Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are a potential matrix for doping and obtaining biocompatible, multifunctional and environmentally friendly pigments that can be used in the cosmetics industry (lipsticks, blush, shadows, powders, concealers, sunscreens, etc.). To date, there is no doubt that the features of the interaction of inorganic pigments with light (and, ultimately, their color parameters) are due to their band structure, which depends on the nature of the material, the size and shape of its constituent particles, the nature and concentration of the dopant. Regulation of these parameters will allow to obtain pigments with desired characteristics; the project is aimed to establish this dependency. To control the size and shape of doped nanoparticles, it is promising to use the oriented attachment process, which is a nonclassical mechanism for the formation of nanoparticles based on the processes of self-organization of primary blocks (the structure of which can be established) and their subsequent coalescence under hydrothermal conditions. Despite its active study in recent years, the potential of this method to obtain objects with a given size and shape remains fully unexplored, especially for hydroxyapatite. The goals of the project include a thorough study of the patterns of formation of nanoparticles by this mechanism, which will make it possible to purposefully use it in the future in the production of nanomaterials. The project is aimed at developing a methodology for controlling the process of self-assembly of nanoparticles (the mechanism of oriented attachment) under hydrothermal conditions in order to obtain doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with the necessary coloristic and physicochemical characteristics, allowing them to be used as multifunctional pigments. As dopants, iron ions in oxidation state 2 and 3 and chromium in oxidation state 3 will be used as the most biocompatible dopants, which at the same time make it possible to obtain two main palettes for eco-cosmetics — yellow-red and green.

The project is aimed at developing an approach to the synthesis of highly efficient photocatalysts based on tin dioxide nanoparticles, in particular, for wastewater treatment from various organic pollutants. For the synthesis of nanoparticles under hydrothermal conditions, the process of oriented attachment of primary blocks with different structural parameters and surface composition obtained by the precipitation method will be initiated. As a result, nanoparticles will be obtained that differ in their morphological and structural parameters, have a different number of defects, including oxygen vacancies, and, as a result, have different photocatalytic activity. The obtained nanoparticles will be characterized by a wide range of physicochemical methods, and their photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of organic dyes and antibiotics will be studied. The scientific problem to be solved within the presented project is related to the study of the key factors of the oriented attachment process, the development of algorithms for obtaining nanoparticles with desired morphological and structural properties, and the identification of the relationship between the photocatalytic activity of nanoparticles against pollutants of various nature and the features of their structure. The relevance of the project is related to the need to create domestic systems for efficient wastewater treatment from organic compounds, such as dyes and antibiotics. The scientific novelty of the proposed project lies in the possibility of controlling the parameters, including the number of defects and oxygen vacancies, of tin dioxide nanoparticles during their growth by the mechanism of oriented attachment, as well as in a thorough study of the relationship between the parameters and properties of nanoparticles, which will allow us to look from a new point of view on already existing nanomaterials and open up opportunities for improving their properties.

The project is aimed to develop approaches for obtaining of magnetic core-shell nanoparticles and nanomaterials based on them, using among the others theoretical research methods and computer modeling. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the proposed idea – production of magnetic materials by oriented attachment of individual core-shell nanoparticles to each other. Varying the thickness and other properties of the shell, as well as varying the conditions under which oriented attachment occurs, in the long run opens the way to obtaining a large variety of materials with controlled magnetic properties. The scientific significance and relevance of the project lies in the development of new approaches to the production of nanoparticles and materials with specified magnetic properties and the development of a description of the mechanisms for the formation of nanoparticles and materials by means of computer modeling to predict their properties. During the implementation of the project, new contrast agents for MRI will be obtained, and the possibility of creating materials for magnetic recording using the described approach will be studied. The project will consider magnetite nanoparticles of the different size and shape, covered with a shell of different thickness and degree of crystallinity from zinc oxide and the nanomaterials based on it. The developed approaches can be extended to cores and shells of other sizes and nature. The scientific novelty lies in the previously not proposed idea of obtaining magnetic nanomaterials and the complexity of the approach to the solution using a chemical and computational experiment.

Nowadays lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used, because they demonstrate the highest values of specific capacity and energy, and also have a long lifetime. To improve battery properties, new types of electrode materials are being developed to increase capacity and service life while maintaining market value. At the moment, graphite is used as an anode for LIBs, but its capacity (372 mAh/g) is moderate and, in addition, a noticeable decrease is observed during long-term cycling. Thus, it is an important task to develop new types of anode materials with high gravimetric capacity as well as improved stability during cycling process. Among promising environmentally friendly, unexpensive materials, zinc ferrite ZnFe2O4 can be distinguished due to such unique properties as chemical and thermal stability and reduced toxicity of zinc compared to other metals. ZnFe2O4 belongs to the anode materials with the so-called hybrid mechanism, that is, after the main conversion reaction, the reaction between lithium and zinc proceeds to form an alloy. In this case, up to 9 electrons are transferred during the overall electrochemical process, resulting in a high theoretical capacity (up to 1000 mAh/g). The anode material with so high capacity will significantly reduce the mass of the final battery while maintaining its characteristics. However, ferrite-based electrode materials are not commercially available due to a number of problems with ZnFe2O4, including a rapid capacity` drop and low efficiency at high currents due to low conductivity, significant agglomeration, and large volume changes during lithiation/delithiation. This project aims to overcome the poor performance of existing anode materials based on ZnFe2O4 for lithium-ion batteries. It is assumed that the conductivity of the crystal structure of ZnFe2O4 with oxygen vacancies will increase, and it can be assumed that the electrochemical performance of the material based on such a structure will become higher. Therefore, during the project realization, it is planned for the first time to establish the effect of oxygen vacancies and other defects in the structure of ZnFe2O4 on the electrochemical properties (specific capacity, power, stability during charge-discharge) in LIBs.

Bioactive compounds are abundantly found in fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses, roots and other plant sources. Epidemiological and clinical investigations proved that certain bioactive compounds are natural antioxidants, which have numerous health benefits and anti-disease activities for the prevention and/or treatment of urinary tract infections, cardiovascular, coronary heart, metabolic and degenerative diseases, stomach ulcers and several forms of cancers, as well as dental diseases. However, natural bioactive compounds are chemically unstable and susceptible to oxidative degradation, particularly when exposed to oxygen, light, moisture, and heat. The oxidative degradation may deteriorate phenolic compounds leading to the generation of free radicals and development of unpleasant tastes and off-odors in the fortified product, and subsequently may result in a negative effect on shelf stability, sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of the product. Furthermore, the application of pure bioactive compounds (e.g. phenolics) is very limited in biological formulations due to their some particular features, i.e. fast release, low solubility, poor bioavailability, as well as easily deterioration in the presence of environmental stresses. Therefore, in order to preserve the quality of bioactive compounds, or to enhance their applicability to food, nutraceutical or biological formulations, encapsulation is considered as a feasible alternative. Borage (Borago officinalis L.) is a herbaceous plant of the Boraginaceae family native to North Africa and widely spread in many Mediterranean countries. In Iran, this plant is used not only for preparing beverages but also for different medicinal purposes. For this compound, the issue of isolation of bioactive compounds and their use with preservation of biological activity is very acute. Therefore, the aim of this work is to create a new type of beads and microcapsules for oral administration of natural antioxidant and phenolic compound isolated from Borago Officinalis with improved release profiles.

The project aims to solve a fundamental problem – building a description of nanoparticle growth processes and identifying the main factors influencing their size and morphology. The project tasks include conducting chemical experiments to obtain tin dioxide nanoparticles by the hydrothermal method; characterization of the obtained particles (size, shape, structure), investigation of their optical and photocatalytic properties; establishing the relationship between particle properties and synthesis conditions; development of stochastic description methods for nanoparticle growth processes based on the mechanism of oriented attachment; development of models describing nanoparticle interaction in solution; modeling nanoparticle growth processes under conditions selected for chemical experiments; comparing the results of numerical and chemical experiments; verification of the developed models. The relevance of the project is associated with the development of approaches to predicting synthesis conditions necessary for obtaining nanoparticles with specified properties and with the study of nanoparticle synthesis processes possessing photocatalytic activity, which can be used for decomposing cyclic organic compounds in wastewater treatment.

The project aims to solve a fundamental and simultaneously applied problem of creating multifunctional biomaterials, without which the transition to personalized medicine (in vivo and in vitro diagnostics, as well as targeted therapy) is impossible. The relevance of solving the problem of obtaining such materials is due to the need to create inexpensive and effective analogs of the new types of imported drugs currently being developed. This project proposes to solve a particular but quite labor-intensive task within the framework of the proposed approach – to develop fundamentally new algorithms for creating core-shell nanoparticles, where the magnetic core determines the main functionality, and the shell—additional functionality, as well as to study the ways of obtaining this functionality and the possibilities of its prediction.