YCN representative - Czech Republic

Daniel Valášek

YCN representative for the Czech Republic Ceramic Society

Brno University of Technology

xcvalasek@vutbr.cz

I am Daniel Valášek, a Ph.D. student at CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology), Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. I am in the third year of the Ph.D. program designated Advanced Materials, specializing in Advanced Ceramics. My Ph.D. research focuses on high entropy non-oxide ceramics, especially high entropy carbides. These advanced ceramic materials have proven to have properties superior to conventional ceramics, such as, hardness or stability at high temperatures. This makes them potential future candidates for cutting tools or ultra-high temperature applications.   

Before starting my Ph.D. journey, I studied at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Brno University of Technology. My bachelor's degree was in the general field of Mechanical Engineering. However, my specialization in Materials Engineering started with my bachelor thesis. I remained in this field until the end of my master's studies, focusing on the measurement of mechanical properties of metals using both destructive and non-destructive methods. After completing my master's studies, I changed my specialization from metals to ceramics.

Having insight into the behavior of metals proved to be beneficial while working on my Ph.D. topic, since one of the ways to prepare high entropy ceramics is to use elemental metals as the starting powders. The primary production method, that I use to prepare both high entropy and non-high entropy ceramics, is the spark plasma sintering method. I use scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, or optical microscopy to characterize the prepared samples.

Furthermore, with my colleagues at CEITEC, I have also prepared conventional carbide ceramics or metals by spark plasma sintering or electroceramics by the cold sintering process.

During my Ph.D., I had an opportunity to interact with other ceramic researchers or members of the YCN during the ACERS 2023 Winter Workshop or the ECERS 2023 Conference in Lyon. I am looking forward to expanding the network further by becoming part of the YCN representative community!

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