We are pleased to announce that Sonia Bujok has joined our team and is starting work in the PVCare project as an Assistant.
Sonia is interested in “green” materials and studying interactions in polymer materials by combining methods such as DMA, SAXS, DSC, ELS and NMR.
Sonia graduated from the Cracow University of Technology in 2017, and in 2021 she obtained a doctorate from the Charles University in Prague. Her expertise in the field of polymers is impressive:
– As part of her master’s thesis, she dealt with the synthesis of branched (dendritic) polymer materials based on model compounds (unsaturated methyl esters) that can be obtained in the process of transesterification and metathesis of vegetable oils (“Research on the synthesis of branched polymer materials based on vegetable oil modification products”) . Dendrimers / highly branched compounds are used, for example, as rheological additives, surfactants or as drug carriers.
– During her doctoral dissertation, she studied the microwave synthesis of biodegradable nanocomposites (“Microwave-assisted preparation of polymer materials”) based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and LDH nanoparticles (layered double hydroxides) modified with ionic liquids, whose task was to improve the compatibility of nanoparticles with the polymer matrix, ensuring more effective heating the reaction mixture (due to their ionic nature ensuring stronger interaction with microwaves) and catalyzing the polymerization. The final nanocomposites containing zinc-based nanoparticles showed better barrier properties (reduction of oxygen and water vapor permeability), degraded faster in the presence of bacteria and fungi and showed an antibacterial effect – thanks to this, they could be used as environmentally friendly active packaging materials.
– As part of her doctorate, she also worked on projects related to the preparation of polymer materials (polyurethane foams and physical hydrogels based on high-molecular polyelectrolyte and clay nanoparticles) based on raw materials of natural origin.
We hope that, despite her vast experience, working with polymers in cultural heritage will be an exciting challenge and a nice change for Sonia.