UCT Prague Relies on Applied Research 38

the short term, we want to keep our lead among Czech universities, mainly those engaged in research activities within the Association of Research Organizations.

Can you say something about the interesting projects, within the framework of Technopark Kralupy and the University Centre of Litvínov, which enable students to be in extraordinary close contact with the industrial practice of the ORLEN Unipetrol chemical company and the research centre of ORLEN UniCRE? Let´s mention the CirkTech Centre, which is a part of the Technopark Kralupy you have just mentioned, and which is going to be engaged in the research of advanced mechanical and chemical processes for the circular economy. Its first objective will be to verify its own patented technologies for the extraction of the highly demanded metal of lithium. It has the only high-temperature technology in Europe, also enabling, besides the extraction of metals from waste on slag heaps after hard-rock mining, the production of building materials from waste and the recycling of plastics and electronic waste, including the capture of emissions. Our collaboration with ORLEN Unipetrol includes participation in a testing pyrolysis unit for the processing of plastic waste. The unit will be used for examination of the chemical method of plastic recycling and the possibility of its implementation in standard production. Its ambition is to recycle the waste, not only from the immediate neighbourhood, but probably from the whole Czech Republic within several years, and possibly also from other locations in Central and Eastern Europe by chemical means. And why is this project so special? Pyrolysis – the thermal decomposition of material at high temperatures – is the most important plastic waste processing technology. It provides high yields of liquid products, which can subsequently be processed by applying petrochemical and, alternatively, also refinery technologies.

What about your collaboration with foreign entities, universities and research organisations? English is the main language of communication among chemists and this fact makes it possible for us to collaborate with scientists and companies worldwide. Our research in collaboration with concerns abroad, includes, for example, tests for inclination of materials to hydrogen-induced cracking, analytics, ranging from gases to materials, contaminants in food, forensic analysis of drugs, steroids, research of odour traces. What is especially attractive is water recycling, for instance, the removal of heavy metals from water using Ionex technologies, the removal of arsenic using inorganic sorbents and the removal of trace concentrations of organic substances. Concerning the food industry: safe and nourishing food is the key to a high-quality life and the support of good health, so it is necessary to rapidly accommodate to the food chain that is developing all the time. In collaboration with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), we implement numerous projects; we even have our own brewery and technological halls.

It sounds amazing! But that´s not all, is it? Of course not! UCT Prague is also dedicated to the power sector, and advanced fuels, including hydrogen. We were in at the birth of Pinflow Energy Storage – the technological start-up developing advanced, highly efficient redox flow batteries. The pharmaceutical industry is also not unknown to us. The Parc is a unique research platform, intended for the education of future generations of pharmaceutical scientists and technicians, and it was also created with our collaboration. This very successful initiative has connected growing talents with leading pharmaceutical and academic experts, who work on the acceleration of innovations in the research and development of pharmaceuticals.