Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Polymers and multifunctional polymer composites (a mixture of polymers and functional fillers) are rapidly substituting metals and ceramics in different industries due to their lightweight, low cost, easy processability, corrosion resistance, and improved design options. These properties have made polymeric materials an attractive base material in a myriad of scientific research fields as well as industrial applications, such as energy, electronics, defence, automotive, aerospace, construction, among others. Twin-screw extruder is a key piece of equipment in the polymer industry to process polymers and polymer composites and render them the desired shape. The Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia (UBCO) has the privilege of possessing a state-of-the-art twin-screw extruder to melt mix a broad spectrum of polymers and functional fillers towards the development of multifunctional polymer composites. This setup is unique across both UBC campuses and deemed to function as horsepower to satisfy the needs of academia and industry in the area of polymer and polymer composites in the province of BC. However, the equipment still lacks (1) feeders in order to have a controlled mixing of functional fillers and polymers at pre-set ratios in continuous mode and (2) a laser micrometer to continuously monitor the diameter of generated polymer and polymer composite filaments. This research proposal aims to secure funding to purchase these missing parts, so the setup can render fine products meeting the needs of academia and advanced industries across BC and Canada. Currently, due to the absence of feeders, our HQP adds polymers and fillers to the extruder using inaccurate bulk premixing and insertion, resulting in unreliable (non-repeatable) final products and research data. As such, two feeders are required (one for the polymer and one for the functional filler) to develop polymer composites at precise filler loadings in continuous mode. Furthermore, the laser micrometer is essential to monitor the consistency of filaments' diameter in continuous mode, thereby generating high-quality homogeneous filaments and pellets. The requested feeders and laser micrometer will be placed beside and linked to the existing extruder setup in the newly established Clean Tech Hub at UBCO, called Innovation Precinct (IP1) building. Primarily, the extruder will support the team of applicants (Drs. Arjmand, Rojas, Jiang, Abdin, and Zarifi) from both UBC campuses, who are in urgent need of this equipment daily. At the same time, the equipment is expected to bring many opportunities for other collaborating faculty members across UBC in other materials- and manufacturing-related research projects, especially for colleagues from BioProducts Institute (BPI), Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (AMM) Research Cluster, and Composites Research Network.