Since Lucija Drempetić joined the Materials Synthesis Department at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on September 1, 2024, she has been involved in the preparation of various samples of magnetoactive elastomer composites, i.e. MAEs (Fig. 1). Lucija is a doctoral candidate in the MSCA Doctoral Network “MAESTRI” and a doctoral student in the Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies program at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. She holds a Master of Science in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the same institution. With this background, she makes a valuable contribution to the group’s research activities.
Fig.1. Sample preparation for magnetorheological measurements.
The preparation of MAEs (Fig. 2) involves introducing different magnetic micro- and nanoparticles into soft polymer matrices during the cross-linking process, both with and without the presence of an external magnetic field. The preliminary research focuses on understanding how a combination of polymers and various magnetic particles alters the rheological and mechanical properties of the composites and their response to an external magnetic field. The prepared samples also underwent preliminary optical microscopy studies by Arne Geldof at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana. Together, these results provide valuable insights into the properties of MAEs and guide the optimization of their preparation as well as their further characterization.
Fig.2. Prepared MAE sample: (a) before cross-linking and (b) after cross-linking.
