Eduardo Vivaldo‐Lima

The syntheses of net ‐poly((2‐hydroxyethylene methacrylate)‐ co ‐(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)), abbreviated as net ‐poly(HEMA‐ co ‐EGDMA), by conventional (FRP) and reversible addition‐ fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical copolymerizations using supercritical carbon dioxide as green solvent at different pressures are reported. The effect of pressure on the characteristics of the produced polymer networks is emphasized. A comparison between the two synthetic routes (FRP vs. RAFT) in terms of measurements of swelling index, scanning electron microscopy including determination of particle size distributions, modular differential scanning calorimetry to obtain glass transition temperatures, and thermogravimetric analyses in their differential form is presented. Not only were the differences in the characteristics of the obtained polymer networks explained, but the mechanism of particle formation and the final morphologies of the samples were also elucidated.

The teaching of chemical engineering in Mexico started in 1925 at what is today the Faculty of Chemistry (FQ) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). This contribution provides a historical perspective of the evolution of chemical engineering at FQ‐UNAM, covering teaching, research at undergraduate and graduate levels, educational and technological innovations, its influence in the creation of many of the present chemical engineering schools and universities in Mexico, and the role of FQ‐UNAM's area (department) of chemical engineering in the chemical industry of Mexico. FQ‐UNAM's department of chemical engineering keeps active in core and frontier research areas in chemical engineering, including reaction engineering and catalysis, polymer reaction engineering, transport phenomena, sustainable engineering, product and process engineering, process intensification, and biorefining processes, among others.

One hundred years after the beginning of the teaching of Chemical Engineering in Mexico, which started in 1925 in the former National School of Chemical Sciences, currently Faculty of Chemistry (FQ) at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), it is fair to narrate the beginnings of polymer science, engineering, and industry in Mexico, and acknowledge their strong ties with this career at FQ‐UNAM. From the first Chemical Engineering undergraduate theses related to the development of pilot plants for phenolic resins, the production of polymers from different biomasses, and the manufacture of vulcanized rubber to the most current work on biopolymers, composites and functional materials, sensors, pollution from microplastics, and simulation studies with a polymer reaction engineering perspective, this discipline has evolved enormously. Everything started at FQ‐UNAM and later expanded to other educational, research, and industrial centres, to give way to an industry that in Mexico represents around 3.1% of the manufacturing GDP and 0.5% of the national GDP. Thus, this contribution provides a historical view of the first works and groups which determined the focus of the present industries and shaped the trends for the future.