1. Engineering of biomedical polymeric materials
1.1. Medicine still needs new better materials and solutions that will accelerate treatment and improve patient comfort. Research in this area focuses on adapting polymeric materials to a variety of medical applications, including in cardiology, dermatology, otolaryngology and orthopaedics. This subject also includes research on new solutions preparing them for implementation and serial production. Research on rapid prototyping methods, 3D printing and patient-focused therapy is also carried out in this area.
1.2. Nature of research: theoretical, experimental
1.3. Keywords: biomaterials, 3D printing, hydrogels, tissue scaffolds
2. Engineering of polymer biodegradable materials
2.1. The world is striving to reduce the amount of plastic waste. This is reflected both in the change in the behaviour of consumers, who consciously look for more ecological products, and in legislation, e.g. European Union. Plastic packaging is increasingly taxed or even banned. Currently, there are no material solutions on the market that can replace plastics. Therefore, there is a need to produce biodegradable materials that meet the needs of both consumers and legislators. Research in this area focuses on the production of materials based on natural substances and polymers that are biodegradable in the natural environment and meet the current legislative requirements. As part of this topic, the methods of processing these materials are investigated and the impact of individual technological parameters used in these methods on the physicochemical, thermal and mechanical properties as well as the morphology of final products. Research conducted within this sub-discipline is conducted in close cooperation with the economic environment - the solutions being developed are implemented in the industry. Design works and launching production lines with accompanying solutions are also carried out in this trend. At the request of enterprises, product life cycle analyses (LCA), raw material lists, technological diagrams and projects to improve existing production lines are prepared.
2.2. Nature of research: theoretical, experimental
2.3. Keywords: biodegradation, packaging, processing of biodegradable polymers
3. Ecological asphalts
3.1. Asphalt is an engineering material with fairly good mechanical and rheological properties, therefore it is used in road construction and in the production of bituminous roofing membranes, bituminous adhesives and waterproofing coatings. Asphalt works well in these applications today, but it is not without its drawbacks. Especially in road construction, the growing number of vehicles on roads necessitates the development of methods improving the basic properties of asphalts, e.g. strength and fatigue durability (resistance to cracking and permanent deformation - rutting), sensitivity to temperature in a wide range of viscoelasticity (difference between the softening point and brittleness point should be as high as possible), durability of asphalt surfaces (resistance to wear and fatigue) and stability during storage, application and operation. The development of research on improving the properties of asphalt has led to the development of solutions enabling the use of polymers as modifiers for bitumen and asphalt. Trends in the development of asphalt modification methods with the use of polymers are currently focused on the use of polymer waste as an asphalt modifier. It gives measurable benefits in the economic and pro-ecological aspect. The use of reactive resins and polymer waste makes it possible to obtain viscoelastic polymer-asphalt binders with improved physico-chemical and rheological properties in relation to the already known solutions, and most importantly, stable under the conditions of their storage at a temperature of approx. 180 °C. Polymer-asphalt binders of this type are currently the area of interest for the entire road engineering, however, they require refinement in terms of their durability, maintaining high visco-elasticity in the temperature range of their use and determining the assessment of environmental impact in terms of microplastic release.
3.2. Nature of research: theoretical, experimental
3.3. Key words: polymer modified bitumen, grounded tire rubber, polymer waste management, recycling
4. Chemical recycling of polyurethanes
4.1. Chemical recycling of polyurethanes is based on the decomposition of the polymer by means of heat, chemical or catalytic agent, to yield products ranging from the chemical monomers to mixtures of compounds, which can be a source of recovered chemicals. In this trend researchers focus on using waste, crude or natural raw materials as a destroying agent in polyurethane decomposition. These all taken attempts to find a good and efficient way for polyurethane decomposition show that this topic is still important, especially in the term of reducing the amount of landfilled waste and the topic still needs new developments. For industrial scale, chemical recycling of polyurethanes is still not broadly used. This is a reason for further research into, among other things, the recycling of rigid polyurethane foams (about which there are only a few reports in the literature) or bio-polyurethanes - which are increasingly being synthesised, but about which only a little is known in practice, either, about their susceptibility to chemical recycling processing.
4.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental
4.3. Keywords: polyurethanes, chemical recycling, glycolysates,
5. Bio-based polyester polyols for polyurethanes
5.1.The aim of this research work is to obtain linear polyester polyols from natural sources, which can be used as polyols for thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers and polyurethane foams. The extensive literature review constitutes an evaluative point of view on the topic of natural resources in the polyurethane synthesis, which has contributed to the subject matter of the bio-based polyester polyols. The use of two-step polycondensation reaction between natural origin dicarboxylic acids such as succinic acid and azelaic acid, and their mixture, and the excess of glycols: 1,3-propanediol and 1,4-butanediol, both with the natural origin, and glycerol, and their mixture, allow to obtain the bio-based polyester polyols. In order to reaction optimization, syntheses are carried out under various reaction conditions such as different temperatures, various time of the both steps, different catalyst amount and type, and with the use of the various molar ratio of monomers. The course of the reactions is controlled by real-time analysis of chemical structure changes. Due to the requirements concerning polyester polyols for thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers, the prepared bio-based polyester polyols have to characterize by the low value of an acid number and hydroxyl number, an average molecular weight in the range from 1000 to 4000 g/mol, functionality equalled 2, and low water content.
5.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental.
5.3. Keywords: bio-based polyester polyol; polyurethane; esterification; polycondensation; carbon foodprint; green chemistry
6. Non-isocyanate polyurethanes
6.1.Commercially available polyurethanes are synthesized by the polyaddition of diisocyanates with polyols and low molecular weight chain extenders. A new approach to polyurethanes synthesis is realized via non-isocyanate routes. Negative impacts of petroleum-based chemicals on the environment and human health as well as gradual reduction of fuel-based resources, which leads to an increase in their prices, are an incentive to looking for bio-based components derived from renewable resources for the polyurethanes synthesis. Nowadays, the synthesis of cyclic carbonate(s) from an appropriate epoxide and carbon dioxide (CO2) is an active field of research. This is mainly due to the necessity of designing new technologies able to mitigate the environmental impact of CO2, which as a greenhouse gas, has a significant impact on an enhanced greenhouse effect. Due to the fact that CO2 is chemically inert, abundant, non-flammable, non-toxic and highly attractive one-carbon (C1) building block, its conversion into valuable chemicals is attracting attention from a wide academic community, industry and society. For these reasons, the capture, storage and utilization of CO2 are serious challenges to overcome and move toward sustainable development. In our work, we deal with synthesis of NIPUs using various types of diamine derivatives of dimerized fatty acids and novel polyether polyol-based cyclic carbonate. It can be also examine the effect of crosslinking temperature as well as [amine]/[cyclic carbonate] molar ratio on the selected properties of the obtained materials. In order to evaluate the real potential of novel NIPUs, a comparative study of the chemical structure (by spectroscopic techniques) and thermal properties (by DSC and TGA methods) of the prepared materials have been performing.
6.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental.
6.3. Keywords: non-isocyanate polyurethane; cyclic carbonate; carbon dioxide; CO2 utilization
7. Self-healing polyurethane nanocomposite materials
7.1. In the last years, the self-healing polyurethane materials based on multiple hydrogen bonding have attracted ample attention due to their specific chemical structures, good mechanical properties and high healing efficiency. With the advance on material science, new multiple hydrogen-bonding units for self-healing polyurethanes could be proper designed and synthesized. Through prolonging the service life and fast recovery of the mechanical properties, self-healing polyurethane nanocomposites can be potentially applied in the field of wearable electronics, electronic skins, motion tracking, and health monitoring. In addition, the work can be carried out based on modern polyurethane hydrogel materials. The development of these materials, which have both excellent self-healing and mechanical properties, is an important part of scientific novelty. In the science of hydrogels, due to their close connection with a wide range of potential applications, it is very important to develop modern hydrogels with both excellent self-healing and mechanical properties. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop a new class of polyurethane (PU) hydrogels with intermolecular quadruple hydrogen interactions. During the PhD Studies, is it possible to receive financial support.
7.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental
7.3. Keywords: self-healing, polyurethanes, nanocomposites, hydrogen bonds, graphene
8. Shape memory polyurethane materials
8.1. Shape memory polyurethane nanocomposites based on graphene derivatives are among
the materials that have been continuously developed in recent years. During the development
of new polyurethane materials with shape memory properties it is important to find the relationship between the addition of graphene derivatives and the properties associated with shape memory. Often these studies are directed at finding at the influence of nanofillers from the group of graphene derivatives [graphene oxide (GO), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), reduced graphene oxide (RGO)] on the properties of polyurethane matrix composites,
in particular of segmental polyurethanes containing rigid (HS) and flexible (SS) segments
in their structure. Analysis of the influence of nanofillers (graphene derivatives - GNP and RGO)/ Interactions of nanofillers (RGO and GNP) in a polyurethane elastomeric matrix in the context of the study of viscoelastic, thermal and mechanical properties. General study will focus on polyurethane nanocomposites in the aspect of materials with shape memory (SMP).
8.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental
8.3. Keywords: shape memory, polyurethanes, nanocomposites, thermal analysis, graphene
9. New materials based on human motion energy harvesting nanogenerators
9.1. Nowadays, portable and wearable personal electronic devices have become a necessity which brings a lot of comfort into our daily life in the field of healthcare and environment monitoring or remote communication. However, rapid development of the electronic technology and constantly growing mass production has given a significant rise in power consumption, which consequently may cause a worldwide energy crisis. Since electronic device uses conventional batteries and supercapacitors with limited lifetime, environment hazard and constant need of recharging / replacing them as a power source, there is an ingrowing demand on finding renewable, sustainable and eco-friendly energy sources. Human biomechanical energy due to advantages such as high energy density and full power of disposal has gained a lot of attention lately. To achieve human motion mechanical energy conversion (which comes from limb movement, walking or stretching and other inside-body movements) into electrical energy, an energy harvesting systems - triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) and piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) have been studied. With assets such as low cost, lightweightness and flexibility they are gaining a significant attention in scientific community. In order to diversify their application from energy harvesters and self-powered systems to „all-in-one” smart systems, hybrid nanogenerators have been explored lately. This study will be focuses mainly on novel and emerging nanogenerator technologies for powering small electronic devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and others, divided by different body scavenging energy areas. The research will include basic mechanisms of action, micro/nano scale material selection and fabrication processes of selected materials.
9.2. Nature of the research: theoretical, experimental
9.3. Keywords: human motion energy, energy harvesting, energy storage, hybrid wearable devices
