The main directions of scientific research on the chemistry and technology of plastic masses performed at the St.Petersburg State Institute of Technology (Technical University) are defined. The article is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor Anatoly Fedorovich Nikolaev.

The features of the technological process of obtaining foams based on epoxy resin are considered. The influence of the concentration of the components of the composition on the physical and mechanical properties and morphology of the resulting materials is studied. The results of the study of the physical and mechanical properties of the developed epoxy foams are presented. The possibility of obtaining foams with a wide range of adjustable performance properties is shown.

A comprehensive study of the kinetics of reactions of binary copolymerization of vinyl acetate with N-vinyl (N-vinylsuccinimide and N-vinyl-3(5)-methylpyrazole) and acrylic (2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) monomers in different media was conducted. It is shown that the use of manganese triacetylacetonate as an initiator makes it possible to bring together the relative activities of monomers due to the complexation of manganese trisacetylacetonate and vinyl acetate molecules. This leads to a change in the microstructure of copolymers and to the production of macrochains with improved interleaving of monomeric links.

The results of studies on the prediction of the biological activity of N-vinyl-3(5)-methylpyrazole (VMP) using the PASS Online web resource and the CurveExpert program are presented. The possibility of evaluating the biological activity of VMP polymers is shown. It is established that the monomer and polymers based on VMP have their own biological activity.

A technology for producing foams based on polyacrylamide copolymer has been developed. The influence of modifiers on the chemical structure of gas-filled materials is analyzed using FTIR spectroscopy. The influence of modifiers on the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of foams has been studied.

The objects of research are oligomers-hardeners obtained by aminolysis of secondary polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC) household waste with an aliphatic amine (PEP).

The epoxy-diane resin of the ED-20 brand was chosen as the binder cured by the obtained oligomers due to its availability, good properties, acceptable viscosity, and wide applicability. The study of some parameters of the curing of thermosetting resin by industrial and synthesized hardeners is carried out.

The gelation times at elevated temperatures (in the range from 50 to 100°C) and the activation energies of epoxy compositions were determined, and the conversion of epoxy groups during curing at room temperature was studied. The analysis of the obtained data showed that the structural features of macromolecules caused by the introduction of PET and PC fragments have a negligible effect on the activation energy and affect only when cured at room temperature and increase the viability of the compositions, while the gelation time at elevated temperatures in the case of all the studied hardeners is almost the same.

The article provides a brief overview of the research carried out at the Department of Chemical Technology of Polymers of SPSIT in the field of chemical destruction of household waste of polyethyleneterephthalate from 2008 to the present. It has been shown that the use of PET glycolysis and aminolysis methods makes it possible to obtain useful products that can be used both as independent binders (unsaturated polyester resins) and as effective modifiers that increase the physical, mechanical and operational properties of already well-proven polymer materials. In some cases, modification of the compositions with PET chemical recycling products leads to an increase in the characteristics of polymer materials by up to 5 times.

A review of the works reflecting the authors' research on the synthesis and study of the physico-chemical properties of polymer biologically active substances (BAS) is presented. The research results are analyzed in relation to the specific biological activity of polymers in order to establish the possibility of predicting their prolonged bioactive effect based on the values of the constants of formation, stability, dissociation and other characteristics of complexes of ionogenic polymers and BAS using methods of potentiometric titration, conductometry, viscometry, thermal analysis methods, equilibrium dialysis, biological tests.

This article presents the results of a study of the effect of the filler content on the rheological properties of polymer composite materials based on high density polyethylene containing glass microbeads. The flow curves of the compositions were obtained by the method of capillary viscosimetry. Simple mathematical models have been constructed that allow estimating the viscosity of the compositions’ melts based on a given filler content.

The article presents the comparative characteristics of polyethylene pipes after a 50-year period of operation, lists the factors affecting the physical and mechanical properties of pipes and requiring consideration when conducting research. Practical possibilities of assessing the technical condition of long-term operating polyethylene gas pipelines and approaches to extending their service life are considered.

The paper presents the results of a study of the dilatometric properties of thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites based on mixtures of random polypropylene, nitrile butadiene rubber, a compatibilizer - copolymer of polypropylene with maleic anhydride. Nanosized bentonite particles were used as a filler. The concentration of bentonite nanoparticles was varied in the range of 1.0-20 wt %. The values of the free and occupied specific volumes of nanocomposites were determined depending on the temperature and concentration of bentonite. The mechanism and kinetic regularities of the crystallization process of nanocomposites are established.