Paint coatings based on a copolymer of vinyl chloride with vinyl acetate with an additive of epoxy-diane resin of six different compositions are developed. The coatings differ in the nature of fillers (anatase, rutile, and cobalt and lanthanum oxides) and the composition of soft biocidal additives of the atrane class (protatrane of salicylic acid and hydrometallatranes based on triethanolamine complexes with zinc(II) and copper(II) salts). The process of biofouling in the natural conditions of the White sea is studied. Fouling communities formed on the studied plates during 2.5 months of exposure to the sea is analyzed, depending on the composition of the coatings. The fouling is based on the attached forms: scyphistomas (polypoid stage) of jellyfish Aurelia aurita and Cyanea sp., mussels Mytilus edulis, and hydroid Obelia longissima. The efficiency of the same paint coating appear to differ towards different species of fouling organisms.

The properties of sol-gel synthesis of borosilicate sols, wet gels and xerogels, as well as thin nanosized films were studied. Physicochemical processes and phenomena accompanying sol-gel synthesis of borosilicate sols, gels, xerogels, and thin spin-on glass films were analyzed on the basis of reference data and our long-term experience. Particularly, the sol-gel synthesis of borosilicate materials with high boron concentration were described in detail. The morphology, mesostructures and chemical composition of sol-gel derived borosilicate composites with a high boron content (from 30 to 48 wt %, based on B2O3) were studied using a number of complementary research methods (optical, scanning and transmission microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and FTIR spectroscopy). The effect of sol composition (concentrations of Si(OEt)4 and H3BO3), ofthe addition of polyols (primarily glycerol), of the conditions for synthesis and of aging of target materials on their composition were studied, as well as the morphology and mesostructures of the composites.

Tetraethoxysilane-derived silica sols stable to sedimentation as well as kinetically and “sol-gel@paint” compositions based on beeswax dissolved in tetraethoxysilane with addition of polyorganosiloxanes, siloxane block copolymer, and hydrophobized aerosil synthesized within this study served as a base for the development of a new technique for preparation of coniferous wood protective coatings. The surface morphology of the coatings was investigated along with their chemical composition, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, and adhesion and water absorption. The laboratory tests for biostability with respect to wood-destroying fungi and full-scale climatic tests in the conditions of Extreme North of Russia were performed upon the pine wood coated with developed coatings and their results are presented in this study.

The surface composition of a set of hybrid silicophosphate membranes has been studied by a method based on the adsorption of acid-base indicators; the relationship between the derived data and the proton conductivity of the test materials has been analyzed. It has been found that the proton conductivity of the membranes increases with an increase in the amount of nearly neutral hydroxyl groups with p K a ∼ 7.3, which slowly dissociate to form protons, and decreases with an increase in the number of acid hydroxyl groups with p K a ∼ 2.5, which exhibit fast dissociation to release protons that are rapidly washed out of the system.

Low-temperature synthesis methods are used to produce nanoceramic materials for electrodes of the following ionistors: (ZrO2)0.6(In2O3)0.4, praseodymium cobaltite, as well as neodymium, lanthanum, and nickel chromites; they operate in the presence of an ion-conducting phosphorosilicate separator membrane and phosphate impregnation. Film electrodes of ionistors are fabricated that consist of nanocrystalline oxide materials deposited as a thin film on a porous electroconductive metal substrate, i.e., foamed nickel. The MnO2-foamed nickel electrode has a specific capacity of 45.0 F g−1, which is compared with that of industrial supercapacitors.

Using the methods of joint precipitation of hydroxides and joint crystallization of nitrate solutions, nanocrystalline ceramics have been synthesized on the basis of lanthanum and neodymium chromites and the two-phase composition (ZrO2)0.6(In2O3)0.4 with average grain sizes of 80–90 and 50–60 nm, respectively. Nanoceramics possess electrical conductivity from 10−2 to 10 S cm−1 in the temperature range 20–800°C. Ion-conducting membranes compatible with the obtained electrode ceramics have been synthesized by the sol-gel method from silica gels doped with orthophosphoric acid.

This paper reports on the results of investigations into the design of an operating prototype of the power plant for the production and accumulation of hydrogen. The objective of this work is to develop technologies of intermediate storage of hydrogen with subsequent generation of an electric power due to the electrochemical processes occurring in fuel cells with an efficiency of no lower than 90%. The power plant is based on the wind power plant, which operates using an integrated software-hardware system for control over the power regime of the entire technological process. New membrane and catalytic materials prepared by the solgel method are used as functional components of fuel cells.

Proton-conducting silicophosphate sol-gel systems modified by water-and alcohol-soluble low-molecular and high-molecular organic compounds (such as polyionenes, polyaminoguanidine, and organosilicon monomer) are synthesized by the sol-gel method. The physicochemical processes occurring in the course of the synthesis are investigated. It is revealed that the introduction of polyionenes into the sol-gel systems prevents the formation of silicon pyrophosphate crystals in the resulting silicophosphate nanocomposites (upon their heat treatment) and favors an increase in the protonic conductivity to 10 −2 S/cm over a wide range of temperatures (0–120°C).

Borosilicate sols based on tetraethoxysilane and boric acid (or trimethyl borate) are synthesized. It is demonstrated that the introduction of organic oligomers into borosilicate sols changes the gelation kinetics, affects the composition and structure of the prepared nanocomposites, and makes it possible to produce so-called ormoborosils. Ultrasonic treatment has a strong effect on the gelation kinetics in borosilicate sols, the characteristics of the sol-gel system, and the structure and composition of the borosilicate composites. The phase composition of the synthesized xerogels is investigated by thermal analysis, and the chemical composition is studied by IR spectroscopy. The inference is made that the sol-gel synthesis of borosilicate nanocomposites leads to the formation of multilevel fractally aggregated nanocomposites.