Esterification reactions of some polyols and diols were investigated in the presence of SnO2 and nano-SnO2 and the results were compared with the catalyst-free conditions. High conversions were obtained for most of the reactions in the presence of SnO2 and nano-SnO2 which shows the high catalytic activity of SnO2 and nano-SnO2 for the esterification reaction. Low cost of the catalysts compared to alkyl tins, high safety compared to protic acids such as sulfuric acid and high chemical and thermal stability of the catalysts make the reactions interesting for the large-scale production of various polyol esters. Due to the important role of the polyol esters in various industries especially in the lubricant industry, the introduced approach can be interesting.

Plant-based bio-lubricant is crucial to be developed and adopted by many industries. This is due to the presence of toxicity risk, climate change, energy security as well green-environmental approach issues. The utilization of palm oil processing industries' by-product, palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD-based bio-lubricants is one way of a green environment approach. A synthesis of polyol esters based on PFAD for bio-lubricants was carried out. The esterification of PFAD with high-degree polyhydric alcohols trimethylolpropane (TMP), di-trimethylopropane (di-TMP), pentaerythritol (PE), and di-pentaerythritol (Di-PE) in the presence of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) catalyst have been performed. The optimization of the esterification reaction process was evaluated using a D-optimal design based on three reaction parameters; H2SO4 concentration (%) for the catalyst, esterification time (h), and esterification temperature (°C). The chemical structure of the synthesized polyol esters was characterized and confirmed by using FT-IR and NMR (1H and 13C) spectroscopies. The results showed that PFAD-based polyesters of PFAD-TMP ester successfully produced high yields of 93% compared to others. The synthesized PFAD-based polyesters showed good lubrication properties with high viscosity indices in the range of 141-187, pour points (-5 to 5 ºC), flash points (230-360 ºC), and oxidative stability temperature (188-301 °C), respectively. The ester functional group present in the chemical structure of PFAD-based polyesters showed a positive impact on the lubrication properties. The study indicated that PFAD-based polyesters are plausible to be used in industrial bio-lubricant applications.

Esterification and transesterification reactions usually carry out in hydrocarbon solvents, such as toluene. Homogeneous acid catalysts such as, sulfuric acid, methane sulfonic acid, and p-toluene sulfonic acid are the most conventional catalysts for this purpose. Application of these catalysts causes some difficulties such as corrosion, and environment probleA most effective and less energy demanding method of producing fatty esters, polyol esters , by esterifying fatty acids, with a pentaerythritol and trimethylolpropan alcohols in the presence of an acid Catalyst at elevated temperature wherein an azeotroping agent , particularly toluene, is used to facilitate continuous removal of water by distillation, formed as a by-product during the esterification reaction.The esterification reaction is completed within 5 hours, pentaerythritol and trimethylolpropan esters was produced .ms

In recent years، waterborne polyurethanes as in coatings and adhesives formulations have attracted considerable attention because they are non-toxic، non-flammable and friendly to environment. Besides environmental management، the flexibility، low temperature property، high tensile strength، good adhesion and improved rheological property are specific properties of waterborne polyurethanes. Also low production cost of water borne polyurethanes over solvent-borne polyurethanes is also a reason for their applications. However، these materials have some defects such as weak water resistance and low adhesion in the moisture environment due to sensitivity of their hydrophilic ionic bonds، ether groups، urethane and ester groups to hydrolysis which need to be improved. Also، low heat resistance of these materials is due to a relatively low crystalline melting point or glass transition temperature of hard segments. One of the ways to solve this problem and improve its properties for different applications is the addition of inorganic fillers especially nano-sized layered silicates within polyurethane matrix. In this way water resistance، heat resistance، mechanical properties and modulus increase simultaneously. In this research، waterborne polyurethane nanocomposites with PTMG polyol، IPDI، DMPA (internal emulsifier)، TEA (neutralizer) and 1، 3 and 5weight % of Cloisite 30B as reinforcement were synthesized and characterized. Polarity of the samples was investigated by contact angle test and dispersion of nano particles in the samples was characterized by X-Ray and TEM، Thermal properties and dynamic mechanical properties were measured by TGA and DMTA، respectively. The results showed that incorporation of clay into polyurethanes did reduce water absorption and increased heat resistance، modulus، particle size and contact angle. In recent years، waterborne polyurethanes including coatings and adhesives have attracted considerable attention because they are non-toxic، non-flammable and friendly to environment. Besides environmental management، flexibility، low temperature property، high tensile strength good adhesion and improved rheological property are specific evidence of waterborne polyurethanes. Also low production cost of water borne polyurethane over solvent-borne polyurethanes is also a reason for their applications. However، these materials have some defects such as weak water resistance and low adhesion in the moisture environment due to sensitivity of their hydrophilic ioned bonds، ether groups، urethane groups and ester groups to hydrolysis which are needed to be improved. Also، low heat resistance of these materials is due to relatively low crystalline melting point or glass transition temperature of hard segments. One of the ways to solve this problem and improve its properties for different application is the addition of inorganic fillers especially nanosized layered silicates within polyurethane matrix. In this way water resistance، heat resistance، mechanical properties and modulus increase. In this research، waterborne polyurethane nanocomposites with PTMG polyol، IPDI، DMPA (internal emulsifier)، TEA (neutralizer) and 1، 3 and 5weight % of cloisite 30B as reinforcement were synthesized and characterized. Polarity of the samples was investigated by Contact angle test، dispersion of nano particles in the samples were characterized by X-Ray and TEM، Thermal properties and dynamic mechanical properties were measured by TGA and DMTA respectively. Results showed that incorporation of clay into polyurethane samples caused the reduction of water absorption، increasing of heat resistance، modulus، particle size and contact angle.

Ethylene Carbonate (EC) was selected as a new solvent in order to establish a rapid liquefaction technique converting lignocellulosic waste into useful chemicals. Beechwood sawdust was liquefied by using Ethylene Carbonate (EC) as a solvent and sulfuric acid as a catalyst at high temperatures (110-160°C) and at three times (20, 40, 60 minutes) for the preparation of suitable polyol. After the liquefaction process at different temperatures and times and investigation of characterization of hydroxyl number, acid number, and yield of polyol were seen that the temperature of 130°C was an appropriate temperature for the production of polyol. Then in order to determine the appropriate time for producing the polyol at this temperature, the liquefaction process was continued at different times (40, 60, 90, 120, and 180 min) which as a result 120 minutes being selected as an appropriate time for the preparation of polyol. Also, the results showed that with increasing the temperature and time of liquefaction, the acid number and yield, and viscosity were increased, but hydroxyl number was reduced. The FTIR spectroscopy analysis showed the existence of the hydroxyl groups (OH) in the liquefied Beech sawdust (polyol) and confirmed that wood sawdust is a source of bio polyols. Also, it can be concluded that bio polyol is suitable for the preparation of polymeric products, including polyurethane adhesive. Statistical analysis showed that variation of hydroxyl and acid number, yield, and viscosity have a significant difference with increasing at temperature and time.

The properties of polyurethanes strongly depend on the microstructure, functionality, and molecular weight of their initial polyol used. Therefore, in this work, microstructure of polybutadiene-ol, a pre-polymer used for producing special purpose polyurethanes was determined by two analytical methods, namely, FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. In the FTIR method, after obtaining εi (molar absorption in each wavelength) of a specified polyol, the microstructure (trans, vinyl and cis content) of prepolymer was measured by analyzing IR absorption bands in 966 cm-1, 912 cm-1, and 725 cm-1 due to trans,1,2-vinyl and cis configurations, respectively. In the 1H NMR spectra of polyols, microstructure was determined using the ratio of peak areas of various protons (alkylic, olefinic and methylenic) as well as signals at 2.5-4.5 ppm which indicate the position of hydroxyl groups in the back-bone of the polyol. Determination by NMR spectroscopy is an easier method and the information obtained on microstructure of the polyol is more precise than the FTIR method. Finally we established an equation to convert values obtained by FTIR to NMR.

Ru/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by conventional incipient wetness impregnation as well as colloid deposition of RuCl3 precursor via in situ reduction with ethylene glycol (polyol) method on alumina support. The samples were characterized by TEM, XRD and TPR techniques. The catalytic performance tests were carried out in a fixed-bed micro-reactor under different operating conditions. Ethylene glycol as the reducing agent in the polyol methodproduced well-dispersed and uniform ruthenium nanoparticles with an average diameter of 7 nm supported on Al2O3. In conventional method, however, reduction by hydrogen resulted in considerably larger particles with average size of 12 nm.The Ru/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by polyol method exhibited three-fold higher activity in ammonia synthesis compared to the catalyst prepared by conventional method. The turnover frequency ratio of ammonia synthesis of polyol to conventional catalyst was estimated to be 2.1 at 450°C implying the reaction is structure-sensitive over Ru-based catalysts.

Rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) with desirable properties such as low thermal conductivity, easy production and processing is extensively used in the industrial applications. Currently, the PU industry is heavily petroleum-dependent, because its two major feedstocks, i.e. polyols and isocyanates, are largely petroleum-derived. Due to concerns over the depletion of fossil resources, pollution, there has been a great deal of interest in developing bio-based polyols from renewable resources. Lignocellulosic biomass is considered to be suitable for production of bio-based polyols, having hydroxyl group rich compounds. In bio-refining processes, the lignocellulosic macromolecular are broken down and converted into a viscous liquid using certain solvents. The use of high volumes of liquefaction solvents increases the production cost of bio-polyols. This has led to research on low cost and renewable solvents such as crude glycerol. In this research crude glycerol was used as solvent for liquefaction of sawdust and polyol production. The influence of process variables such as reaction temperature and time on polyol properties, namely biomass conversion ratio, acid number, hydroxyl number and viscosity were measured according to the certain standards. With increasing liquefaction temperature, increased production efficiency and viscosity and acid, hydroxyl number of polyols decreased. Finally, polyol of liquefaction at 180 and 360 min with production efficiency of 51%, acid, hydroxyl number and viscosity of 9/7, 325 mgKOH/g and 18 Pa,s was determinate as optimum polyol.

In this study, null and one-dimensional nanoparticles and nanostructures of Ag and Ag-Cu were synthesized using polyol method. In order to prepare different nanostructures with the same synthesis route, thermodynamics and kinetic conditions of the system were manipulated. In the thermodynamics approach, the nanostructures with the minimum surface energy were obtained as the final product, while in kinetic approach, the nanostructures with the lower activation energy were formed. By using these appraoches, Ag and Ag-Cu spherical and cubical nanostructures were produced in the size range of 90-100 nm. Also, by manipulating the kinetic conditions of the system, silver nanowires with the diameters in the range of 100-200 nm and the length of several microns were obtained successfully. The effect of Cu ions (Cu2) on aspect ratio of the synthesized silver nanowires by polyol method was evaluated.

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are considered as one-dimensional nanostructures, which have received much attention due to their nanoscale size, high aspect ratio, high electrical and thermal conductivity, optical transparency and high mechanical stability. Preparation of AgNWs by polyol process is remarkably sensitive to the interactions between synthesis parameters. In this study, the effect of the simultaneous change of four synthetic parameters, namely the reaction temperature, the molecular weight of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) stabilizer, the amount of sodium chloride, as well as, the solution mixing rate by the polyol process was reported. The results of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the synthesized AgNWs were below 100 nm. X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, as well as, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed that the formed AgNWs were free of impurities. It was also found that temperature, molecular weight of PVP, salt concentration and solution mixing rate caused a significant change in the morphology of AgNWs. More importantly, a strong interaction was created in the preparation process of AgNWs by adjusting the parameters.