Our team has long been engaged in a comprehensive material research on rocks and minerals, energy raw materials, modified geomaterials and selected building materials. We cooperate with both industrial and academic institutions whose activities are related to the use of rock mass, either as a source of mineral raw materials and energies (mining, oil and gas extraction, geothermal energy) or as an environment for building underground structures (tunnels, fuel and energy storage systems, repositories of industrial and radioactive waste, etc.). We also offer cooperation to partners from the field of engineering geology, geotechnics, metallurgy and materials engineering, to producers of building stone and aggregates, to companies engaged in processing of geomaterials, building materials development and application, or to monument care institutions.
Development and verification of methodologies for analysing the mineral and chemical composition of geomaterials, combining the techniques of microscopy, vibrational spectroscopy and thermal analysis
Development and verification of methodologies for reliable identification and characterization of clay minerals and clay-based materials, combining the techniques of vibrational spectroscopy and thermal analysis
Research on respirable asbestos fibres in rocks with respect to the risks of air contamination due to human activities in the rock environment
Experimental research into interactions of rocks with fluids, with a view to the dynamics of moisture exchange between the rock pores and the ambient environment; impact of chemical agents for protection of building stone on moisture exchange and stone properties
Study on pore space and density properties of selected geomaterials in terms of interactions between geomaterials and the ambient environment
Study of the influence of pressure water on deformation behaviours of rocks under triaxial stress conditions
Experimental studies on deformational behaviour of rocks in triaxial loading/unloading regimes. Development of technical procedures and tools for reliable control of triaxial experiments
Study of the stress-strain characteristics of rocks with a view to the loading regimes, material inhomogeneity and structural anisotropy of rocks
Study of mechanical fracture properties of rocks in relation to their mineralogical composition and internal rock texture features; study of crack initiation and propagation in rocks under loading
Evaluation of the thermal expansion of rocks, depending on their composition and internal structure, by means of thermomechanical analysis
Design, preparation and verification of effectiveness of organically modified clays as sorbents for removal of organic or inorganic pollutants (drugs, pesticides, heavy metals, etc.) from the aqueous environment
Synthesis of inorganic-clay composites with catalytic activity and evaluating their physico-chemical properties
Evaluation of the chemical resistance of smectites based on interactions with selected chemicals
