For the first time, few-layer graphene (FLG) nanosheets were synthesized by the method of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from biopolymers (glucose, starch, and cellulose). We suggest that biopolymers and polysaccharides, particularly starch, could be an acceptable source of native cycles for the SHS process. The carbonization of biopolymers under the conditions of the SHS process was chosen as the basic method of synthesis. Under the conditions of the SHS process, chemical reactions proceed according to a specific mechanism of nonisothermal branched-chain processes, which are characterized by the joint action of two fundamentally different process-accelerating factors—avalanche reproduction of active intermediate particles and self-heating. The method of obtaining FLG nanosheets included the thermal destruction of hydrocarbons in a mixture with an oxidizing agent. We used biopolymers as hydrocarbons and ammonium nitrate as an oxidizing agent. Thermal destruction was carried out in SHS mode, heating the mixture in a vessel up to 150–200 °C at a heating speed of 20–30 °C/min and keeping at this temperature for 15–20 min with the discharge of excess gases into the atmosphere. A combination of spectrometric research methods, supplemented by electron microscopy data, has shown that the particles of the carbonated product powder in their morphometric and physical parameters correspond to FLG nanosheets. An X-ray diffraction analysis of the indicated FLG nanosheets was carried out, which showed the absence of formations with a graphite crystal structure in the final material. The surface morphology was also studied, and the IR absorption features of FLG nanosheets were analyzed. It is shown that the developed SHS method makes it possible to obtain FLG nanosheets with linear dimensions of tens of microns and a thickness of not more than 1–5 graphene layers (several graphene layers).

A quantitative method is proposed to determine Stone–Wales defects for 1D and 2D carbon nanostructures. The technique is based on the diene synthesis reaction (Diels–Alder reaction). The proposed method was used to determine Stone–Wales defects in the few-layer graphene (FLG) nanostructures synthesized by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) process in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) synthesized based on the method of Hammers and in the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) TUBAL trademark, Russia. Our research has shown that the structure of FLG is free of Stone–Wales defects, while the surface concentration of Stone–Wales defects in TUBAL carbon nanotubes is 1.1 × 10⁻⁵ mol/m² and 3.6 × 10⁻⁵ mol/m² for rGO.

The effect of modifying additives based on detonation nanodiamonds on the tribological characteristics of polyurethane rubber is studied. Introduction of modifying additives based on detonation nanodiamonds (0.5 wt %) leads to a marked improvement in the antifriction and wear-resistance characteristics under conditions of boundary sliding friction for steel and for lubrication with water. The attained tribological characteristics (total energy loss for friction, weight loss of polymer during tribological contact, maximum admissible working pressure) are well (∼300%) above the corresponding characteristics of foreign analogs. Changes in the tribological characteristics of the formed nanocomposite material are observed, but the elastic and strength characteristics remain unchanged.

The results of studying the effect of particles of few-layer graphene (FLG) synthesized by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) on the complex of strength and thermo physical properties of polymer composite products obtained by digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing are presented. It was discovered to achieve an increase in thermophysical and strength parameters of polymers modified by FLG compared with samples made on the unmodified base resin. This result was achieved due to low defectiveness, namely the absence of Stone–Wales defects in the structure of FLG due to the homogeneous distribution of FLG over the volume of the polymer in the form of highly dispersed aggregates. It was possible to increase hardness by 120%, bending strength by 102%, Charpy impact strength by 205%, and thermal conductivity at 25 °C by 572% at concentrations of few-layer graphene of no more than 2 wt. %.

The effect of modifying additives of nanodispersed substances on rheological and relaxation properties of composite materials based on polydimethylsiloxane was examined. The effect of modifying additives on relaxation properties of polymeric composite materials was considered within the framework of elastic strain theory using the Mooney-Rivlin model.

The effect of modifying detonation nanodiamond additives on the stress-strain properties of polymer nanocomposites is investigated using polysiloxane polyblock copolymers as an example. It is shown that the formation of a physical network of supramolecular structures (due to self-organization initiated by force fields of highly active nanoparticles) can lead to an increase in the physicomechanical parameters in the range of small strains (up to 100%) without changing the chain microstructure. The use of composites involving fillers of the H type (with a high surface activity) and the L type (with a low surface activity) provides a maximum efficiency of interaction of the force fields induced by supramolecular structural units. The force interaction results in a more “efficient” supramolecular organization of the polymer and ensures a synergetic increase in the physicomechanical parameters with the use of L-Hfillers.