Institute of macromolecular compounds

Our history

The Institute of Macromolecular Compounds is one of the leading scientific centers on polymer science in Russia. Basic research on chemistry, physico-chemistry, and physics of macromolecular compounds is being carried out here. The institute was founded in 1948 when there was an urgent necessity to develop polymer materials, to study the mechanisms of their formation, their structure, properties and possible fields of application.

The founder and the first director was an outstanding Russian scientist, a corresponding member of Academy of Sciences of the USSR professor Sergey Ushakov. The prominent Leningrad scientists, namely S.N. Danilov, M.M. Koton, P.P. Kobeko, E.V. Kuvshinskii, G.P. Mikhailov, A.A. Korotkov, B.A. Dolgoplosk, N.I. Nikitin, A.A. Vansheidt, B.L. Erusalimskii, S.E.. Bresler, M.V. Volkenstein, V.N. Tsvetkov, S.Ya. Frenkel and G.V. Samsonov ensured the possibility of carrying out an extensive program of investigating the key problems of polymer science.

The study of the synthesis of hydrophilic medical polymer begun by S.N. Ushakov and is now headed by a corresponding member of Russian Academy of Sciences, professor. E.F. Panarin, who is at present the director of the Institute. Scientific schools founded by corresponding members of RAS M.M. Koton, and V.N. Tsvetkov are successfully working in the field of chemistry and physics of rigid-chain polymers.

In recent years, except such traditional trends as the study of formation mechanisms of polymers, such as liquid-crystalline, water-soluble, highly thermostable, and biologically active polymers, and the study of chemical and physico-mechanical properties, theoretical study of polymer systems, considerable attention is given to methods for developing new types of nanostrucurized functional polymers and composite polymer materials for sensor, opto - and photoelectronic units. These investigations are carried out under the leadership of Drs.Sci. V.V. Kudryavtsev, B.A. Zaitsev, S.S. Skorokhodov, V.V. Shamanin, G.K. Elyashevich, A.M. Bochek, A.V. Tenkovtsev, G.P. Vlasov, A.A. Demin, T.B. Tennikova, V.V. Kopeikin, T.M. Birshtein, Yu.Ya. Gotlib, A.A. Darinskii, E.V. Anufrieva, K.K. Kalninsh, V.D. Pautov, P.N. Lavrenko, V.E. Yudin, T.E. Sukhanova, A.P. Filippov, A.V. Gribanov and others.

Principal scientific achievements and practical results:

1. A complete concept of the synthesis of linear thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers was worked out.
2. A detailed picture of the performance of mesogenic rigid-chain polymers in solution was established and magneto- and electrooptical effects in the liquid-crystalline state were investigated.
3. Structural research of thermotropic mesophases by spectroscopy, dielectric, mechanical, and other methods was carried out.
4. The statistical theory of random coil-globule transition in solutions of linear, star-branched, and grafted polymers on matrices with different geometries was developed. On its basis the theory of colloids stabilization by grafted polymer chains was also developed. Using this theoretical basis the scientific concepts of graft and linear water-soluble superhigh molecular weight polymers and copolymers were worked out.
5. The main features of the structure and properties of superhigh molecular weight polymers were established by optical and hydrodynamic methods. On the basis of fundamental research, methods of synthesis were developed, and highly effective flocculants (for example LC ACROMIDAN) and intensifiers of cooling processes were prepared.
6. The study of polymer carriers of biologically active compounds allowed the detection of biological activity of some polymers. On their basis a number of medical preparations was developed. An antiseptic preparations, CATAPOL, POVIARGOL and a growth stimulating agent, DOXANE,were developed and are being manufactured on industrial and pilot-plant scale. Clinical tests of an antitumoral drug, POGLUCAR, have been completed.
7. A plasma substitute POLYOXYDINE and an oxygen transporting blood substitute GELENPOL were developed on the basis of synthetic water-soluble polymers and modified proteins.
8. An original technology for obtaining highly purified INSULIN was developed on the basis of theoretical and experimental investigations of the interaction between organic ions and crosslinked polyelectrolytes. This technology was implemented in industry.
9. A new concept of the synthesis of different classes of thermally stable, chemically resistant and other thermosetting polymers was developed. It is based on introducing a number of functional groups in acid-catalyzed reactions. In the first stage, monomer-oligomer systems (called ROLIVSANS) are obtained and then (after their cure) crosslinked polymers. As a result, a set of polymers and composite materials (thermostable dielectric compounds, binders, adhesives, coatings, composites) with a valuable combination of properties was synthesized.
10. An alternative method of polyimide synthesis via acid esters of tetracarboxylic acids was proposed. The reaction mechanism was studied and on this basis the conditions of obtaining highly thermally stable engineering plastics reinforced with carbon were optimized.
11. Super light, flame resistant, thermally and electrically insulating polyimide foams and foam composites were developed.
12. A fundamentally novel method of substances separation, high-performance membrane chromatography, was developed jointly with the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Czech. Ac. Sci., Prague. Special membranes for analytical purposes and chromatographic materials were developed. This method was carried out in practice
13. High performance polymer pervaporation membranes for separation mixtures of polar and nonpolar organic liquids were developed.
14. Microporous highly permeable polyethylene membranes were obtained. The investigation of conducting polymer layers on the surface of these polyethylene films with the aim of developing new composite membranes for ion exchange was carried out.
Methods of quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of various substances were developed and TLC equipment was constructed.