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The results of long-term studies of the collembolan population in the gradient of pollution of pine and spruce forests (middle taiga) in the zone of influence of pulp and paper industry (JSC Mondi SLPK, Komi Republic), the main pollutants of which are oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, mineral dust are given. The study was carried out in the period when the total amount of emissions was 20-30 thousand tons (2003, 2007-2009 years) and 10-15 years after their reduction by 2-3 times to 10 thousand tons (2018-2019 years). It was shown that after a decrease of emissions, the species richness of springtails significantly increases in the zones of strong and medium coniferous forests, but their number decreases in all zones, which may be associated with weather conditions. It was found that in pine forests, especially in the background plots, euedaphic species predominate, and the proportion of hemiedaphic and epiedaphic species increases in the zone of sting impact. At the same time, the spectrum of life forms, biotopic groups, the structure of the springtail population does not undergo significant changes over the course of 10 years. In spruce forests, on the contrary, differences were revealed in these parameters between years of research, which are expressed in a change in the dominance of species, their relative life forms and biotopic groups. The observed changes in the communities of springtails in spruce forests are apparently determined by changes in the ground cover. In general, there has been a significant improvement in the state of the collembola community of spruce forests in the zones of strong and medium imact from 2003 to 2019.

The analysis of the state of soil macrofauna during the period of reduction of emissions of pulp and paper production revealed changes in the structural parameters of invertebrate communities in the pine and spruce forests of the impact, buffer and background areas. The macrofauna of pine and spruce forests is characterized by a high degree of similarity and low diversity at the level of large taxa. It is a typical feature of coniferous forests in the middle taiga subzone. The species richness of invertebrate communities is estimated for the period from 2003 to 2019 years. It is comparable for the impact and buffer areas, and it is almost twice lower than for the background area. The total number of macrofauna, as well as taxonomic groups, varies by periods and areas of load. In 2007 and 2010, a change of dominant species was observed in the pine forests of the impact area. Lithobius curtipes C. L. Koch, 1847, Pella humeralis (Gravenhorst, 1802) predominated in the buffer and background area, and Philonthus rotundicollis (Menetries, 1832), Philonthus politus (Linnaeus, 1758) predominated in the impact area. In 2018, no changes of dominants were detected in pine forests, as in spruce forests (in 2006, 2010, 2019). Dendrobaena octaedra (Savigny, 1826) and L. curtipes were dominants in the impact, buffer and background area. The predominance of zoophages is typical for all the studied plots. The number of some taxa (Lumbricidae, Diplopoda, Elateridae) indicated an increase in the relative abundance of saprophages in the soils of coniferous forests at the impact area. The soils of background area, with high natural acidity, are unsuitable for activity of invertebrates. Due to the effect of neutralizing the acidity of the soil near the pulp and paper enterprise favorable conditions are created for them.

The analytical survey over the literature data and results of the studies carried out by the authors into the physicochemical characteristics and catalytic properties of highly dispersed massive polymetallic Ni-Mo-W and Ni-Mo catalysts, and carbide-containing Mo₂C/C catalysts of the core - shell type is presented. Catalytic carbon systems in which the active centres are functional oxygen-containing surface groups are also considered. It is shown that all the catalytic objects under consideration may be successfully synthesized by means of mechanochemical activation.

Generalizing analysis of the ecological aspects of the development and application of materials and chemical technologies promising for management of the Arctic zone and cold regions is carried out. The requirements to the Arctic materials and technologies both in their functionality and in relation to minimization of environmental impact are discussed. The problems related to the arrangement of Arctic raw material processing at mining sites are discussed.

Some questions related to applying liquid para-hydrogen in hydrogen energy are considered. The necessity to organize a business consortium for accelerated development of the technological basis for manufacture, storage and transportation of liquid para-hydrogen is discussed; the achievements of Boreskov Institute of Catalysis in the field of catalyst development and investigation of the process of ortho-para conversion of hydrogen are presented. According to low-waste technologies involving modern domestic materials, newly updated catalysts based on bulk iron oxide (BIC-5-1M) and on nickel oxide supported on the novel alumina support (BIC-5-4M) for ortho-para conversion of hydrogen were developed. Their catalytic activity was demonstrated to be comparable with the catalysts developed previously under the leadership of R. A. Buyanov, BIC-5-1 and BIC-5-4, which were applied in the industrial process of liquid para-hydrogen production. A technology of BIC-5-1M catalyst manufacturing was developed, and a pilot catalyst batch of 1 t was prepared for experimental-industrial trials.

The development of scientific directions initiated by R. A. Buyanov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, laid the foundations of the methods to synthesize catalytic nanocarbon materials. As a continuation of his ideas, the studies in the area of thermocatalytic synthesis of carbon-mineral supports were carried out at the Institute of Combustion Problems (Almaty, Kazakhstan). A review of the recent works on the formation of carbon nanotubes and nanocarbon sorbents is presented, the areas of their practical application are described. Results of the studies of the synthesis of carbon nanotubes on the catalysts obtained by means of solution combustion on glass cloth and the development of flexible heating elements on this basis are considered.

The major directions of applying polymer nanocomposite materials for the protection of the environment and humans are considered in the review. The potential of using highly porous materials and cross-linked hydrogels with incorporated nanoparticles for the purification of waste and natural waters from heavy metals, dyes, and antibiotics is demonstrated. Highly porous polymer materials with magnetic nanoparticles can be used as efficient sorbents for oil-spill cleanup from the surface of water bodies. Incorporation of anisotropic carbon and metal nanoparticles into highly porous polymer materials is a promising strategy for creating nanocomposite materials for electromagnetic radiation shielding.

The studies carried out by us during the recent years aimed at the use of three new families of porous metal-organic frameworks NIIC-10, NIIC-20 and NIIC-30 (NIIC - Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry) for the separation of industrially significant mixtures of hydrocarbons, in particular ethane and ethylene, benzene and cyclohexane, as well as the isomers of xylene, are evaluated.

A technology for producing hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from natural gas has been developed. The design of a pilot installation was developed and tested in the decomposition of natural gas using a series of CoO-MoO₃-Fe₂O₃-Al₂O₃ catalysts_. The optimal catalyst composition 30 % CoO-7 % MoO₃-25 % Fe₂O₃-Al₂O₃ was identified. This catalyst makes it possible to obtain 30 L of hydrogen and 12 g of carbon nanotubes from natural gas with 1 g of the catalyst at moderate temperatures (700-750 °C). It was demonstrated that the installation for natural gas processing could operate in a continuous mode with an additional catalyst supply. The concentration of hydrogen in the methane-hydrogen mixture at the reactor outlet reaches 80 vol. %.

The literature data and experimental results of the authors on the state of bismuth in the solutions of chloric and nitric acids, as well as on the synthesis of various bismuth compounds with the participation of polynuclear complexes, are systematized and summarized. It is shown that hydrolytic processing of bismuth-containing nitric solutions through bismuth precipitation at the process temperature of 65±5 °C and рН 0.7-1.0 in the form of compound [Bi6O4(OH)4](NO3)6 • H2O, followed by its transformation by means of washing with water into the compound [Bi6O5(OH)3](NO3)5 • 3H2O allows efficient separation of bismuth from impurity metals, which leads to a high-purity product with lead, silver and copper content less than 1 • 10-5 %. It is established that these compounds may be used as precursors to obtain high-purity compounds: basic bismuth carbonate, gallate, succinate, as well as medium bismuth nitrate, citrate, ditartrate trihydrate. It is stated that the complex [Bi6O4(OH)4]6+ is the initial cationic form for hydrolytic precipitation of bismuth from solutions; only the ratio of bridging oxo and hydroxo groups changes during hydrolysis, with the conservation of the Bi6O82+ core, which serves as the central structural unit. It is shown that the addition of sodium tribromophenolate to the bismuth-containing nitric solution results in the formation of bismuth oxohydroxotribromophenolate [Bi6O6(OH)2](C6H2Br3O)4. It is determined that bismuth precipitates from chloric and nitric solutions after the addition of even oxohydroxocarboxylates in the form of the compounds with the composition Bi6O4(OH)4(СnH2n + 1COOO)6 (n = 2-22), where (СnH2n + 1COOO)- is the carboxylic acid anion. Bismuth precipitation from nitric solutions in the form of laurate and stearate allows efficient purification of bismuth from impurity metals. A comparison of bismuth extraction with di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid from nitric solutions in the form of solvated complex Bi(C16H34O2POO)3 • 2C16H34O2POOH and oxohydroxodialkylphosphate Bi6O4(OH)4(C16H34O2POO)6 is carried out. In the latter case, extracts concentrated with respect to bismuth can be obtained, which provides substantial broadening of the possibilities to use extraction-based processes in the technology of obtaining bismuth compounds.