer significant opportunities for increasing the radiation resistance of various materials in the nuclear and space industries, the TPU researchers believe. The composite, obtained by magnetron sputtering, consists of five layers of each material with a thickness of about 100 nm.

“Transmission microscopy and X-ray structural analysis have shown that after irradiation, voltage arises in the structure due to the accumulation of protons. Calculations and experiments both revealed a displacement of zirconium atoms from the optimal position with the formation of areas of low electron density, near which inserted ions accumulate annihilating positrons during analysis,” Roman Laptev said.

For experimental analysis of the structure of defects before and after irradiation, a unique high sensitive method was used – spectroscopy of Doppler broadening of the annihilation line using fluxes of positrons with controlled energy, the TPU scientists noted.

The research was carried out within the No. 20-79-10343 project of the Russian Science Foundation in cooperation with experts from the Weinberg Research Center and the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. In the future, the research team intends to study new material at higher radiation doses

Tomsk Polytechnic University has ranked 395th in the QS World University Rankings 2022 and entered 31% of the best world universities.

TPU improved its ranks in several key metrics in the 2022 rankings. According to the Faculty Student Ratio, TPU entered the top-100 world universities (ranked 93d) rising by 28 ranks. This TPU ratio (16,9 professors per 100 students) surpasses the worldwide average number (8) by over two folds.

Moreover, the university improved two more key metrics: Citations per Faculty and International Students Ratio (30 out of 100 at TPU, meanwhile, the worldwide average number is 9.3). TPU eventually changed its ranks from 401st to 395th in the overall rankings.

The QS World University Rankings 2022 includes 1,300 universities (1,002 in the previous rankings) from 93 countries. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oxford and Stanford University ranked the first, second and third relatively. Russia is represented by 48 universities, 16 out of them first entered the rankings.

During 11 years, TPU has risen in the QS institutional rankings by 156 ranks and extended its presence in the QS World University Rankings by Subject: from one in 2016 to 10 in 2021. This year, TPU ranked 23d in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021: Engineering – Petroleum, shown the best result among Russian universities.

The rankings methodology is based on the assessment of university performance in six metrics: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Citations per Faculty, Faculty/Student Ratio, International Faculty Ratio and International Student Ratio.

Tomsk Polytechnic University held the International Scientific Conference “Future of Human Smart Cities in Europe and Central Asia: Challenges and Opportunities” from 8 June 2021.

“I am greeting you within the walls of Tomsk Polytechnic University, the first technical university of the Urals. For 125 years, we have been training over 170,000 engineers. Most of them are engineers, the task of whom is to change the world around them, start new enterprises, make breakthrough decisions, as well as to change the image of the urban environment,” Alexander Fadeev, TPU Vice-Rector for Digital Affairs, addressed the participants of the Conference.

“The unique character of TPU lies in engineering and technical sciences, humanities and social sciences, which are closely intertwined.”

“The most interesting is that our university manages to intertwine deep fundamental science and engineering. Who is a man of science? A man of science is that who studies laws of nature.

“Who is an engineer then? An engineer is that who creates something new that has never existed in the world before. I want to wish everyone to find something personal, something unique at the Conference that will help you to create your service. Above all, working in digital space, don’t forget about a human,” he added.

Among the topics discussed by the experts at the Conference were “Information Technologies Serving Stakeholders and Citizens of Smart City: Urban Digital Platforms, GIS Maps, Electronic Services and Government”, “Impact of Breakthrough Technologies on Society, Assessment of Equipment and Technology, Social Aspects of Robotics”, “Reinterpretation of Smart Human-Centered Transformation of City: Global, National, Local Contexts”.

“Such a topic as smart cities and considerations of the future of smart cities were simply impossible 10 years ago. The fact is that digital technologies became a part of our world. Many people are afraid of it, however, this process is cocksure. Look how everything around us is changing, including everything that refers to the urban environment. For instance, how people call a taxi, buy products today, they do it using digital technologies,” Alexander said.

“Digital technologies are unique due to collecting large volumes of data that allows taking fantastic solutions. For example, digital technologies forecast and suggest to us those goods, which you have not seen before. Today, the forecasting system is increasing sales by three folds on many websites. Think how we can dip into the future, which solutions we can offer, spread your wings when you design the future of our cities,” Alexander added.

The Conference was held in a hybrid mode and gathered together students, young and recognized scientists, urban planners, engineers, architects, Tomsk citizens, representatives of IT companies, cafes, museums, creative spaces and children’s technopark “Kvantorium”, sociologists from Tomsk, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Perm, Tambov, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Italy, Guatemala, Portugal, Switzerland and Central Asian countries.

“The main point in the section work is focused on that the technologies must be aimed at people, a smart city must serve people. There must not be technologies for technologies, but technologies must be an instrument helping to increase the quality of citizens’ life,” Natalya Goncharova, Associate Professor of the Division for Social Sciences and Humanities of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education, a coordinator of the project, emphasized.

The participants discussed problems and perspectives of modern approaches on research the process of formation of public spaces of urban streets, use of instruments of video content analysis, use of robots in education and a smart city, the impact of digital technologies on elderly people and many others.

A new Laboratory for Industrial Control Systems has been equipped at Tomsk Polytechnic University. Students studying heat power engineering will learn to design thermodynamic processes, master the technology of high-speed thermotechnical measures and engineer control system elements and modules.

Within the Leading Research Universities project, the Laboratory was equipped by the interdisciplinary team of the TPU School of Energy and Power Engineering, the Research School of High-Energy Physics with the support of EleSy Company and the Technical University of Darmstadt.

“First of all, the Laboratory is aimed for graduate heat power engineers. Moreover, it allows implementing two trajectories of specialist training: engineering and research, including in English too. Leading scientists from world research centers and specialists of enterprises of the tech-intensive sector of the economy were invited for this purpose. It will allow TPU to train internationally demanded staff in process automation systems and promising eco-friendly energy technology,” Pavel Strizhak, Professor of the TPU Butakov Research Center, a supervisor of the project, explains.

Furthermore, four virtual complexes were developed for students’ work in the laboratory. These virtual complexes allow honing skills of 3D assembly of a control panel and optical methods for diagnosis of steam gas flows, SCADA control levels, designing the structure of process automation systems, as well as will allow simulating automated design engineering of standard electrical connections in a control panel.

The experts of EleSy Company and TPU jointly designed the virtual laboratory and practical works with remote access. Besides, the industrial partner equipped the classroom with three control panels embedded with up-to-date domestic and foreign equipment, including programmable logic controllers, analog and discrete signal converters, routers, as well as licenses for the SCADA-Infinity software.

“Interaction of TPU with the Technical University of Darmstadt will allow integrating the best practices in fluid dynamics for the development of students’ skills in designing and developing industrial control systems. Several applications for the joint realization of international research projects of TPU scientists and colleagues from Germany are currently being considered.

“On one hand, it will allow increasing the number of joint research and on the other hand, it will also allow students to be involved in conducting research projects in Russia and abroad with full immersion in English speaking environment,” Pavel Strizhak assures.