Nowadays, unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) are mainly obtained from non-renewable resources. The ever-increasing regulations and the continuous demand for more sustainability have led to extensive research towards more environmentally suitable alternatives to petroleum-based materials. However, one of the main disadvantages of bio-based UPR is their relatively high viscosity compared to petrochemical ones. In order to overcome this drawback, in this work, we investigated the possibility to lower the resin viscosity utilizing a mixture of dimethyl itaconate (DMI) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) as a reactive diluent. The effect of the DMI and MMA ratio on resin rheological properties was investigated. The optimal curing parameters were determined and all UPRs had a high gel content, which was shown to be dependent on the DMI and MMA ratio in the formulation. Furthermore, thermomechanical and mechanical properties of the resulting network were also found to be affected by the used reactive diluent mixture. A small substitution of DMI by MMA proved to be advantageous since it offers lower resin viscosity and improved mechanical properties.

Cobalt and nickel powders of three different compositions: Ni0.8Co0.2, Ni0.55Co0.45 and Ni0.2Co0.8 were obtained by electrodeposition from an ammonium chloride-sulphate solution. It was shown that the microstructure and morphology of the powders depended on the deposition current density as well as on the bath composition. Amorphous powder of Ni0.8Co0.2 was obtained at the current density higher than 200 mA cm-2, but nanocrystalline powders having the same composition were obtained at current densities lower than 200 mAcm-2. The nanocrystalline powders with lower Ni contents (0.55 and 0.2) obtained at a current density ranging from 40 mA cm-2 to 450 mA cm-2 were solid solutions of two phases, FCC (?-Ni) and HCP (?-Co) ones. The increase of the HCP phase in the powder was a result of both the Co content increase in the powder and decrease of the deposition current density.

The effect of chromium(VI) on the kinetics of disproportionation of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite was established in the solution for the electrolytic production of chlorate. The hexavalent chromium species Cr₂O₇²⁻, HCrO₄⁻ and CrO₄²⁻present in the solution catalyze the disproportionation reaction. In both the absence and presence of chromium(VI), disproportionation is a third-order reaction with respect to HClO and ClO⁻, and a first-order reaction with respect to the hexavalent chromium species. In the presence of chromium(VI) ions, four parallel reactions probably take place in the solution i.e. uncatalyzed disproportionation and three parallel reactions catalyzed by Cr₂O₇²⁻, HCrO₄⁻ and CrO₄²⁻ions. Most likely, the hexavalent chromium species do not change the sequence of elementary reactions in the disproportionation mechanism but only speed up the rate-determining step through interaction with its reactants. In the chlorate production process, as chromium(VI) concentration increases, the optimum pH which ensures the maximum rate of disproportionation is shifted to an acid environment. This is due to an increase in the concentration of the catalytically most active species HCrO₄⁻ with increasing acidity of the solution. A mathematical model of the kinetics of the chromium(VI)-catalyzed disproportionation of hypochlorite and hypochlorous acid into chlorate was set up. Good agreement was obtained between theoretical and experimental data.

The scope of the present study was to prepare fully bio-based unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) with comparable properties to the commercial formulations. The focus was set on the determination of the optimal prepolymer formulation using the same set of diacids (itaconic and succinic acid) and different diols (propylene glycol, isosorbide and neopentyl glycol) or its equimolar mixtures, keeping the fixed molar ratio of 1:1:2.1 in all feed compositions. Instead of commonly used styrene, bio-based dimethyl itaconate was used as a reactive diluent (RD). The rheology of the obtained resins was studied in detail. The effect of the used diol on structural (FTIR), thermal (DSC), thermomechanical (DMA), and mechanical (tensile) properties was explained. The properties of UPRs were found to be highly dependent on the diol used in the prepolymer formulation. The UPR with an equimolar ratio of propylene glycol and neopentyl glycol was shown to be the most promising candidate to compete with the commercial petroleum-based resins.