Publications

Electrochemically converting carbon dioxide into useful products is a promising approach to combat climate change by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and promoting a sustainable carbon cycle. The operation of membrane electrode assemblies within gas diffusion cells facilitates the efficient reduction of CO2 at rates relevant to industrial applications. However, their long-term stability is often limited by formation of solid precipitates in the cathode pores. This is a consequence of a combination of 1) local alkalization due to the electrochemical reaction, 2) generation of (bi)carbonate by chemical reaction of CO2 with the alkaline electrolyte, and 3) the presence of alkali metal cations. In catholyte-free, zero-gap cells using anion exchange membranes, the presence of electrolyte cations at the cathode is the result of unintended crossover from the anolyte, and a detailed understanding of the factors enabling this crossover is lacking. Here we show that the anolyte concentration governs the flux of cation migration through the membrane, and this substantially influences the behaviours of copper catalysts in catholyte-free CO2 electrolyzers. Our findings highlight the substantial impact of cation effects, including unintended crossover, even in catholyte-free cells, on reaction pathways. This aspect should be considered in the future development of catalysts and devices. As an outlook a more in-depth knowledge with the help of operando measurements could help to understand and manage cation crossover for optimizing the performance, selectivity, and durability of these electrochemical systems.

Giftedness is a concept that often provokes discussions and a concept that cannot be easily and simplydefined. There is still no concrete definition that will describe giftedness in its entirety. Gifted students and theirteaching have always been interesting for analysis by those involved in education. However, one of the basicproblems in the teaching process in our schools is the still present traditional method of learning and teaching, whichdoes not allow a different approach to the differences that are visible among students despite the commitments thatare written on paper.The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted Decree 1248 of 1994, which reaffirms educationas a basic human right, and believes that education should, to the greatest extent, suit each individual. Theeducational system must be organized in such a way as to provide adequate education for a larger number ofchildren, but there will always be children with special programs. One group of such children are exceptionalchildren. According to this Decree, no country can allow itself to waste the gifted and talented, and not to identifyintellectual and other potential in time because this would mean the loss of its own human resources.The education and upbringing of gifted students become a problem within the framework of mass education andglobalization. Gifted students have special abilities in certain areas, but most of the time are not engaged in the rightway. In addition to this, excessive teaching content, and overloading of students within subjects leads to fatigue,self-doubt and loss of motivation.In this paper, we want to analyze the existing legal procedures and opportunities for working with such students, andthe possibility of their identification and evaluation. That is, let’s see the condition of such students as well as theirtreatment in schools and the opportunities offered by the educational process in the Republic of North Macedoniaand see if there is or is not a sufficiently operationalized system of measures, activities, procedures that are aimed atthe gifted and talented students.Keywords: gifted students, primary education, condition

Language as a sign system can be discussed in terms of articulation i.e. exposing the matter of the sound system as its material formulation. In that sense language can be researched in terms of Phonetics - the sounds, accent, intonation as its material side and Phonology i.e. the sounds and their functionalrole in the language system. Phonetics and Phonology are two different sciences whereas Phonetics is considered as a helping linguistic discipline which is about the sound notions of the word apart from their linguistic function which is discussed further in Morphology, Syntax and Semantics. Phoneticsdoes not deal with the sound complex and its meaning but the material side of the sounds and human speech i.e. the physiological description of the sounds.Within every foreign language learning and teaching, the pronunciation i.e. the speaking skill is essential. In order to improve English language pronunciation, one needs to acquire the rules of Phonetics and Phonology that deal with the sounds, their physical properties and the relationship of sounds andmeaning along with the phonetic transcription.Key words: English language, pronunciation, Phonetics, Phonology, IPA.

Herein, we report a straightforward, scalable synthetic route towards poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) homopolymer nanovesicles (NVs) with a tunable particle size of 50 to 120 nm and a shell thickness of 15 to 60 nm via one-step free radical polymerization induced self-assembly. By increasing monomer concentration for polymerization, their nanoscopic morphology can evolve from hollow NVs to dense spheres, and finally to directional worms, in which a multilamellar packing of PIL chains occurred in all samples. The transformation mechanism of NVs’ internal morphology is studied in detail by coarse-grained simulations, revealing a correlation between the PIL chain length and the shell thickness of NVs. To explore their potential applications, PIL NVs with varied shell thickness are in situ functionalized with ultra-small (1 ∼ 3 nm in size) copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and employed as electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction. The composite electrocatalysts exhibit a 2.5-fold enhancement in selectivity towards C1products (e.g., CH4), compared to the pristine CuNPs. This enhancement is attributed to the strong electronic interactions between the CuNPs and the surface functionalities of PIL NVs. This study casts new aspects on using nanostructured PILs as new electrocatalyst supports in CO2 conversion to C1 products.

Membrane electrode assemblies in gas diffusion cells enable CO2 reduction at industrially relevant rates, yet their long-term operational stability is often limited by the formation of solid precipitates (e.g. K2CO3) in the cathode pores. This is a consequence of a combination of 1) local alkalization due to the electrochemical reaction, 2) generation of (bi)carbonate by chemical reaction of CO2 with the alkaline electrolyte, and 3) the presence of alkali metal cations. In catholyte-free, zero-gap cells using anion exchange membranes, the presence of electrolyte cations at the cathode is the result of unintended crossover from the anolyte, and a detailed understanding of the factors enabling this crossover is lacking. Here we show that the anolyte concentration governs the flux of cation migration through the membrane, and this substantially influences the behaviors of copper catalysts in catholyte-free CO2 electrolysers. Systematic variation of the anolyte ionic strength (using aqueous KOH or KHCO3) correlated with drastic changes in the observed product selectivity – most notably, at low ionic strength, Cu catalysts produced predominantly CO, in contrast to the mixture of C2+ products typically observed on Cu. In this talk, we examine the factors influencing ion crossover and the resulting effects on catalyst structure and activity, under conditions of both CO2 and CO reduction. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and quasi in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to study how the catalyst is affected by operation conditions. Our results show that even in catholyte-free cells, cation effects (including unintended ones) can significantly influence reaction pathways, and this must be considered in future development of catalysts and devices.

Membrane electrode assemblies enable CO2 electrolysis at industrially relevant rates, yet their operational stability is often limited by formation of solid precipitates in the cathode pores, triggered by cation crossover from the anolyte due to imperfect ion exclusion by anion exchange membranes. Here we show that anolyte concentration affects the degree of cation movement through the membranes, and this substantially influences the behaviors of copper catalysts in catholyte-free CO2 electrolysers. Systematic variation of the anolyte (KOH or KHCO3) ionic strength produced a distinct switch in selectivity between either predominantly CO or C2+ products (mainly C2H4) which closely correlated with the quantity of alkali metal cation (K+) crossover, suggesting cations play a key role in C-C coupling reaction pathways even in cells without discrete liquid catholytes. Operando X-ray absorption and quasi in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the Cu surface speciation showed a strong dependence on the anolyte concentration, wherein dilute anolytes resulted in a mixture of Cu+ and Cu0 surface species, while concentrated anolytes led to exclusively Cu0 under similar testing conditions. These results show that even in catholyte-free cells, cation effects (including unintentional ones) significantly influence reaction pathways, important to consider in future development of catalysts and devices.

The basic demographic characteristics of one society are tightly related to the youth’s potential as the core for any future social development. The prospects in Balkan countries are jeopardized by low fertility and continued migration which intensified in the last decades. Migration in the past was generated by wars, political instability, and a lack of economic prospects. Today, a vast part of the region is integrated into the EU, and the rest is with clear aspirations to integrate in the near future. However, some open questions as dysfunctional political systems, corruption, not having a rule of law, and economic instability are some of the main reasons for future migration. A significant factor of migration is related to the possibility of continuation of education from high school to university level.This article is focused on the general motivation for migration in the Balkan countries, with a focus on Macedonian society. Two surveys are presented as an empirical basis for further analyses. The results reflect the general situation in the eastern and central regions of the Republic of N. Macedonia. Longitudinal aspects are included, comparing the data generated in 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2023. Additionally, the official statistics confirm the thesis and create broader picture for the correlative relations between educational motivation and migration trends.Key Words: migration, education, demography, Balkan, Macedonia.

Овој труд ја обработува темата за раскинување на договорот за доживотна издршка поради променети околности. Фокусот е ставен на анализа на правните фактори кои се релевантни за донесување одлука за раскинување на договорот во овој контекст. Посебно внимание се посветува на примената на принципот rebus sic stantibus кој овозможува раскинување на договорот поради исклучителни промени на околностите кои не можат да се предвидат во моментот на склучување на договорот. Воведната анализа вклучува преглед на правните основи и релевантните законски одредби со цел да се идентификуваат параметрите што треба да се земат предвид при утврдувањето на релевантните промени. Разбирањето на овие фактори има за цел да се подобри правното одлучување и правната пракса во случаите кои вклучуваат раскинување на договорите за доживотна издршка поради променети околности.