INAUGURATION LECTURE OF PROFESSOR DANJELA KUŠČER HROVATIN

Inauguration lecture of Professor Danjela Kuščer Hrovatin

IPS invites you to the Inauguration Lecture in the habilitation process for Full Professor in the field of Materials Science of Professor Danjela Kuščer Hrovatin entitled: Functional Thick Films for Electrochemical Sensors. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, at 1:00 p.m. in the IPS Lecture Hall.

Functional Thick Films for Electrochemical Sensors

Assoc. Prof. Danjela Kuščer

Institut »Jožef Stefan«, Ljubljana, Slovenija

The processing of functional thick films using screen-printing technology for applications in electronic components will be presented. I will discuss the challenges of producing films with controlled chemical composition and homogeneous microstructure, as these strongly influence their functional properties. I will cover the key parameters involved in paste preparation, the screen-printing process, and the post-deposition curing of printed layers, all of which determine the chemical composition, structure, and microstructure of the thick films and, consequently, their functional performance.

I will then present the development of integrated electrochemical sensors, focusing on carbon-based materials used as the working electrode for detecting selected pollutants. I will describe the relationship between the processing conditions of the thick films, their structure, and the electrochemical response of the integrated sensor. I will discuss the advantages of pollutant detection in miniature ceramic flow-through systems, whose geometry has been optimized using computer modeling. I will show how the flow-through system geometry influences fluid flow and the functional response of the sensor. Finally, I will demonstrate the application of the developed systems for electrochemical detection of selected analytes in model solutions and discuss their potential for monitoring pollutants in the environment.

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