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antimicrobial activity for medical applications; thermal evaporation tablets and Ag‑TiO and Ag‑ZnO
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nanocomposite spray targets for making nanostructured coatings with antimicrobial activity;
• Material integration into products and technologies: fasteners for maxillofacial prosthesis with magnetic
fasteners;
 Development of research in the field of production and characterization of materials with special
applications:
• Structural materials: amorphous alloys in the form of strips; amorphous matrix composites;
• Functional materials: Ni powder with large specific surface area; thin layers of DLC on metal substrate and
SiO ; TiAlN anti‑wear thin layers;
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 Interdisciplinary research in the field of surface functionalization and the study of interface properties:
• Functionalization of interfaces made of dissimilar materials for obtaining of specific properties at the
interface (adhesion, functional properties);
• Functionalization of surfaces for obtaining of functional properties (wear resistance, corrosion resistance,
resistance to UV etc.);
 Metallic materials and composites characterization:
• Determination of coating thickness in the range between 100nm and 50µm using the “ball cratering”
method;
• Determination of tribological properties of thin layers and solid samples with parallel plane surfaces (friction
and wear);
• Determination of mechanical properties of thin layers and coatings with a maximum thickness of 2 µm and
solid samples with parallel plane surfaces (Vickers hardness, Young’s modulus, elastic contact stiffness) by
instrumented nano / microindentation and Oliver & Pharr calculation method;
• Determination of optical critical adhesion / cohesion forces of thin layers and coatings with maximum
thicknesses of 2 µm deposited on rigid substrates with parallel plane surfaces, by micro‑scratching;
• Investigation of the thermal properties of materials (forming heats, transformation temperatures, Curie
temperature, linear coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal diffusivity, specific heat, thermal conductivity);
• Investigation of surface properties of materials (specific surface, distribution and pore size);
• Characterization of nanocrystalline materials in the form of suspensions (effective nanoparticle dimensions,
particle size distribution, zeta potential, absorbance);
• Investigation of the optical characteristics of nanocrystalline materials in powder form by UV‑Vis
spectrophotometry (reflectance);
• Investigation of mechanical properties of materials (traction, compression, bending) at 20… .500°C;
• Identification and determination of the structural and compositional characteristics of active Raman
materials;
 Metallic and composite powder processing using classical techniques of powder metallurgy and by
special techniques of plasma sintering with spark and hot isostatic pressing, for obtaining electrical
contacts, sintered composite materials etc.

Expertise Areas in 2019
The Laboratory is part of the Department of Composite and Polymer Metallic Materials, having as areas of
expertise:
 Development of research in the field of production and characterization of materials and
components for energy:
• Structural materials: metal coatings; amorphous alloys, amorphous nanostructured composite materials,
high mixing entropy alloys and other metallic materials;
• Functional materials: hydrogen storage materials based on metal hydrides; NiAlCrB type thermal barrier
deposition materials;
• Material integration into products and technologies: electrodes for rechargeable Ni‑MH batteries, carbon‑
steel joining technology; thermal tubes with internal porous structure;
 Development of research in the field of production and characterization of materials and
components for electrical engineering:
• Functional materials: sintered heavy alloy products; composite powders of silver nanoparticles deposited
on ZnO and SnO powders for conductive materials; plated materials for electrical contacts; shape memory
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materials of Ti type (Ni, Cu, Fe, Nb); Ag‑CdO, Ag‑SnO , Ag‑ZnO, WC‑Ag, WC‑Cu, W‑Ag, W‑Cu electrical
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contact materials; electrical contacts for electrical appliances with air, vacuum, mineral insulating oil and
SF6 gas switching; Al and Al‑Mg alloys for electronic and communications equipment; WO and CuO
3
crystalline powders for electrical contact materials based on W‑Cu;
• Material integration into products and technologies: Ag‑CdO and Ag‑SnO electrical contacts for low voltage
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electrical equipment with air switching; W‑Cu/Ag and WC‑Cu/Ag electrical contacts for miniaturized low
voltage contactors with vacuum switching; W‑Cu electric arc contacts for medium and high voltage circuit
breakers with SF6 electro‑insulating mineral oil and gas switching; polymer‑graphene composite materials
for direct laser writing; graphene‑based W‑Cu composite materials and graphene oxide derivatives;
 Development of research in the field of production and characterization of materials and products
with antimicrobial activity or biocompatibility:

2019 ANNUAL REPORT | PAGE 73