NILE structures of polymers

How can industrial polymers be modified to give them the properties we need? How to make initially hydrophobic polymers hydrophilic? And vice versa? How to give biomimetic properties to ordinary polymers, for example, the lotus effect or the rose petal effect? How to manage their water absorption and moisture capacity? Is it possible to create a seawater filter from a simple polymer film? This project is dedicated to answering these and many other interesting questions. In the process, the participants will go through all the stages of modern research: from the analysis of scientific literature to the creation of new materials and the study of their properties with the possible publication of the results in peer-reviewed journals. You will get acquainted with a unique technique that allows you to modify the usual large-tonnage polymers familiar to everyone and obtain unique nanocomposite materials with valuable functional properties based on them.

The creation of innovative materials with antibacterial properties in relation to a wide range of pathogenic organisms is an urgent problem of modern materials science. Within the framework of this project, new effective nanocomposite polymer materials for biomedical purposes will be developed that meet the challenges of the 21st century. The 21st century has not only become a century of innovation and the introduction of new technologies, but has posed a large number of serious problems related to the fight against various types of infectious diseases (in particular, COVID 19, which dictates the need to develop new highly effective biomedical materials with an antibacterial effect against a wide range of pathogens, including polyresistant bacteria. The currently existing methods for obtaining antibacterial materials are multi-stage and not universal, toxic compounds and solvents are used in the creation process, and the final product needs to be refined. The flexible and multivariate approach proposed in this paper is characterized by versatility and high efficiency.

The search and creation of materials with high sorption properties and selectivity is an urgent task of the world scientific community both from a scientific and practical point of view. Environmental issues are of particular importance. Thus, the spill of oil and organic solvents associated with the growth of industry causes pollution of wastewater and the environment, which in turn dictates the need to create new effective materials and approaches to combat environmental pollution. The creation of new high-tech supersorbent materials for water purification from oils, petroleum products and organic solvents is an urgent need of the 21st century to protect the world around us, as well as to solve a wide range of industrial, environmental and domestic problems. The development of innovative materials with high sorption capacity and selectivity based on conventional polymers (for example, polyethylene) distinguishes this project from analogues due to accessibility, low price, re-use and recycling. The formation of a highly developed porous structure gives polymer materials new unique properties, including the effect of superhydrophobicity and selectivity. This approach opens up new opportunities for the creation of a new generation of sorbents and is of great practical importance from the point of view of solving environmental problems (for example, effective and spontaneous extraction of oil from water)