Two methods—attenuated total reflection Fourier infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)—have been used to analyze the chemical structure of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) thin coatings deposited by pulsed laser (PLD) and pulsed electron beam (PED) ablations. The volume of the analyzed materials is significantly different in these techniques which can be of great importance in the characterization of highly heterogeneous thin films. Optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been additionally used to examine the coating surface morphology. The studies have shown that in the case of thin polymer coatings deposited by physical methods, the application for chemical structure evaluation of complementary techniques, with different surface sensitivity, together with the use of surface topography imaging, provide unique insight into the film morphology. The results can provide information contributing to an in-depth understanding of the deposition mechanism of polymer coatings.

Novel, functional materials based on chitin of marine origin and lignin were prepared. The synthesized materials were subjected to physicochemical, dispersive-morphological and electrokinetic analysis. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method of synthesis of functional chitin/lignin materials. Mechanism of chitin modification by lignin is based on formation of hydrogen bonds between chitin and lignin. Additionally, the chitin/lignin materials were studied from the perspective of waste water treatment. The synthetic method presented in this work shows an attractive and facile route for producing low-cost chitin/lignin biosorbents with high efficiency of nickel and cadmium adsorption (88.0% and 98.4%, respectively). The discovery of this facile method of synthesis of functional chitin/lignin materials will also have a significant impact on the problematic issue of the utilization of chitinous waste from the seafood industry, as well as lignin by-products from the pulp and paper industry.

Innovative materials were made via the combination of chitin and lignin, and the immobilization of lipase from Aspergillus niger. Analysis by techniques including FTIR, XPS and ¹³C CP MAS NMR confirmed the effective immobilization of the enzyme on the surface of the composite support. The electrokinetic properties of the resulting systems were also determined. Results obtained from elemental analysis and by the Bradford method enabled the determination of optimum parameters for the immobilization process. Based on the hydrolysis reaction of para-nitrophenyl palmitate, a determination was made of the catalytic activity, thermal and pH stability, and reusability. The systems with immobilized enzymes were found to have a hydrolytic activity of 5.72 mU, and increased thermal and pH stability compared with the native lipase. The products were also shown to retain approximately 80% of their initial catalytic activity, even after 20 reaction cycles. The immobilization process, using a cheap, non-toxic matrix of natural origin, leads to systems with potential applications in wastewater remediation processes and in biosensors.