A set of aromatic-oxyaliphatic polyurethanes (PUs) with different mass fractions of components also containing fluorinated fragments was synthesized and studied using various solid-state NMR techniques and dielectric spectroscopy. In contrast to the common model suggested by Cooper and Tobolsky in 1966, the rigid domains of microphase separated PUs are formed, not only by units containing urethane bonds, but also by oxyethylene fragments that form a common rigid phase. The urethane bonds and oxyethylene fragments are incorporated into both rigid and soft phases. Good agreement with the Cooper and Tobolsky model is observed only when solubility parameters are significantly different for the hard and soft segments, such as hydrocarbon aromatics and perfluoroaliphatic blocks.

The effect of fulleroid materials (fullerene С₆₀ and fullerene soot which is used for fullerene production) and carbon fibers on the mechanical and tribological properties of polymer nanocomposites based on polyamide 6 (PA6) was investigated. Composites were synthesized by in situ polymerization and direct mixing in an extruder. It was found that addition of these fillers during in situ polymerization was more effective at improving the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. The use of the nanoparticles was an effective way to decrease the friction coefficient of the polymer composites because the fillers were the same size as the segments of the surrounding polymer chains. The steady state coefficients of friction with the addition of fulleroid fillers were lower than that of unfilled PA6. The lowest coefficient of friction was observed for PA6 filled with 1 wt. % fullerene soot.

Fullerene C60 / epoxy polymers nanocomposites with different C60 loading have (0.01–0.12 wt.%) been prepared. Mechanical testing shows that compared with neat epoxy, mechanical and toughning properties of composites are greatly improved. The addition of fullerene C60 increased the modulus of the epoxy (up to 20%), but the glass transition temperature was unaffected. The measured impact strength was also increased, from 38 to to 115 kJ/m2 with the addition of 0.12wt.% of fullerene C60. The toughning mechanism has been discussed. Dielectric spectroscopy was used to investigate the influence of nanoparticles on the relaxation processes in polymer matrix.

Nanocomposite polyurethane foams filled with different loadings (0.1–0.7 wt.%) of nanosized silica (average grain size of about 7 or 12 nm) and organoclay were prepared by a prepolymer method, and their mechanical properties were investigated. Statistical analysis of the size distribution of the foam cells was successfully applied for the characterization of their morphology. It was shown that the developed approach provided detailed analysis of the morphology development in PU foams, including the primary cell formation and their break-up and coalescence. The degree of phase separation in nanocomposite polyurethane foams in its dependence on nanofiller type and content was calculated from the IR spectra. The presence of silica nanoparticles and organoclays gives rise to significant differences in the mechanical (stress–strain) properties of the nanocomposite polyurethane foams with respect to the pure polymer.