Aleksandra Baron-Wiechec received her PhD from the Silesian University of Technology in Poland. In 2007 she was awarded with a prestigious Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship and moved to University of Manchester (UK) to conduct her research in the EU-funded project on tailoring porous nanometric oxides on light alloys in close collaboration between Manchester and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (France). In 2012 she took up a role at the UK Atomic Energy Authority working at the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor JET (Joint European Torus) as a materials/surface scientist. Combined comprehensive hands-on experience in studying surface of materials, transferable skills and scientific passion gave her an important confidence and she has joint GTIIT in autumn 2018, where she currently holds the position of an Assistant Professor.
Her research centers around functionalization of metals surface, electrochemistry, corrosion and nuclear fusion technology. Her work made contributions to the understanding of nucleation and growth mechanism of nanometric porous oxides on aluminium using combination of high-resolution microscopy and Ion Beam Analysis of tracers implanted in the oxide films, and to the characterization of hydrogen isotopes retention in plasma-facing components of nuclear fusion reactor.
Dr. Baron-Wiechec has published her research outcomes in over 70 peer review papers and conference proceedings, she was invited to present her research at several conferences and Universities in the USA, Mexico, Japan, United Kingdom, Croatia, France and Poland.
Research Interests
- Metal Surface Engineering
- Nanoporous Anodic Oxides
- Surface Analysis
- Nuclear Fusion Technology
- Hydrogen Retention in Materials
Selected publications
- Thermal desorption spectrometry of beryllium plasma facing tiles exposed in the JET tokamak, Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol 133, (2018) 135-141
- The possible effect of high magnetic fields on the aqueous corrosion behaviour of Eurofer, Fusion Engineering and Design, Volume 136, Part B, (2018) 1000-1006
- First dust study in JET with the ITER-Like Wall: Sampling, analysis and classification Nuclear Fusion 55 (2015) 113033
- Tracer study of pore initiation in anodic alumina formed in phosphoric acid, Electrochimica Acta 113 (2013) 302–312
- Plasma electrolytic oxidation of coupled metals, Transactions of the Institute of Metal Finishing, 91 ( 2013) 107-112
- O18 distribution in porous anodic alumina by plasma profiling time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nuclear reaction analysis, Surface and Interface Analysis, 44 (2012) 1346–1352
Baron Lab 