Energy, Water, Air
Photocatalysis LABoratory
Qiansu Ma ("the newest member" of EWA LAB) has arrived!
March 22, 2025
just after arrival
versus
5th day in Poland...
First research presentations by Limeng and Xin
February 18 & March 21, 2025
Congratulations! Well done! Many new ideas!!!
Great work on platinum-modified bismuth molybdate flake balls - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.04.142
Fitri's birthday party
February 17, 2025
"Gomibako" (a trash bin) - the safest place to keep/hide a cheesy chiffon cake (made by Zuza)!
The newest item - a table SEM-EDS (HOORAY!:))
February 13, 2025
CzePoCat 2025 (13th Czech-Polish Catalytic Symposium), Ostrava, Czechia
February 6-8, 2025
- together with Team of Photocatalysis,
- more Chinese (5) than Polish (4), including Lingling (Lei's wife) and John (PhD student from Poznan supervised by Marcin J.),
- "beers' exposition" - presents from organizers...;)
Birthday party for Limeng and Xin
January 20, 2024
Some presents from Zakopane (e.g., sheepskin sleepers)
Mai's visit and on-line meeting with Bunsho
January 16-19, 2024
Mai Takashima (Nagoya University) visited us on her way to Sweden!
Very fruitful on-line discussion with Bunsho on our RDB-PAS (almost ready...)
Ewa's birthday party
December 20, 2024
without fire alarm...;)
2nd JAPAN-AFRICA HYBRID WORKSHOP on Promotion of Science, Engineering, and Technology in Innovative Solutions to Environmental Problems in Metal Mining Areas (JAPSET 2024), Atami, Japan
December 9-10, 2024
Tokyo with Iza (Prof. Rzeznicka; the organizer of workshop), and "onigiri shrine" (nobody knows except for Zuza...)
Meeting with new collaborators, e.g., from Brazil; and chairing the session by Zuza (quite challenging!)
The water purification system
December 4, 2024
...bought by Zuza from her grant!
The International Conference on "Frontiers in Material Research: Innovations and Challenges towards a Greener Future" (FMRICGF-2024), Tiruchirappalli, India (& on-line)
November 26-27, 2024
One-hour invited talk, and first time with Google Meet...
New members of EWA LAB from Hubei University of Technology (Zhishun):
Limeng Wu and Xin Yue
November 26, 2024
They brought many presents and items to do experiments...but almost no own things (clothes, etc.)...:)
Fitri project "Passivated Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) for Efficient Light Harvesting and Photocatalytic-Activity Enhancement" (49,5000 PLN) recommended for funding in NCN Miniatura-8 call
November 25, 2024
the success rate of 41.4% (quite high as for NCN grants)
Zuza's birthday party
October 31, 2024
Many presents, including chrysanthemum (It`s already a tradition.)
The 2nd IWA Conference on Sustainable Natural and Engineered Water Systems Management (Xi'an) and visit at Nanchang University, China
October 16-25, 2024
Great conference organized by Professor Chuanyi Wang in Xi`an!
(from top left) Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, conference lunch (2x), with Shuai`s family, Biang noodles (58-stroke kanji - EK can write it!), Terracotta Army museum and other attractions (3x),
Nanchang University: lecture for students (no free seats...:) and dinner (including a turtle) with Kunlei, Mumu (Kunlei`s wife) and Zhishun
Zuza project "Facet-dependent photocatalytic activity of cuprous oxide - the case study of cuprous oxide-titania core@shell nanocomposites" (50,000 PLN) recommended for funding in
Young Labs competition
October 3, 2024
Collaborators/friends' visits...
September 19, 25 & 26-27, 2024
(left) with Adriana in Theater STU and Cafe Oranżeria
(right) with Agata and Sylwek in Kinki restaurant
and with Marcin during our seminar
Ewa in the Top 2% scientists' list of the "science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" at Stanford University for 2023
September 23, 2024
This year - 123568th on the list (last year 142814th) among 223153, so it is among ca. 1.11%...:);
& first time with Polish affiliation at Jagiellonian University...:)​
​​​
LAB LIFE...
September 10 & 12, 2024
(left) selfie from the inside of GC
/during its reparation/:
Zuza with Marcin and Kaja
(Team of Photocatalysis)
​
(right) a break with sunflower seeds...:)
Lei's birthday party
September 2 & 5, 2024 (instead of August 31)
PART I - cake & coke
PART II - dinner
​Lei misses "hot pot", so Zuza found Japanese restaurant with it, but it was too HOT (outside), and thus we ate different things...
/Anyway, Fitri, Zuza and Lei ate warm RAMEN!/​
"pro bono publico" :) painting the classroom in the oldest high school (Nowodworek) in Poland
June 26-28, 2024
the school motto "semper in altum" - very right...
12th European Conference on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Energy and Environmental Applications (SPEA 12), Belfast, Northern Ireland
June 17-21, 2024
(from top left) Reception (Belfast City Hall) 2x, Ewa's talk, photos' exhibition (near Belfast City Hall) about Polish people taking photos in Zakopane with polar bears (here with Francesco), Lagan River, The Big Fish...and Zuza's broken shoe...
(from top left) Gala dinner at Titanic Belfast 3x, Zuza's talk, and Zuza's flash talk.
(from top left) poster session on Thursday 4x, dinner with "Krakow" (clockwise: Kaja, Wojtek, Dorota, Marcin, Wiktoria and we), fish and chips, Wojtek announcing the next SPEA in Poland.
Belfast Castle and the largest poppies we have ever seen...
Four hours in Ireland!
27th International Conference on Semiconductor Photocatalysis and Solar Energy Conversion (SPASEC-27), Limassol, Cyprus
June 11-14, 2024
(from left) Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates (2x), Kourion Ancient Amphitheater (2x)
(from left) Kourion Ancient Amphitheater, the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol, Holy Church of Saint Lazarus (Larnaca), Larnaca Salt Lake
Ewa's project "On the mechanism of plasmonic photocatalysis" (> 2,7 mln PLN)
recommended for funding in NCN Opus 26 call; the success rate of only 15.4%
May 24, 2024
"Golden week" - a holiday period at the beginning of May;
similar to Japan; even 3 May - the Constitution Day in both countries: 1791 (PL) and 1947 (JP)
May 1-5..., 2024
(from left) Elblag, Malbork (The Castle of the Teutonic Order), Gdansk (Neptune's Fountain)
Nature in Poland I
(from left) storks (Żuławy Wiślane/Vistula Fens), a slow worm (Kampinos National Park), a moose statue (by Arthur Steiner, Museum of Archeology and History in Elblag; more and more easy to see mosses in Poland; the symbol of Kampinos National Park) and a Polish Greyhound (Jantar/Stegna).
Nature in Poland II
ambers in Amber (Jantar village) / jantary (bursztyny) w Jantarze
- the largest found by Ewa ever...
Nature in Poland III
& rapeseed fields everywhere...
Ewa's paper among 60 pioneering historic papers in ChemComm from Japan and South Korea
April 15, 2024
One of the first papers on plasmonic photocatalysis (2009;
the study started in 2005 during JSPS fellowship...)
has been selected in ChemComm 60th collection!
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2009/cc/b815679d
The 2nd International Workshop on Solar Fuel (IWSF2), Wuhan, China
April 12-15, 2024
First talk on inverse opals by Ewa during IWSF2 (unfortunately on-line)
& first time using VooV Meeting (with some beauty filter feature...:))
/the photo taken by Zhishun (on-site)/
The first NEW LAMP in the NEW LAB (finally!!!)...
April 12, 2024
450-W Xe lamp from OPTEL Opole!
The cell for reversed double-beam-photoacoustic spectroscopy (RDB-PAS)
April 11, 2024
Bunsho (Prof. Ohtani) sent us the cell for RDB-PAS, packed in the gift box (for a tie) from Jagiellonian University !!!
Kunlei at his new job - Nanchang University (CONGRATULATIONS!)
Kunlei (Dr. Wang) as a lecturer (soon associate professor...)
Energy, Water and Air Catalysis Research (EWA Cat.Res.)
New journal on catalysis has been launched!
We are waiting for more "full-energy" editors!
Get-together party
March 14, 2024
for foreigners working with us at the Faculty of Chemistry
Marcin's visit
February 27-29, 2024
Marcin Janczarek came as a reviewer of PhD thesis,
but also found some time to discuss (and eat) with us...
Winter Holidays (February 2024)
Even during holidays in SCHOOL
- Spanish Riding School (the oldest in the world)
(left) Sachertorte - good but too sweet for us (apfelstrudel - very good!);
(right) Hornbill with her snack in the oldest ZOO in the world
All members took holidays, being in many places, e.g., Tczew, Warsaw, Vienna, Rome, Florence, etc. (above, some photos from Vienna).
Lei (as a record holder) has been in five countries in February: Austria, China, Czechia, Italy and Poland!
and photos from Tczew:
(left) Vistula River
(right) Magnus (& Zuza?)
Fitri's birthday party
February 12, 2024
Although Polish people do not expect others can speak Polish, Fitri is a CHALLENGER (& our presents to help her).
CzePoCat 2024 (12th Czech-Polish Catalytic Symposium), Ostrava, Czechia
February 8-10, 2024
Lunch with Mevin and Sandra (University of Warsaw)
BEFORE vs AFTER
PRESENTATIONS
& Zuza always active!
Lingling's visit and tea break
January 25-26, 2024
Lingling (Lei's wife) gave us very nice presents: Ewa wearing it, Zuza with a silk scarf of cats, Fitri with a panda "bento" box; and TEA from YUNNAN!
Presents from Ing (Dr. Pradudnet Ketwong; Kasetsart University, Thailand)
January 10, 2024
Beautiful presents (now under the Christmas Tree in the office) from Ing, who gets married to Tanadol (His father made this hand-made print screen picture above.).
Love in Bloom: Pradudnet & Tanadol's Wedding (19.11.23) - YouTube
Collaboration work(s) in Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy (the new name)
December 22, 2023 & January 18, 2024
Fruitful collaboration with Zhishun (mainly), Saulius and Marcin
& Asia (Dr. J. Nadolna) work on rare-earth-metal-modified titania
Ewa's birthday party
December 22, 2023
and perfect (requested) gift - the Map of Tatra Mountains
(The aim is to reach all peaks - this year only five: Kasprowy Wierch, Ciemniak, Krzesanica, Małołączniak, Kopa Kondracka)
The Christmas meeting/Farewell 2023/Wishes...
December 19, 2023
The meeting together with Team of Photocatalysis
The Lajkonik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajkonik
The Rorate Mass during Advent in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Kraków
The first NEW item in the lab...
December 8, 2023
Just the little thing that makes us happy!
Winter is coming...
November 28 - December 4, 2023
Wilga river (in Kraków)
The coldest November for 30 years!
Zuza thinks we have taken the winter (and SNOW) with us (from Hokkaido)!
"Find 10 differences"... (our last seminar with many promising data and Vistula river)
The Beet Day!
November 24, 2023
First time in our lives we have "celebrated"
The Beet Day!
​
Although "Ty buraku" is rather abusive,
Polish people miss BEETs (especially borscht -barszcz) a lot when staying in Japan...
Now we can enjoy beets, potatoes, apples, etc. (almost for free).
Professor Minoru Mizuhata (Kobe University) at Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University
November 10-11, 2023
Prof. Mizuhata has already collaborated with Wojtek (& Team of photocatalysis;
here Marcin and Kasidid during lunch in our cafeteria)
Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing (Elsevier)
Ewa as Editor in MSSP
​
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/materials-science-in-semiconductor-processing
"Dziewczyny do nauki" conference in Wrocław
October 25-26, 2023
Wrocław’s dwarfs (krasnale)...
​
Only ca. 50 dwarfs could be found during 1.5 h before the departure...:)
Zuza's birthday party (one week earlier...)
October 24, 2023
Although chrysanthemum is beautiful (e.g., The Imperial Seal of Japan), it is mainly seen in Poland on graves (especially near All Saints' Day & All Souls' Day; 1-2 November), so first time Zuza has got it as a present (her mom even questioning if it is really for "birthday"...).
Greetings from Wuhan /Zhishun and Kunlei/
October 24, 2023
Kunlei collecking his packages (sent from Japan)
Japanese weekend in TAURON Areny Kraków
October 21-22, 2023
Kraków - a city of art and a city of museums, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
October 14/15, 2023
(left) Hamlet in Juliusz SÅ‚owacki Theatre
and
(right) opera (Fitri wish)
in Zajezdnia przy ul. św. Wawrzyńca
(Taiwanese food afterwards)
Autumn (winter) is coming
Many walnuts could be found in Krakow,
but also wild boars....
(anyway, much better than Ezo brown bears in Sapporo)
​
Ogólnopolska Konferencja Naukowo-Biznesowa
"W kierunku gospodarki o obiegu zamkniętym - możliwości i wyzwania"
October 6, 2023
Zuza (speaking Polish the best among us) represents us in Radom,
but we all could watch her (and we like the presentation very much)!
October 2023 data-update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators"
October 4, 2023
Top 2% for 2022...
660th Inauguration Ceremony of the Academic Year 2023/2024
October 1, 2023
Very good motivation to live 40 years more...
Jagiellonian University Folk Ensemble of Song and Dance "SÅ‚owianki" http://www.slowianki.uj.edu.pl/
Molecules & Light 2023
September 24-27, 2023
All members together at
Molecules & Light 2023 conference;
Zuza and Fitri
with oral presentations,
and Lei with poster
(one day after his arrival in Poland)
Summer Holidays
Finally, the summer holiday season has started...
Here, just 2 days (Japanese style...) in Zakopane; reaching Kasprowy Wierch (ca. 3 h on foot up the hill);
Zakopane (and Tatras) - always beautiful but also always crowded (so many people are hiking!!!).
Cat Cafe KOCIARNIA
July 15, 2023
Girls love cats...
so we visited the cat cafe in Krakow
(after the first lab seminar
about their first results - well done!),
​
but, EK loves dogs the most!
especially this one:
Sziro (The Polish Greyhound)
at (left) the Viewpoint of Kikół Commune
(Punkt Widokowy Gminy Kikół)
and (right) Baltic Sea (Gulf of Gdańsk)
July 12, 2023
Lab trip to Zakopane
June, 2023
Polish sheep can understand us better than Japanese sheep (Those living at Hokudai campus have never replied us);
Of course, very good food (eating even with a former Slovenian ski jumper - Primož Pikl) and best views...
24th Polish Conference of Chemical and Process Engineering
June 13-16, 2023 https://okichip24.zut.edu.pl/program/
A fantastic conference in Szczecin (thanks to organizers!);
(left) Szczecin - Goleniów Airport (probably, the least busy airport - cos of nearby Berlin),
(center) with Ania (also plenary talk) and Agata (co-organizer), and (right) answering questions
Celebrations/events in June
7 June (left): Unveiling of the monument of Nicolaus Copernicus (the student of Jagiellonian University: 1491-1495);
12 June (center): The 50th anniversary of receiving PhD by Prof. Jerzy Datka and Prof. Jacek Klinowski in Collegium Maius (Zuza and Fitri as participants)
21 June (right): Opening Ceremony of European Games 2023
May
13 May (left): The Long Night of Museums - we could visit the Kraków Barbican, MNK the Sukiennice and the Wawel Royal Castle (19:00-24:20);
22 May: (center) The Award Ceremony (Medal Merentibus) in Collegium Maius -- the oldest university building in Poland (since 1400)
and (right) real Indonesian food afterwards
"New" members arrived...
May 9, 2023
After "golden week" Zuza and Fitri are starting the study on plasmonic photocatalysts: core@shells and inverse opals...
April 20, 2023
Still many packages are coming...(here, private ones with Zuza help)
The ceremony of awarding the title of Doctor honoris causa of the Jagiellonian University to Professor Horst Kisch
April 14, 2023
(right) Cracovians with flowers
Goodbye Hokkaido
Ishikari, March 19, 2023
Sapporo March 28, 2023
Ishikari, March 26, 2023
Sapporo March 29, 2023
The first baby of Maya - Souta was born! Congratulations!
February 10 & March 20, 2023
Meeting with Iza (Prof. Rzeznicka from Saitama)
February 6, 2023
Hokkaido - always beautiful winter (sunny and snowy)
The Sea of Japan (winter vs. summer/autumn)
The Sea of Okhotsk
​
but without drift ice...in 2006 we came too late and now too early...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Finally, real Christmas (in Poland)!
The longest birthday present...
December 19, 2022 (3 days earlier)
(A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng)
A very loooooong room is needed...
JAPAN-AFRICA HYBRID WORKSHOP on Promotion of Science, Engineering, and Technology in Innovative Solutions to Environmental Problems in Metal Mining Areas
December 14-16, 2022 https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/event/2022-12-09
Cafe for Poles (on the right)!
(KAWA - "river" in Japanese, but "coffee" in Polish)
Very hard to find/notice the "MONUMENT" of 52 Martyrs of Kyoto,
but quite easy the statue of our Lady of Miyako.
The first meeting with Professor Jennifer Strunk (Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Rostock) looking forward to future collaboration December 8, 2022
Okonomiyaki/Hiroshimayaki - probably the most "eatable" Japanese food for European
Mai (now at Nagoya University) got a grant from ICAT for collaboration with us on photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide December 1, 2022
Journal Cover (collaboration with Marcin, Agata and Zhishun):
"We are pleased to inform you that your paper is selected by the editors as
the cover of the forthcoming issue Catalysts, Vol.12, Iss.11, November 2022."
https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12111320
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/12/11
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/12
November 15, 2022
Journal Cover (collaboration with Agata):
"...the Executive Editors of Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification have chosen your article Antimicrobial properties of pristine and Pt-modified titania P25 in rotating magnetic field conditions to feature on the cover of the issue 178 in which it has now appeared." https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2022.109010
November 8, 2022
The 8th International Symposium on Hydrogen Energy, Renewable Energy and Materials (HEREM 2022) October 14, 2022 Thailand (& on-line)
.png)
It is so convenient to give a talk from home...
​
STEM...October 3, 2022 (maybe last STEM by us here)
It is easier to see the difference between these two samples by eyes than an electron microscope... :)
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"...
(anyway, always something funny could be found during STEM...)
Lab trip by oldest members...September 19, 2022 (Respect for the Aged Day)
Daisetzuzan: Asahidake - Mamiyadake - Nakadake onsen
Symposium (unexpected) at ICAT
September 16, 2022
All members attended! (the last row - so good eyesight?)
Photo taken by EK - sitting also in the last row - urgent need for glasses!!!
group photo taken at the end...
(Friday afternoon before long weekend...)
​
ca. 20% - our lab (the smallest) members :)
The last summer vacation in Hokkaido
This time we could see all best attractions of Hokkaido.
1500-km trip within 5 days, August 14-19, 2022
2nd lab "event" this year - Yukari visit
After a long time we could meet Yukari Mizuno
(our friend from the former lab)
August 5, 2022
Hokkaido people are famous for...
fast eating of ice creams!
Kenta & Yukari are really fast - Kunlei & Ewa need more practice...
Two conferences (ICAT international symposium & ICEC2022) August 1 & July 30-August 2, 2022
Kunlei and Kenta with four presentations (two posters with 1-min flash talks, poster and oral presentation)
and "wrong" poster numbers: P25 for Kenta and P38 for Kunlei (but poster about P25 titania)
Flash talk session too early for Kenta...
Very nice banquet at 36F of JR Tower hotel (Sapporo)
Zhishun also with oral presentation (and as a chairman)
at ICEC2022 (Osaka/zoom)
Office or Home
Lila: "This is more like home than office; you can even put here a piano, or even a grand piano!"
We have a sofa, a fridge, a microwave oven, many flowers, paintings (also in the lab area...), but no piano...
July 29, 2022
Lila during summer holidays (anyway, every day going to school for brass band practice) helping us with documents shredding
Kunlei with camera & fungi
We love Hokkaido! (and we will miss it very much...)
Hokkaido University logo - a stylized design of a trillium
high competition for beach roses!
Last lecture for "Frontiers in Catalytic Chemistry"
Topic is little funny to make Freshmen feel comfortable with chemistry and photocatalysis (as delivered in English).
"Science or Magic; Science and Art; Since in Daily Life" July 22, 2022
Kunlei as a camera man - even some movies taken...(I was really happy that one student knew famous scientist from Ulm!)
CONGRATULATIONS to KENTA!
Second paper accepted!
(both papers published on-line on the same day - June 30, 2022)
Inventions, 2022, 7(3),54
https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions7030054
J. Chem. Phys., 2022, 156, 244706
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0097762
CONGRATULATIONS to LEI!
March - MSc; April - first paper; June - marriage to Lingling Zhang
(We are waiting for you - this time as PhD student)
ChemEngineering, 2022, 6(3), 33 https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering6030033
Zuza (Dr. Bielan) is checking (with Magnus) the proof
Surf. Interfaces, 2022, 32, 102125 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfin.2022.102125)
First Kenta's paper was accepted (as first author)!
J. Chem. Phys., 2022 (https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0097762)
Kunlei's favorite research (here - stirrer repair)
First lab "event" this year - Kenta's birthdays at Sapporo Dome (even with Fighters winning) May 11, 2022
Nippon Ham Fighters - Japanese Ham Fighters - Wojownicy japonskiej szynki
Kunlei's birthday,
April 5, 2022
After lab rearrangements we can work again...,
but still lectures online till June (waiting for Chinese students to arrive to Japan)
March-May, 2022
