Institutions - Slovak Clay Group

We would like to introduce the institutions which provide the main member base of Slovak Clay Group

Department of Hydrosilicates, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

Department of Hydrosilicates investigates the chemistry, properties and modifications of clay minerals. Primary interest is development and characterization of attractive novel materials based on modified smectites, such as hybrid nanomaterials with organic substances and intercalation compounds. Chemical modifications performed recently include replacement of exchangeable cations with protons and/or with various inorganic or organic cations, forming a systematic study targeted on the properties of raw and modified smectites. Their possible applications are in novel organic-inorganic hybrid materials, including smectite–polymer nanocomposites, optical materials based on hybrids with organic dyes, in numerous spheres of environmental protection, etc. The phenomena studied include new applications of IR and UV-Vis spectroscopic techniques in materials chemistry; surface acidity; fixation of cations; barrier and sorption properties with entrapping of environmentally hazardous compounds; properties of clay–polymer nanocomposites. The topics for hybrid materials with dyes include formation of molecular aggregates, luminescence, photoactivity and fluorecence resonance energy transfer.

Department of Geology of Mineral Deposits, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava

Group members are interested in clays and clay minerals as industrial minerals and the indicator of geological processes. The results of clay raw materials studies are predominately mineral characterization, genesis and aplication of clay materials in industry and nature conservancy. Clays as indicator of geological processes enable to recognize the history of various geological environments. It brings purely scientific knowledge as well as important information for the prospection of raw materials (e.g. about history of sedimentary basins for hydrocarbons prospection, about alterations for ore deposits prospection). Members of the team develop and use methods connected mainly with XRD and TEM (e.g. illite-smectite paleothermometer, particle size analysis).

Department of Engineering Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava

Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava

Members specialise to investigation of resonance energy transfer in the hybrid materials based on organic laser dyes and layered silicate nanoparticles.

Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice

The Institute of geotechnics of Slovak Academy of Sciences is a scientific organization with a contributory economy form. The date of foundation: November 22nd 1954. The institute has a dominant position in Slovak Republic within the basic and applied research in the area of rock disintegration, mineral processing, mechanochemistry, mineral biotechnologies and environmental protection. Subject of activity:

1. The main focus: basic research of processes in the field of continuous disintegration of the rock mass and underground constructions stability, the transport of energy and mass in the rock disintegration processes; basic research of solid dispersions origin patterns and their properties modifications by physical, mechanical, chemical and biotechnological processes; qualitative and quantitative evaluation of phase interactions at the disperse systems origin and at their spreading in working and living environment.

2. The institute focuses on application of theoretical knowledge from presented areas for detailing the top technologies principles in the following fields: rock disintegration, mineral processing, monitoring of selected components of working and living environment, monitoring of environmental, chemical and geological changes in the waste repositories with the aim of ecological revitalizations.

3. The institute provides advisory and expertise services related to main activities.

4. The institute covers scientific education in terms of generally valid legislation.

5. The institute provides publication of the scientific-research activities using the periodic and non-periodic press. The publishing of periodic and non-periodic press follows the regulations of the SAS Presidium.

Geological division, The Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Banská Bystrica

The Geological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Science was founded in 1953 by the Presidium of the Slovak Academy of Sciences as „Laboratory for stratigraphy and palaeontology “.The Laboratory was transformed to the institute and since 1966 it was renamed to Geological Institute. Institute has two working places, in Bratislava at Dúbravská 9 and in Banská Bystrica at Ďumbierska 1. The seat of the Institute is in Bratislava. Here, is also a joint research center Energy and Geoscience laboratory with University Utah, USA.

The Geological Institute is oriented to the complex research of geological structure, rock and mineral compositions, and geodynamic evolution of the Western Carpathians area including the interpretation of deep structures. The institute develops the basic research in scientific branches of geology, stratigraphy, palaeontology, sedimentology, tectonics; mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry; ore and environmental geology, on the basis of information obtained by the regional study of the Slovak territory, its regions and other areas with comparable geological structure. Framed mostly by running projects, the research activities of the scientific staff of the Geological Institute have been aimed mainly to the fields of (1) petrology and mineralogy of the basement rocks, diagenesis and very low-grade metamorphism of sedimentary rocks, (2) sedimentology and palaeontology, (3) metallogeny and environmental geochemistry. Most of the activities have international dimension as they have been carried out in cooperation with our colleagues abroad (within the European research area, USA, Rusia and China).

The clay research focuses on phyllosilicates as important indicators reflecting processes taking place during low-temperature evolution of rocks (i.e. diagenesis, very low-grade metamorphism, hydrothermal alteration). Structural, compositional and phase transformations of clay minerals are studied as a function of geological parameters, which allow direct correlation with the grade of alteration overprint as well as geodynamic settings of the environment.

Apart from working on scientific and economy projects the staff of the Institute take part in educational activity with more than 50% of the scientists lecturing at Comenius University, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and Masaryk University in Brno (Czech republic). The Institute provides PhD Study in Paleontology (12-20-9) and Tectonics (12-26-9).

The Geological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences is the publisher of the international journal Geologica Carpathica, which publishes original science contributions and reviews of all branches of geology from the Carpathian and the Mediterranean region. Geologica Carpathica is published six times a year and it is included in Current Contents.