Lviv Polytechnic has successfully completed the project «Development of hydrogel composition for insulating fire resistant glass and its manufacturing technology», which received grant support from the National Research Foundation of Ukraine within the framework of the call «Science for the Recovery of Ukraine in the War and Postwar Periods» in 2023–2024.
The project was led by Serhii Varvarenko, Professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry, the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies, and Senior Researcher Nataliia Nosova who was responsible for the project execution. The project was carried out by a team of experienced and young scientists, including Professor Volodymyr Samaryk, research assistants Nataliia Bukartyk and Zoriana Nadashkevych, Associate Professor Semen Khomiak, assistant Anna Stasiuk, postgraduate students Olha Maikovych, Olha Poliak, Solomiia Kapatsila, engineers Olena Bordeniuk and Anatolii Yartys, and students Oleksandra Cherevatenko and Diana Varchuk. Olena Lukachuk, Associate Professor and researcher, provided information and marketing support for the project.
According to the results of the project:
- a technology for the production of a composition for filling insulating glass units with fire-resistant properties was developed;
- a test bench for testing insulating glass units for thermal resistance was manufactured;
- a laboratory methodology for determining the integral fire resistance of compositions in the finished product (a 250×250 mm insulating glass unit) was developed;
- the developed composition was tested as part of a double-glazed unit and the fire resistance class was determined depending on the thickness of the hydrogel layer;
- 40 kg of the hydrogel composition was handed over for testing to a Ukrainian company specialising in the production and processing of glass products.
Successful laboratory tests, negotiations with the owners of companies engaged in the glass manufacturing process and an assessment of the advantages of innovative products over existing analogues show that this technology can be introduced into mass production, so the team is open to cooperation and the search for a potential investor.
The team is grateful to the staff of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, especially the project curator Maryna Trubina, Chief Specialist at the Department of Grants in the field of Biology, Health and Bioresources of the Grants Management Department, for the endurance, patience, professional advice and 24/7 support.
Also, many thanks to the management of Lviv Polytechnic National University, the Research and Development Department, the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies, and the Department of Organic Chemistry for their assistance and support in the implementation of this project!
Together to Victory!
