The NOMATEN Centre of Excellence: functional materials for industry and medicine

Objectives of the NOMATEN project – of which the first phase was recently approved by European Commission to be initiated – will be presented. A new organization to be established within NCBJ will focus its R&D activities on new materials that are highly resistant to high temperatures, corrosion, and radiative defects. Three main application areas are envisaged: (i) high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors, HTR; (ii) chemical industry and modern technologies of burning coal; (iii) new targets for production of radiopharmaceuticals.

Main topics to be presented during the seminar include: the most important assumptions of the project; proposed organizational structure; research programme. To identify detailed scope of the project is the main objective of its Phase 1. Preliminary scientific objectives adopted currently include:

• To develop a method to simulate atomic structure using molecular dynamics methodology and to validate simulation results with such experimental methods as TEM, XRD, Raman, luminescence techniques.
• To develop some constitutive models and to perform simulations using the finite element methodology. Numeric results produced by the models/the methodology will be verified by: (i) nano-indentation measurements of tribological properties in case of samples defected by heavy ions; and (ii) classical hot chamber methods in case of reactor irradiated samples.

The long-term mission of the project is to develop some predictive models that would satisfactorily describe behaviour of materials exposed to extreme environmental conditions: high temperatures, aggressive media, high levels of ionizing radiation.