Imidazole embedded in molecular sieves shows remarkable and steady proton conductivity (>1 × 10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ above 360 K). It can be considered to be a promising solid high proton conducting electrolyte for fuel cells. The conductivity depends on imidazole loading and mobility, which result from the pore geometry, the chemical nature of matrices and the preparation method.

Carbon nanostructures are utilized in a plethora of applications ranging from biomedicine to electronics. Particularly interesting are carbon nanostructured quantum dots that can be simultaneously used for bimodal therapies with both targeting and imaging capabilities. Here, magnetic and optical properties of graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) prepared by the top-down technique from graphene oxide and obtained using the Hummers’ method were studied. Graphene oxide was ultra-sonicated, boiled in HNO₃, ultra-centrifuged, and finally filtrated, reaching a mean flake size of ~30 nm with quantum dot properties. Flake size distributions were obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images after consecutive preparation steps. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) confirmed that GOQDs were still oxidized after the fabrication procedure. Magnetic and photoluminescence measurements performed on the obtained GOQDs revealed their paramagnetic behavior and broad range optical photoluminescence around 500 nm, with magnetic moments of 2.41 µ_B. Finally, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to separate the unforeseen contributions and typically not taken into account metal contaminations, and radicals from carbon defects. This study contributes to a better understanding of magnetic properties of carbon nanostructures, which could in the future be used for the design of multimodal imaging agents.

The low temperature behaviour of Rb₃H(SO₄)₂ and Rb₃D(SO₄)₂ and their doped analogues was investigated by means of their dielectric response. Electron paramagnetic resonance was used to control the impurity concentration. Influence of different admixtures on ferroic properties is discussed. It has been shown that an appropriately chosen impurity in doped Rb₃H(SO₄)₂ can lead to a short-range ordering similar to that observed for doped incipient ferroelectric-like SrTiO₃ and KTaO₃.

Modification of lignocellulose materials, used as fillers in the composites with polyolefins, is applied to improve their adhesion to the matrix. One of the most often applied methods of such modification is the treatment with organic acid anhydrides. Rapeseed straw was modified with anhydrides of acetic, maleic and succinic acids. Such a modification changes the straw surface leading to the exposition of the wood tissue skeleton. The character changes depending on the type of anhydride applied. Esterification of repeseed straw by organic acid anhydrides resulted in changes in its chemical structure. According to infrared analysis of modified straw, new carbonyl groups were formed, as indicated by the absorption band in the range 1750–1730 cm⁻¹. The degree of straw modification, measured by the weight percent gain index, informs about similar reactivities of the lignocelluloses material with all three anhydrides of organic acids used as modifiers. The starting temperatures of active thermolysis for the straw modified with maleic and succinic acid anhydrides were lower than that for native straw, while that for the straw modified with acetic acid was higher. Concentration of free radicals in rapeseed straw samples was measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. It was found that the maximum concentration of radicals for rapeseed straw was treated with maleic anhydride.