Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

One of the major challenges hindering the reuse of recycled plastic in new products is the difficulty in removing impurities and contaminants, especially in the case of post-consumer waste streams. We use a wide variety of polymers in consumer products, and as a result the collected waste streams tend to be composed of many different polymers with very different properties. The inclusion of unwanted polymers during the recycling process can lead to defects, voids and phase separation in the recycled resin, which often negatively impacts thermal and mechanical properties, which limits these resins to low-value applications. The proposed research will explore new approaches to address this issue. The long-term goal of this proposal is to establish an interdisciplinary research program that specializes in the development and characterization of sustainable polymer materials. The core theme of the research program will be the controlled development of nanostructured morphology as a means to control material properties and functionality. Three short term objectives are outlined in the proposal: upcycling of polymer waste through flow-induced nanostructuring; design of recyclable self-reinforced polymer nanocomposites; and fabrication of sustainable polymer foams using supercritical foaming. The research is intended to provide new avenues for the recycling and diversion of polymer waste from landfills by transforming it into nanostructured composite materials with desirable and tailorable properties, and to investigate nanostructuring approaches to produce recyclable and compostable composite materials. The proposed research will support three highly qualified personnel (HQP), including two PhD students and one MASc student. These students will be trained on specialized techniques for the engineering of nanostructured polymer materials, as well as in the characterization of those materials. Melt extrusion processes will be employed as the core mechanism for transforming plastic waste and sustainable polymers into nanocomposite materials. In particular, we will focus on the use of in situ nanofibrillation, reactive extrusion, and supercritical foaming processes as means to controllably generate nanostructured morphologies and tailor material properties and functionality. The selected approaches have been previously employed by the applicant to produce new functional materials, and will provide a strong platform for innovative research with clear societal benefits.