Optimisation of Fly Ash Pretreatment for Mechanical Strength and Radioactive Safety in Microwave-irradiated Alkali-Activated Materials: Preliminary Results

Barbara Horvat, PhD, is a physicist and project leader at the High Voltage and Power Plants Department, in the nuclear group. Her research focuses on radioactive waste (management), (green) building materials, (electrical and thermal) insulation materials, especially fire-resistant electrical cables, semiconductors, the circular economy in material science, and life cycle assessment (LCA). She earned her BSc in Physics with a thesis on eye-safe LIDAR for aerosol detection, and her PhD in Nanophysics, studying photocatalytic degradation of organics using TiO₂ nanoparticles. Her postdoc involved chemical and mineralogical evaluation of primary and secondary raw materials for alkali-activated materials, including software development for recipe optimisation using XRF/XRD. She led teams to multiple circular economy awards for inventions, especially connected with the influence of the electromagnetic field on new materials.

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: barbara.horvat@eimv.si

Nadja Železnik, PhD, is a physicist, psychologist and project leader at the High Voltage and Power Plants Department, in the nuclear group. Her work focuses on radioactive waste (management), nuclear legislation, stakeholder engagement, risk perception, emergency preparedness, and communication in environmental and nuclear projects. She earned her BSc in Physics and MSc in Reactor Physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, and her PhD in Psychology at the Faculty of Arts. With over 35 years of experience, she has contributed to numerous national and international projects, developing legislation, feasibility studies, remediation plans, safety assessments and education and training programmes. She has coordinated multiple EU projects, and serves as an expert for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-pošta: nadja.zeletnik@eimv.si

Lara Petrič, BSc student, is studying at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana. As part of a summer research internship, she contributed to the synthesis and characterisation of alkali-activated materials within the ARIS project, including sample preparation, mechanical testing and chemical and crystallographic analyses. As a promising student, she has also begun contributing to abstracts and presentations for scientific conferences.

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: lp46225@student.uni-lj.si

Sara Tominc, PhD, is a researcher at the Department of Materials, in the Laboratory for Cements, Mortars and Ceramics, at the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute. Her research focuses on traditional ceramics, and on the beneficial use of waste materials in the construction industry. She obtained her BSc in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Maribor and her PhD at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where she investigated the influence of pentavalent dopants on twinning and microstructure development in SnO₂ ceramics for high-performance varistors and dielectrics. She specialises in electron microscopy, thermal analysis and waste characterisation. Recently, she has been investigating accelerated mineral carbonation, aiming to understand the mechanisms and kinetics of CO₂ sequestration and to optimise carbonation conditions.

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: sara.tominc@zag.si