MTF on Days of Science and Innovations 2022
The Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology participated in the Days of Science and Innovation event on Saturday, October 1, 2022. Students, associates and professors of MTF turned the hall of the technical faculty building into a laboratory that showed in the most vivid way what the power of science and research can do. Visitors had the opportunity to learn about various processes and concepts in the field of chemical technology, materials and environmental protection, but also to do interesting experiments themselves and try out the role of a scientist in a white coat.
In our large laboratory, students were shown samples of various metal materials such as steel, iron, brass, aluminum alloys, etc. They learned about the light microscope and discovered the microstructures of different metal materials with it. Immediately after that, they learned why it is important to monitor the corrosion process and learned about the importance of the effect of appropriate media on the development or inhibition of corrosion processes. In addition, they heard about protection methods that are not harmful to the environment, and which can be applied in order to preserve the material.
Through games and experiments, visitors immersed themselves in the world of chemical substances and reactions that came out of the chemical laboratories of MTF. With the help of students and teaching staff, they examined what red cabbage can do, how to make elephant paste, found out what black mamba is in chemistry, made a volcano in a cup and a star shower in a glass balloon. The youngest participants received gifts in the form of coloring books inspired by chemistry and our experiments, and they took with them experiments that they will do at home and discover invisible messages from chemists. At the "scented table", visitors enjoyed refreshing themselves with the fragrant notes of lemon, eucalyptus, lavender and mint, learned how essential oil is obtained from plants and what hydrolates are. They had the opportunity to guess from which plants different scent notes come, which was particularly interesting to them, and in addition, they learned everything about the preparation and methods of isolating biologically active substances from medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as the methods of application of the obtained essential oils and extracts. They also received gifts in the form of bottles with hydrolates of lavender, mint, eucalyptus and lemon, which were obtained in the laboratory during the isolation of essential oil from plants. Experiments on electrochemical energy sources were also shown, and visitors learned why lemons can be the basic component of an electrochemical cell. They also learned what electrochromism is, and they were convinced that all polymers are not insulators when the light bulb lit up when closing the electric circuit containing polyaniline. They could examine for themselves what a redox association looks like when metallic aluminum and copper ions are found in solution in a glass. Future scientists especially enjoyed examining the properties of non-Newtonian fluids that we can obtain from cake-making materials. In addition to all the experiments, the visitors had the opportunity to listen to several lectures that gave an insight into some of current research areas at the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology: Hydrogen energy - the key to the energy transition? Dr. Vanja Asanović, full professor of the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology Electrochemical sources of energy, Danilo Marković, student of chemical technology Corrosion and protection of materials, Sara Lukovac, BSc chemical technology The faculty owes a great debt of gratitude to the students who participated in the event. In addition to passing on knowledge to younger generations, they also learned from each other, helped each other and showed that they are true friends and colleagues.