The KazNU Laboratory of Chemistry and Chemical Technology has developed technologies for growing expensive artificial crystals

The Laboratory of Chemistry and chemical technology was presented to representatives of science and business at the forum "Integration of Science, Business and Production", organized by Al-Farabi Kazakh National University together with the Akimat of Almaty. The products and research works of the Farabi Chem Science cluster and the Chemical Coatings Innovations Research and Production center were presented to the visitors.

The purpose of the Farabi Chem Science cluster, which includes 9 scientific laboratories, is to conduct research and develop new solutions in the field of ecology, energy sources, medicinal chemistry, petrochemistry and energy-intensive materials science. These scientific laboratories provide extensive opportunities for the identification and analysis of environmental pollutants, the development of new materials for chemical power sources, in-depth research in the field of petrochemistry, the development of optimal methods for obtaining domestic biomedical products and antibacterial protective coatings.

As well as the creation of refractory coatings for metal and wooden structures, the study of new types of inorganic materials with special properties, and the provision of services for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of substances and materials. Favorable conditions have been created here for the free activity of scientists, as well as laboratories equipped with the latest equipment. The cost of new equipment purchased as part of the implementation of grant and program-specific financing projects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sponsorship grants is 1 billion tenge.

These laboratories have developed technologies for growing expensive artificial crystals based on lithium triborate (LBO), which are in demand in such advanced industries as optics and electronics. New materials have been developed for sodium-ion and magnesium-ion batteries, promising replacements for traditional lithium-ion batteries. New catalysts for hydrogenation of nitrile butadiene rubber have been developed jointly with the German company Lanxess, the Russian company Sibur and the Polish company Synthos.

A complex of electrochemical technologies has been developed to create coatings for various purposes – anticorrosive, decorative, wear-resistant, heat-resistant and others, which are produced in the newly opened electroplating workshop of the university according to international standards. Technologies for the production of polymer composites, which are stronger than natural stone in strength and have found wide application in construction and industry, have also been successfully developed and brought to commercial implementation. In the field of medicine, teachers and professors are proud to create dozens of medicines, both of synthetic origin and based on plant raw materials from Kazakhstan, including innovative masks and bandages based on polymer hydrogels for the effective treatment of wounds and burns.

Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University