Opcije pristupačnosti Pristupačnost
About employee

dr. sc. Josipa Papac Zjačić

Title: mentor

Public phone number:
01/4597-196
Internal phone number:
196
Department:
Department of Polymer Engineering and Organic Chemical Technology
Graduation year:
2017
PhD graduation year:
2024
Employed in this institution since:
2017

Biography

Josipa Papac Zjačić was born in Zagreb, 23.10.1992. where she graduated from high-school, Križanićeva VII. Gymnasium. In 2011. she has enrolled in the undergraduate course Environmental Engineering at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, and continued its study by enrolling in graduate course Environmental Engineering. She participated as a student assistant in five laboratory courses. She did an internship in Andrija Štampar School of Public Health University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 2013. Bachelor and master thesis she did in Pliva – R&D, Analytical Department (Res. Assoc. Sanja Radman, PhD), Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology – Laboratory for Wastewater Treatment (Prof. Tibela Landeka Dragičević, PhD) and Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology – Department for Analytical Chemitry (Prof. Danijela Ašperger, PhD). She defended her doctoral thesis on the topic "Ecotoxicity of Microplastics and Priority Pollutants in Water", under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hrvoje Kušić, in 2024.

Professional trainesheep she did in Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) under the mentorship of prof. Mira Petrović, PhD.  As part of scientific research, she participated in conferences with 32 presentations (poster and oral), and is co-author of 11 scientific publications. She is a reviewer for numerous scientific journals, including Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, Journal of Polymers and Environment, Toxics, Processes, Microorganisms, Molecules, and Chemistry in Industry : Journal of Chemists and Chemical Engineers of Croatia. She was the co-chair of the "Waste and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse" section at the 17th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) held in Paphos, Cyprus, from November 6-10, 2022. She was a member of the organizing committee for the 13th Meeting of Young Chemical Engineers held in Zagreb, Croatia, on February 20-21, 2020. She is a member of numerous professional associations, including the: Croatian Society of Chemical Engineers and Technologists (HDKI), the Croatian Toxicological Society (HTD), the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), the Society of University Professors and Other Scientists in Zagreb, and the American Chemical Society (ACS). She is full-certificated internal auditor for ISO 14001 and for regulatory toxicology (EUROTOX). She participated in several workshops and lecture for popularization of science. During her time working on Department of Polymer Engineering and Organic Chemical Technology she is included as an assistant on 9 courses performed in croatian and 5 in english language (seminars and laboratory practices). She helped during the preparation of 15 bachelor and 15 master thesis and 10 student projects. She has been a member of the Faculty Council in the period 2021.-2023. Since 2025, she has been included in the Faculty Quality Management Committee.

List of select publications

  1. J. Papac Zjacic, Z. Katančić, M. Kovacic, H. Kusic, Z. Hrnjak Murgić, D. D. Dionysiou, P. Karamanis, A. Loncaric Bozic, Fragmentation of polypropylene into microplastics promoted by photo-aging; release of metals, toxicity and inhibition of biodegradability, Sci. of Total Environ. 935 (2024) 173344
  2. J. Papac Zjačić, S. Tonković, A. Pulitika, Z. Katančić, M. Kovačić, H. Kušić, Z. Hrnjak-Murgić, A. Lončarić Božić, Effect of Aging on Physicochemical Properties and Size  Distribution of PET Microplastic: Influence on Adsorption of  Diclofenac and Toxicity Assessment, Toxics 11 (2023) 615
  3. J. Papac, S. Garcia Ballesteros, S. Tonkovic, M. Kovacic, A. Tomic, M. Cvetnić, H. Kusic, I. Senta, S. Terzić, M. Ahel, Z. Wang, A. Loncaric Bozic, Degradation of pharmaceutical memantine by photo-based advanced oxidation processes: Kinetics, pathways and environmental aspects, J. Environ. Chem. Eng 11 (2023) 109334

  4. P. Kumar, S. Verma, R. Kaur, J. Papac, H. Kušić, U. Lavrenčič Štangar, Enhanced photo-degradation of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP): Influence of matrix components, kinetic study and artificial neural network modelling, J. Hazard. Mater. 434 (2022) 128807

  5. F. M. dela Rosa, J. Papac, S. García-Ballesteros, M. Kovačić, Z. Katančić, H. Kušić, A. Lončarić Božić, Solar light activation of persulfate by TiO2/Fe2O3 layered composite films for degradation of amoxicillin: degradation mechanism, matrix effects, and toxicity assessments, Adv. Sustain. Syst. 5 (2021) 2100119
  6. M. Kovačić, J. Papac, H. Kušić, P. Karamanis, A. Lončarić Božić, Degradation of polar and non-polar pharmaceutical pollutants in water by solar assisted photocatalysis using hydrothermal TiO2-SnS2, Chem. Eng. J. 382 (2020) 122826

Awards and acknowledgments

  • COST grant 2025.
  • Annual Award of the Society for Young Scientists and Artists for 2024
  • Rector's Award 2017

List of select projects

  • Solar-assisted photocatalytic degradation of perfluorinated compounds in water (SoAPperF), Slovenian-Croatian research project, PI: Prof. Hrvoje Kušić, Ph.D. (2022.-2025., associate)
  • Microplastics in water; fate and behavior and removal (ReMiCRO), Croatian Science Foundation, IP-202002-6033, PI: Prof. Ana Lončarić Božić, Ph.D. (2020.-2024., associate)
  • DigiChem: Creating a Digital Study Environment for Sustainable Chemistry (Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships), PI: Prof. Hrvoje Kušić, Ph.D. (2022.-2024., associate)
  • Water purification and energy generation using new composite materials with solar radiation (EU funds - IRI, KK.01.1.1.04.0001), PI: Prof. Hrvoje Kušić, Ph.D. (2019.-2023.) (associate)
  • Interreg - Danube Transnational Programme - Danube Hazard m3c (Interreg, EU funds, DTP3-1-299-2.1), PI: Prof. Tomislav Bolanča, Ph.D. (2020.-2023.) (associate)
  • Nano-sized Solar-active Catalysts for Environmental Technologies (NaSCEnT), Croatian Science Foundation IP-2018-01-1982, PI: Prof. Hrvoje Kušić, Ph.D. (2018.-2022.) (associate)