Department of Polymer Chemistry and Technology
The main research areas of the Department of Polymer Chemistry and Technology comprise: (I) development of new synthetic methodologies with the focus on controlled ring-opening polymerization of various cyclic monomers to prepare polymers for application in various biomedical fields; (II) highly porous polymer nanocomposites capable of CO2 capture or waste-water treatment by photo-oxidation as well as conventional thermoplastic nanocomposites, and (III) study of environmental pollution by plastic and development of new recycling approaches of polymeric materials with the aim to lower the environmental footprint of polymers and to facilitate the transition of the society towards the low-carbon and sustainable circular economy. For successful implementation of research goals all three topics require comprehensive characterization on monomer, polymer and material level, which is one of the pillars of our Department.
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Head
Expert fellows
Technical Staff
Representative Publications
- GRDADOLNIK, Maja, DRINČIĆ, Ana, OREŠKI, Ana, ÖNDER, Özgün Can, UTROŠA, Petra, PAHOVNIK, David, ŽAGAR, Ema. Insight into chemical recycling of flexible polyurethane foams by acidolysis. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2022, 10, 1323-1332
- ÖNDER, Özgün Can, UTROŠA, Petra, CASERMAN, Simon, PODOBNIK, Marjetka, ŽAGAR, Ema, PAHOVNIK, David. Preparation of synthetic polypeptide-polyHIPE hydrogels with stimuli-responsive behavior. Macromolecules, 2021, 54, 8321-8330,
- KOTNIK, Tomaž, ŽERJAV, Gregor, PINTAR, Albin, ŽAGAR, Ema, KOVAČIČ, Sebastijan. Highly porous poly(arylene cyano-vinylene) beads derived through the Knoevenagel condensation of the oil-in-oil-in-oil double emulsion templates. ACS Macro Letters, 2021, 10, 1248-1253
- ČEŠAREK, Urška, PAHOVNIK, David, ŽAGAR, Ema. Chemical recycling of aliphatic polyamides by microwave-assisted hydrolysis for efficient monomer recovery. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2020, 8, 16274-16282
- UTROŠA, Petra, ONDER, Ozgun Can, ŽAGAR, Ema, KOVAČIČ, Sebastijan, PAHOVNIK, David. Shape memory behaviour of emulsion templated Poly(ε-caprolactone) synthesized by organocatalyzed ring-opening polymerization. Macromolecules, 2019, 52, 9291-9298.