On the Day of Russian Science, a new Molecular Engineering and Smart Materials Laboratory was opened at KNRTU, with advanced equipment for studying the structure of molecules and constructing new materials based on them. This educational and research complex is a result of the university's participation in the Priority 2030 Federal Program.

Instead of the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, there was a chemical experiment: each of the participants added a reagent to the flask, and when all the elements were included, the color of the liquid changed from red to bright green, which indicated the start of the work.

The laboratory has a range of infrared (IF) and ultraviolet (UV) spectrometers, a spectrofluorometer, an atomic force microscope, luminescence microscopes, dispersion study instruments, and other scientific equipment that is used in a wide variety of fields, from petrochemistry to medicine.

“Such equipment is used for world-class research, the results of which are published in scientific journals in the field of chemistry Q1 and Q2,” explained professor Yuriy Galyametdinov, Head of the Department of Physical and Colloid Chemistry.

As part of the Priority 2030 program, another device, an nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometer, will soon be purchased, which will allow to study new contrast reagents for tomography and to examine food and oil products.

The research perspectives that will be conducted in the laboratory are related to the creation of new highly organized systems based on polymers, liquid crystals, surface-active agents, and quantum dots for use in molecular engineering and biomedicine. In addition to that, the scientists, PhD student and Master's degree students in Molecular Engineering and Smart Materials will conduct their own research.

According to Yury Kazakov, Acting Rector of KNRTU, it is essential that all the equipment will be actively used: “It has a great applied value. The fact that two employees of the department, on the basis of which this laboratory was opened, professor Natalia Selivanova and associate professor Artem Bezrukov have just became the winners of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation grant means that our scientific staff is highly trained,” said the Head of the University.