Leader: Prof. DSc Grzegorz Józefaciuk
Team: Prof. DSc Mieczysław Hajnos
Aggregate structures commonly occur in nature and they are produced in broad scales. An architecture of such structures can be described either as mutual arrangement of their individual components, or, complementary, as location of spaces (pores) between them. The stability of aggregates is governed by forces acting among the components. Clay minerals are important components of soils, bricks or chippings, and the diversity of their sizes, shapes and physicochemical properties affects both porosity and stability of aggregates formed from them. A presence or addition of bioactive substances (biochar in soils, biosurfactants, ammendments in medical implants) may markedly modify the properties of aggregates. The aggregate structure may be described from direct analysis of images derived from microtomography or microscopy, or by indirect methods like mercury porosimetry, water retention, adsorption of gases or vapors, whereas the aggregate stability may be studied by mechanical durability tests or by observation of aggregates destruction caused by varius factors as water or organic liquids. Broad interest on aggregate structures is pronounced in thousands of published research papers, an amount of which increases continuously due to introduction of new porous and to development of new research methods. The present task is localized within the above area.
The aim of the works is directed onto modification of aggregates composition and determination of the accompanied structural changes for development of new building or medical materials of advantageous properties, as well as to achieve desirable properties of natural aggregates, mainly these present in soils. The other research stream will include improvement of aggregate analyzing methods and their theoretical description tools.
