Ice and fire: what "mundane" tasks solve young scientists of TSU

TOMSK, Jun 3 – RIA Tomsk. "Cloning" of plants, eco-friendly decorations, fireworks of increased brightness – these and other seemingly mundane, but no less technologically advanced tasks are solved by young scientists of Tomsk State University (TSU). What developments really simplify work in various industries, from coal to pharmaceutical, – in the material of RIA Tomsk.

Ice melts between us

The solution preventing coal freezing was developed by the staff of the Laboratory of Organic Synthesis of TSU. As the head of the laboratory Viktor Malkov said, the works were made by request of the partner – Kemerovo company, which supplies coal to the Asian part of Russia. Often the goods during transportation, for example, to Yakutia came to the destination in a huge frozen piece ...

"Coal moisture at shipment reaches 15%, plus during transportation it can get wet in the rain. To avoid freezing, usually the rail cars and the coal itself are treated with a solution of calcium chloride (ordinary inorganic salt), but, first, it causes corrosion of the car walls, secondly, it crystallizes on the surface of the coal, which causes its calorific value to be reduced when it is burnt", – explains Malkov.

TSU chemists developed a composition devoid of these shortcomings, and also cheap: the cost of funds does not exceed 15 thousand rubles per ton, and for processing of one car it takes about 30 kilograms. At the same time it is made from chemical production wastes, that is, it also solves the problem of disposal. Tests of solution in frosts in Tomsk was successful, field trials are planned for October in Kemerovo. 

HI TECH beauty

High-tech ceramics for jewelry have been proposed for use at the Siberian Center for Industrial Design and Prototyping at TSU. University scientists have patented the technology of 3D printing with ceramics and a composition based on zirconium.

"We have developed a series of pendants dedicated to the Siberian animals, we have already held talks with a jewelry company from Amsterdam and are planning to launch sales in Europe by the end of the year", – says the director of the center Viktor Klimenko.

Products from nanoceramics, obtained by high-temperature sintering, are not inferior to diamond in hardness, they are scratch-resistant and hypoallergenic, they are not affected by household tools – the appearance is always perfect.

In the Russian market, such jewelry is still difficult to compete with gold – they are not too different in price, but Europe has already appreciated eco-friendly and aesthetic ceramics: collections based on it are created by such jewelry houses as Bulgari and Chanel Fine Jewelry.

Let there be blast!

The new high-energy powder proposed by the student of the TSU Faculty of Physics and Engineering Sergey Sokolov, will help make the fireworks brighter and safer. The additive based on the Al-Mg alloy has combustion parameters that exceed all known analogs and, at the same time, have a lower cost, even in comparison with the Chinese ones.

"As part of the aluminum-magnesium powder, the brightness is greater, the duration of the flash. It can theoretically be used as a metal fuel in rocket fuel, explosives, but pyrotechnics is the main field of application", – says Sokolov.

With this project, he won the "UMNIK" contest of the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE).

The export potential of the development is very high – interest in trial deliveries, joint research and the possibility of commercial supplies on an ongoing basis were expressed by "JSC" Altai Federal Research and Production Center, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan), MACH 1 (high-tech chemical company that provides innovative products and services, USA), Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

"Clones" of plants

"Like stem cells, but cooler!" – a graduate student of the Department of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology of the Biological Institute of TSU and a staff member of the Goldberg Research Institute of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine Maria Filonova popularly explains an essence of the researches. She is developing technology for producing cell cultures and microclones of valuable medicinal plants with a high content of biologically active substances.

"Plant cells have the ability to fully realize all genetic information, that is, from one full-fledged healthy cell (from almost any tissue, no matter where it comes from – from a leaf, stem or root) we can get a cell culture (a mass of undifferentiated cells), which will produce a BAS from this plant", – explains Maria.

In fact, it is an opportunity to produce, for example, promising drugs, without using for this purpose plantations of medicinal plants and not experiencing restrictions due to seasonality, climate, and so on. Accordingly, the main consumers of the technology for obtaining cell cultures of plants – are pharmaceutical companies.

Defeat the fire

The methodology by which fire resistance of building materials can be assessed is developed at the TSU Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics.

"The task is to develop a method for assessing various parameters of fire resistance using infrared diagnostics. Simply put, we are trying to fasten a non-contact method for estimating thermal performance in the event of testing for resistance to fire of building materials. We focus on wood materials: OSB, chipboard, plywood, etc", – the employee of the faculty Denis Kasymov tells.

Scientists have already moved from laboratory scale to penultimate: on the landfill in the wild, they are conducting experiments to analyze the accumulation of burning and glowing particles on the floor model, the corners of the building, the roof, the facade. In parallel, studies are underway on the effect of flame retardants on the fire resistance under thermal effects from a reference source – an instrument that holds a given temperature and simulates the thermal effect of an approaching fire.

The latest results from scientists were presented in April at the European Combustion Meeting in Portugal.