On Thursday, 21 April 2022, a meeting with Prof. Uwe Franzke and Prof. Matthias Buschmann from the Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik (Institute of Air Handling and Refrigeration) took place in Dresden in connection with the signing of a bilateral cooperation agreement between ILK Dresden and the Faculty of Mechanical and Power Engineering of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

Matthias Buschmann (ILK), Robert Mulka, Bartosz Zajączkowski, Uwe Franzke (ILK)

The Division of Refrigeration and Heat Pumps at the Department of Thermal Sciences has been working intensively with ILK Dresden in the areas of heat and mass transfer since 2016. Our PhD student Robert Mulka, MSc, is conducting research on properties and applications of ferromagnetic nanofluids under the scientific supervision of Prof. Bartosz Zajączkowski and in cooperation with Prof. Matthias Buschmann. After the completion of the European programme COST CIG NANOCONVEX, he was awarded a two-year NCN PRELUDIUM 20 grant for young researchers: "Influence of the external magnetic field on heat transfer parameters in ferrofluid flow through an inclined convective heat exchanger". The experimental setup in this project has been designed as a complementary system to the installation previously built at the ILK Dresden laboratory to enable comparison and analysis of the results obtained at both institutions.

Earlier, in 2020, Agnieszka Kujawska, PhD, defended her doctoral thesis, who, within the framework of cooperation of ILK Dresden and the European programme COST Action NANOUPTAKE dealt with issues of heat transfer, modification of heating surfaces, and properties of working fluids enriched with nanoparticles in the context of application in thermosiphon heat exchangers. She also conducted her research under the NCN PRELUDIUM 12 grant for young scientists: "Improvement of heat transfer parameters due to the influence of nanoparticles on the evaporator surface during the boiling of nanofluids in a thermosiphon."

The microscopic photo highlighted by Physics Today showing the characteristic cracks formed during the drying of the nanofluid was taken by Robert Mulka in the Dresden labolatory owing this ongoing collaboration.

The new agreement opens up the possibility of further, joint research, but also research internships and joint theses.