With the Scientific Challenge, Retsch, a leading manufacturer of laboratory mills and sieve shakers for the preparation and characterization of solids, invited scientists from all over the world to present their research projects in areas such as recycling, green chemistry, materials development, or life sciences. The only condition: ball mills are used in the project and the research is aimed at improving environmental and living conditions.
Over 90 international scientists from 23 countries responded to the call and submitted their research projects. These included exciting projects such as plastics recycling via mechanosynthesis, 3D printing of moon regolith as a cement additive, or the conversion of lignin and food waste into new materials.
The competition not only awarded three main winners, but also honoured 8 other outstanding research projects. The large number of highly qualified entries underlines the great importance of ball mills in the world of research.
«The Scientific Challenge has shown us the impressive potential of using planetary ball mills and mixer mills in innovative research projects. We are overwhelmed by the creativity and commitment of the scientists from all over the world,» says Dr. Tanja Butt, Head of Product Management, Retsch GmbH.
The wide range of applications has provided Retsch with new insights and groundbreaking findings for the use of ball mills, which will play an important role in the further development of the devices and accessories.
The following three projects were awarded the main prize, either a Retsch Planetary Ball Mill PM 300 or a Mixer Mill MM 400:
· Dr. Riccardo Gallorini and Dr. Benedetta Ciuffi (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy): Functionalization of biochar from waste biomass for sustainable production of energy and secondary raw materials.
· José Manuel Mendoza, Gabriela Tarango, Ivanovich Estrada, Carlos Gamaliel Garay, Roberto Martinez (Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, S. C., Chihuahua, México): Technische Umweltlösungen – Engineering Environmental Solutions: Graphite Expansion preparation through Mechanochemical Route for Oil Removal in water.
· Prof. Petrica Vizureanu, Madalina Simona Baltatu, Assoc. Prof. Andrei Victor Sandu (Gheorghe Asachi Technical University Iasi, Romania): Sustainable Biomaterial Innovations for Healthcare – Study on the microstructural evolution of Ti-Mo-Si based alloy obtained by high-energy ball milling.
The following projects won a Retsch goods voucher:
· Prof. Dr. Jana Novotná & Team | Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Microplastics from textiles in aquatic ecosystems: identification, characterization, and effects assessment
· Yuichiro Kobayashi & Team | Osaka University, Japan: Creation of sulphur polymer composite materials
· Dr. Vasco Bonifácio & Team | Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal; Mechanosyntesis of lycopene oligosulfides by inverse vulcanization
· Anthony Psulkowski | Institute for Advanced Materials, United States: Synthesis, characterization, and printability evaluation of lunar regolith for selective laser sintering in off-world in situ resource utilization fabrication
· Dr. Ina Vollmer & Team | Utrecht University, Netherlands: Catalytic grinding spheres for chemical conversion of plastic waste
· Dr. Blaine Fiss & Prof. Mita Dasog | University of Western Ontario, Canada: Mechanochemical synthesis of metal nitride and carbon nitride nanocatalysts for photocatalytic water treatment and ammonia generation
· Natalia Rosiak, Karol Marcinkowski | University of Medical Sciences Poznań, Poland: A green approach to delivering poorly soluble polyphenols with proven biological properties
· Luis Schnürer | Technical University of Munich, Germany: Artificial Intelligence for smart design and testing of cement and concrete.
Retsch express their congratulations to the winners and thank everyone who participated in the Scientific Challenge. At Retsch they are inspired by the innovative ideas and research that were submitted, and they look forward to seeing the positive impact they will have on our environment and our future.
Retsch GmbH, a part of Verder Scientific, is a specialist in the field of analysis-oriented sample preparation and characterization of solids and has more than 100 years of experience in the development and manufacture of innovative size reduction equipment and analytical sieve shakers that convince with their performance, user-friendliness, safety, and long service life.
The photo shows Dr. Gallorini (left) and Dr. Ciuffi.
