A series of novel polyurethane crosslinked structures (PUs) was prepared from α,ω-dihydroxy-(ethylene oxide-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-ethylene oxide) (EO-PDMS-EO), 4,4’-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate and Boltorn® hyperbranched polyester of the third pseudo generation. The hydroxyfunctional hyperbranched aliphatic polyester with 26 end groups was used as crosslinking agent. In order to improve the compatibility of all reactants during the synthesis, PU samples were prepared by a step-growth polymerization in two stages in solution. The soft EO-PDMS-EO segment content was varied in the range from 15 to 40 wt.%. The influence of the EO-PDMS-EO content on the swelling behavior, crosslinking density, hardness, thermal and surface properties of the synthesized PUs was investigated. The structure of the synthesized polyurethanes was confirmed by the presence of specific bands in Fourier transform infrared spectra. Swelling studies were carried out to determine the crosslinking density and polyurethane networks with lower EOPDMS- EO content revealed higher crosslinking density. The glass transition temperature of the synthesized PUs, determined by differential scanning calorimetry, slightly increased from 50 to 58°C by decreasing EO-PDMS-EO content as a consequence of higher crosslinking density of samples. The increase of EO-PDMS-EO content leads to the better thermal stability, as it was confirmed by the value of the starting temperature of thermal degradation. The surface of the polyurethane networks became more hydrophobic with increasing EO-PDMS-EO content. The surface morphology of synthesized polyurethanes was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy

TiO 2 nanoparticles, obtained by acid catalyzed hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide, were surface modified by three gallic acid esters with different hydrophobic part length: octyl, decyl and lauryl gallate, and then used to prepare TiO 2 /epoxy nanocomposites. The characterization of the surface modified TiO 2 nanoparticles was performed by FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The influence of different gallic acid esters and content of modified TiO 2 nanoparticles on the glass transition temperature (Tg), rheological, barrier and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites was investigated by DSC, DMA, water vapor permeability test and König pendulum. The presence of the surface modified TiO 2 nanoparticles in epoxy resin caused the increase of Tg and decrease of the water vapor permeability. However, the length of the nonpolar gallate part showed no effect on Tg of the synthesized nanocomposites, while the increase of the nanofiller content resulted in the increase of Tg. With increasing the hydrophobic part chain length of gallate ligand, the water vapor transmission rate decreased, while the hardness of the nanocomposites did not change.

IzvodSferne čestice TiO 2 različitih veličina dispergovane su u alkidnoj smoli. Površinska modifikacija nanočestica TiO 2 izvedena je propil galatom i lauril galatom. Ispitivan je uticaj veličine nanočestica TiO 2 , koncentracije, kao i vrste površinske modifikacije na reološka svojstva alkidne smole. Dobijeno je da je viskoznost pripremljenih disperzija veća od viskoznosti čiste smole, da raste sa smanjenjem prečnika čestica i opada sa povećanjem frekvencije. Površinski modifikovane čestice imaju veći uticaj na viskoznost alkidne smole nego nemodifikovane zbog povećanja efektivnog zapreminskog udela čestica u disperziji. Za najmanju koncentraciju TiO 2 viskoznost je veća kada je modifikacija izvršena lauril galatom, dok sa povećanjem koncentracije, zbog manje disperzione stabilnosti čestica modifikovanih propil galatom, dolazi do njihove aglomerizacije i naglog povećanja viskoznosti.

Incorporation of inorganic nanoparticles can significantly affect the properties of the polymer matrix. The properties of polymer nanocomposites depend on the type of incorporated nanoparticles, their size and shape, their concentration, and interactions with the polymer matrix. Homogeneity of polymer nanocomposites is influenced very much by the preparation method. In this study, TiO2 nanoparticles surface modified with 6-palmitate ascorbic acid (6-PAA) were incapsulated in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) by in situ radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The surface modification of the TiO2 nanoparticles was achieved by the formation of a charge transfer complex between TiO2 nanoparticles and 6-palmitate ascorbic acid. The radical polymerization of MMA in the presence of TiO2-PAA nanoparticles was conducted in solution (PMMA/TiO2-PAA-R), in bulk (PMMA/TiO2-PAA-M) or in suspension (PMMA/TiO2-PAA-S). The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the preparation method on the molar masses and thermal properties of PMMA/TiO2-PAA nanocomposite. It was obtained that molar masses of PMMA extracted from the composites had smaller values compared to molar masses of pure PMMA synthesized in the same manner, which indicated that TiO2-PAA nanoparticles affected the reaction of termination. Thermal properties were investigated by DSC and TGA. The values of glass transition temperature, Tg, were influenced by the way the radical polymerization was conducted, even in the case of the pure PMMA. The Tg of composite samples was always smaller than the value of the corresponding PMMA sample and the smallest value was obtained for PMMA/TiO2-PAA-M since they contained the largest amount of low molar mass residue. The TGA results showed that thermal and thermooxidative stability of polymer composites obtained in solution and in suspension was better than for the pure PMMA obtained in the same way

World packaging market achieves turnover of about $620 billion per year with one third of this amount being associated to packaging made from polymer materials. It is expected that this kind of packaging consumption will hold at least 3% of world packaging market share in the next five years and that it will surpass the consumption of all other materials used in the packaging production. This can be contributed to product quality, low production costs as well as significant investments made in the development of polymer materials, packaging technology and packaging. This paper presents some development directions for packaging made from polymer materials, such as: packaging in the protective atmosphere, the use of active and intelligent packaging, and the use of biopolymers and recycled polymers for packaging production that come into direct contact with the packed product