Dr Eng. Andrzej Dzienia from the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Silesia took first place in the competition for the best doctoral dissertation defended in 2020 in the Raw Materials, Energy and Environment category organized by VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

The aim of the laureate’s doctoral dissertation was to verify the research hypothesis that the use of the activation method based on high pressure may allow finding completely new, ecological and developmental methods of polymerization of lactones and epoxy resins.

The first of the tested systems was polycaprolactone (PCL), which is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, a model representative of the group of aliphatic polyesters. The second was epoxy resins based on Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether. They are valued in many industries for the desired mechanical, physicochemical and thermal properties as well as remarkable resistance to external factors.