Borys Yuriyovych Kornilovych was a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Chemistry, professor, the head of the Department of Chemical Technology of Ceramics and Glass of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (2005-2021), the head of the Department of Environmental Chemistry of the Institute of Sorption and Problems of Endoecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2008 -2021), the laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology in 2017.
A year has passed since B.Yu. Kornilovych, a dear teacher and a true friend, has not been with us. Everyone who was lucky enough to meet, work, and get on with Borys Yuriyovych fell under the influence of his extraordinary personality. A modest and intelligent person, devoted to his work, he had a plainly magical influence on people, on their choice of life and professional path. Borys Yuriyovych always kept himself up to date, possessed a unique scientific intuition and kept up with the times, sometimes even ahead of them.
From a family of scientists. "To whom much is given, much will be required" - this saying characterizes Borys Yuriyovych in the best possible way. He was born, grew up and spent his life in Kyiv, in the very heart of the capital. He was the youngest son in the family of scientists of the Institute of Building Materials - Iryna Borysivna and Yuriy Yevhenovych. Walks along the Volodymyrska Hill, school in Prorizna street - that his childhood was like. As well as weekends on the then outskirts of Kyiv, on the territory of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, where his grandfather, an academician Borys Saveliyovych Lysin, lived. Understanding the greatness of science and culture was instilled in children from an early age.
When choosing a future profession, the grandfather’s example became decisive. After all, the Department of Silicate Technology, created by one of the first graduates of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Academician B.S. Lysin in 1921, was at the cutting edge of advanced science. So, sky was the limit for B.Yu. Kornilovych after graduating from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with honors. Fate brought him to the Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Scientific research, interesting work, excellent teachers and advisors resulted in the young scientist’s full devotion to his favorite work. B.Yu. Kornilovych remembered famous scientists, also graduates of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with particular warmth: an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR A.T. Pylypenko and a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR O.O. Pashchenko, who supported and guided him.
Formative years. The first achievements of the young scientist were works on hydrothermal synthesis, which were later summarized in a candidate's thesis. Further studies related to the mechanochemical activation of clay minerals. And the doctoral thesis of B.Yu. Kornilovych "Structure and surface properties of mechanochemically activated silicates and carbonates" summed up another scientific stage in his life. This period was a difficult time of liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The Department of Radiochemistry and Ecology headed by the young Doctor of Chemical Sciences B.Yu. Kornilovych was created at the A. V. Dumansky Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Borys Yuriyovych made a lot of efforts to eliminate the negative impact of the radioactive elements cesium-137 and strontium-90 on the environment: he worked a lot with samples in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, systematically studied the patterns of removal of radioactive elements from aquatic environments, etc.
Further scientific achievements of B.Yu. Kornilovych were related specifically to the environmental chemistry, the problems of cleaning natural, underground, and wastewater, as well as contaminated soils from compounds of heavy metals and radionuclides, research on the purification of polluted water by sorption, coagulation, membrane, ion exchange, and biological methods was carried out under his leadership, and sorbents were developed based on the natural minerals montmorillonite, palygorskite, clinoptilolite, kaolinite, saponite, and mordenite from various deposits of Ukraine and the world. In 2002, B.Yu. Kornilovych was awarded the title of professor. In 2003, the scientist was elected a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the specialty Physical Chemistry, Radiochemistry.
Fruitful work. It should be noted that thanks to the efforts of B.Yu. Kornilovych, a pleiad of young eminent scientists appeared in the field of environmental chemistry in Ukraine. Thanks to his skillful scientific leadership, young graduate students and researchers carried out research related to the issues of the polluted aquatic environment and successfully solved the assigned tasks. The research advisor clearly understood the importance of involving young people and students in scientific research. Every year, students of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute undertook internships and executed and protected diploma theses at the department. Many of them then entered postgraduate studies, became the drivers of science, and now work at the universities and institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. B.Yu. Kornilovych successfully combined scientific work and supervision of graduate and postgraduate students with administrative work. He was the scientific secretary of the Institute from 1983 to 1988, and a deputy director for scientific work from 1988 to 2007.
Since 1997, B.Yu. Kornilovych worked as a professor at the Department of Chemical Technology of Ceramics and Glass at the Faculty of Chemical Technology of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Working with students gave inspiration and opened up new creative perspectives. Subsequently, in 2005, Borys Yuriyovych headed the department founded by his grandfather, an academician B.S. Lysin. Working as the head of the Department of Chemical Technology of Ceramics and Glass, B.Yu. Kornilovych taught the main disciplines for graduate and postgraduate students and researchers, and involved them in scientific work. He always encouraged young people to participate in international and domestic conferences and internships. Many graduates of the department entered postgraduate studies, continuing and developing the scientific research of their supervisor.
Achievements at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In the scientific works of the department, carried out under the leadership of B.Yu. Kornilovych, the theoretical foundations of the migration processes of heavy metals and radionuclides in aquatic ecosystems were developed using the physicochemical analysis of sorption and redox processes in them. The main regularities of the interaction of polluting elements, primarily uranium, as well as chromium, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, arsenic, and copper with the surface of mineral and organic components of sediments and soils - clay minerals and humic substances - were formulated. The role of complex-forming compounds of man-made and natural origin in these processes was revealed. The environmental protection technologies created under his leadership were tested and have been used at enterprises of the nuclear fuel complex of Ukraine. At the same time, starting in 2008, B.Yu. Kornilovych headed the Department of environmental chemistry at the Institute of Sorption and Problems of Endoecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He developed the ecological direction of obtaining new sorption materials for cleaning aquatic environments contaminated with radionuclides and heavy metals, in particular sorbents based on clay minerals modified with organic and inorganic compounds.
The scientist paid constant attention to ensuring environmental safety of Ukraine. He was an undisputed leader in the creation and implementation of new resource-saving technologies for the purification of groundwater from uranium compounds and other radionuclides and heavy metals. In particular, he participated in the construction of permeable reaction barriers in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where uranium mining and uranium processing enterprises are located, which was an innovation in domestic science. The barriers monitoring showed their effectiveness for cleaning groundwater.
New scientific ideas, enthusiasm, and daily painstaking activities inspired his colleagues and students to creative and effective work. Professor B.Yu. Kornilovych was the author of two monographs, many textbooks and scientific and methodological works, more than 500 scientific publications, patents. He was the scientific advisor of student research works - the winners of all-Ukrainian competitions in chemical technology and engineering; he trained 10 candidates of sciences, four of whom are currently working at Department of Chemical Technology of Ceramics and Glass of the Faculty of Chemical Technology; he was an advisor in doctoral theses. On occasion of the 100th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine B.Yu. Kornilovych was awarded the decoration For Training the New Generation of Scientists.
International recognition. Research carried out under the leadership of B.Yu. Kornilovych received recognition from foreign colleagues. To support scientific implementations, more than ten international scientific fellowships INTAS, Copernicus, UNTC were granted, as well as funding and contracts for domestic scientific research. In his daily work, Borys Yuriyovych managed to create a cohesive scientific team, clearly and correctly delegate responsibilities, get his colleagues interested, and obtain results. Working with him, everyone always wanted to complete the task as well as possible. It could not be otherwise, because the leader set an example in his work. The state appreciated the scientific achievements of the scientist. In 2017, for the series of works "Assessment, forecasting and optimization of the state of water ecosystems of Ukraine" B.Yu. Kornilovych and contributing authors received the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology.
It is also necessary to note the great international activity of the scientist. B.Yu. Kornilovych spoke English fluently to American and European partners, and undertook an internship in Paris in French. He developed scientific relations between the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute through joint research with scientists from the United States of America. The cooperation of the scientific school of B.Yu. Kornilovich with Professor Stefan Boyd from the University of Michigan on surface modification of silicates with organic and inorganic substances continued for more than 10 years and culminated in numerous publications in national and international dedicated journals. Professor B.Yu. Kornilovych was invited to the University of Michigan to give a series of lectures, scientists exchanged results in the field of new materials based on clay minerals that can be used as catalysts and sorbents. The scientist also maintained fruitful creative relations with scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Italy; Instituto Trattamento Minerali, Italy; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Department of Interphase Chemistry Laboratory of Colloid Chemistry, Belgium; Austrian Research Centers of Seiberdorf (ARCS) Environmental and Life Sciences, Austria; Institut National Agronomique Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique, France; Centerde Rechercherdeersailes Unitedesciencedu Sol, France; Universidad de Granada Department of Applied Physics, Spain; Institute for Environmentally Compatible Process Technology, Germany; National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, Georgia; Institute of Microbiology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.
Gratitude of colleagues. Borys Yuriyovych's talent found expression both in his professional activities and in his personal hobbies. One could envy his memory: if he read or saw a text at least once, then one could check encyclopedias against it. A great erudite, connoisseur of the classics, novelties of art and culture, B.Yu. Kornilovych also visited opera and theater performances, museums, and art exhibitions on business trips. He read a lot, extremely loved and appreciated books, brought them from all over the world, and had a large library. We can talk for hours about our Teacher and advisor - he was a wonderful person, a real professional, a person of keen intellect, a reliable partner, talented in everything he undertook. For this, he was appreciated by his colleagues, students and graduate students.
The memory of Borys Yuriyovich Kornilovych will live in our hearts