Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The use of petroleum-based plastics, composites, and aerogels (i.e., foams) has been increased globally, but these products have significant environmental footprints. To tackle this issue, the production of bioplastics, biocomposites, and bioaerogels has been studied in the past few years. Despite the progress, the properties (e.g., thermomechanical, water/gas barrier, and UV absorption) of the produced bioproducts do not meet the requirement of the industry, and hence there exists room for generating functional bioplastics, biocomposites, and bioaerogels with more acceptable properties. On the other hand, lignin, the byproduct of the pulping industry, can be produced at commercial scales in Canada. Despite its tremendous potential, lignin has not been utilized in high-value material productions. In applicant's research group, several research programs have been developed to valorize lignin in biomaterial generations. These programs include 1) the production of lignin-derived plastics for food wrapping applications, 2) the creation of lignin nano- and micro- particle-based composites, and 3) the development of lignin-based aerogels for food packaging and insulation applications. To meet the objectives of the stated programs, 17 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows (PDF)s are researching 1) the chemical modification of lignin to induce functionalized lignin derivatives, 2) the incorporation of lignin derivatives in plastic, composite, and aerogel formulas and 3) the assessment of physicochemical, surface, and structural properties and performance of the induced products. Despite the critical importance of the thermomechanical performance of such products, a thermomechanical analyzer is not available at Lakehead University, or in Thunder Bay, to assess the thermomechanical performance of the created products. Therefore, the research objectives of the developed programs cannot be met, and the graduate students/researchers will not have complete training on biomaterial development and characterization. A dynamic thermomechanical analyzer is an analytical instrument used for assessing the thermomechanical behavior of plastics and polymeric materials. It is capable of determining glass transition and melting points of polymeric materials, and mechanical properties, such as modulus, damping, creep, and stress relaxation, of plastics, composites, and aerogels. It is expected that, with the help of this instrument, the thermomechanical properties of lignin-based plastics, composites, and aerogels be determined and correlated with other properties of the induced biomaterials. Furthermore, the use of lignin-derived biomaterials will remarkably reduce the use of traditional oil-based polymeric materials and thus contribute to reducing their environmental footprints. The creation of value-added lignin-based materials will also help the overall financial profits of the pulping industry, which is one of the major contributors to GDP in Canada.