Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Nanotechnology research is receiving worldwide attention due to its potential for extraordinary applications in areas as diverse as advanced materials, information and communication technology, medicine, agriculture, etc. Nanotechnologies are the design, characterization, production and application of materials, structures, devices and systems by controlling their shape and size at the nanometer scale. Nanomaterials are categorized as those that have structured components with at least one dimension in the 1-100 nm range. Over the past two decades, two Nobel prizes were awarded to discoveries that are connected to nanotechnology (discovery of fullerene and graphene). This proposal is concerned with Carbon-based nanomaterials, especially the modelling of mechanical behaviour of graphene nanoribbons and carbon nanotube reinforced cement composites. Graphene has been identified as the wonder material of the 21st century, and laboratory demonstrations of revolutionary new materials and devices made out of graphene have been made in recent years. Three Ph.D. students will be trained in this project to advance the modelling of mechanical response of graphene using advanced numerical simulation tools. They will develop new software tools to model the behaviour of resonators made of single and few-layer graphene and study the interface behaviour and effective properties of carbon nanotubes reinforced cement materials. The findings of this project will be beneficial to Canadian advanced technology companies in information and communication technology, electronics, precision engineering and novel construction materials. The results will be disseminated through conference presentations, international research journals and interaction with potential industry users.