STTR Phase I: Light-Weight Bio-Based Nano-Enhanced SMC Formulations

这个小型企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目将利用一个拥有独特经验和多学科人员的多组织团队，以展示部分基于生物的、密度较低、性能和成本相似的新型板材模塑化合物(SMC)家族的可行性。红麻天然纤维将与玻璃纤维混合，并与商业上可获得的豆油树脂和精选的纳米材料相结合，以生产新的SMC配方，并进行实验验证。创新包括1)解决天然纤维复合材料吸湿性和强度保持性等已知问题的化学方法，以及2)能够使用标准纤维加工机和现有SMC制造设备的纤维加工方法。新的更轻的SMC将在非公路农业设备、汽车后备箱地板、轮井和其他目前使用金属或更重的SMC的非表面关键部件中得到初步应用。目前生产SMC和/或SMC组件的多家公司将通过新成立的SMC联盟国家综合中心(NCC)获得新材料技术的许可。开发团队、创新材料组合和加工方法经过精心挑选，一旦证明新技术能够迅速商业化，创新材料和材料组合有潜力提供具有成本效益的工程材料系统，显著减轻汽车结构的重量，从而提高汽车的燃油经济性。此外，完全或部分使用基于生物的可再生材料将减少石油产品的消耗和依赖。该项目令人兴奋的“绿色”方面将有助于NCC的教育使命，因为学生们对环境问题和利用可再生资源创造可持续环境有着极大的兴趣。NCC的合作教育计划可用于支持拟议的工作。积极的研发成果可以作为通过NCC的多源视频和视频会议中心与高中建立会议的基础。作为这一努力的牵头机构，NSF对这一项目的资助也将支持布什总统的美国竞争力倡议，该倡议的目标是“增加对研究和开发的投资，加强教育，鼓励创业”，并使美国“保持科学技术的领先地位”。这项研究提案的一个重点是开发技术，使美国能够以具有成本效益的方式制造材料和零部件；从而支持其他“美国制造”式的联邦倡议。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project shall utilize a multi-organizational team with uniquely experienced and multi-disciplinary personnel to demonstrate the feasibility of a new family of innovative sheet molding compounds (SMCs) that are partially bio-based and have lower density while having similar performance and cost. Kenaf natural fiber will be blended with glass fiber and combined with commercially available soy-oil based resin and select nano-materials to produce new SMC formulations that will be manufactured and validated experimentally. Innovations include 1) chemistry approaches to address the known problems of moisture absorption and strength retention in natural fiber composites and 2) fiber processing methods that will enable the use of standard fiber processing machines and existing SMC manufacturing equipment. The new lighter weight SMCs will find initial application in off-road farm equipment, automotive trunk floors, wheel wells and other non surface-critical components that currently use metal or heavier SMCs. Multiple companies who currently make SMCs and/or SMC components will license the new material technology through the National Composite Centers (NCC) newly forming SMC consortium. The development team, innovative materials combinations and processing approach have been carefully selected to enable rapid commercialization of the new technology once demonstrated.Innovative materials and combinations of materials have potential to provide cost-effective engineered materials systems that provide significant weight savings for automotive structures, thus leading to higher vehicle fuel economy. Additionally, the full or partial use of bio-based renewable materials will reduce the consumption of and dependence on petroleum based products. The exciting "green" aspect to this program will assist NCC's educational mission as students have great interest in environmental issues and the use of renewable resources to make a sustainable environment. NCC's cooperative education program may be utilized in support of the proposed work. Positive R&D results may serve as the basis of setting up conferences with high schools through NCC's multi-source video and videoconferencing center. As a lead agency for the effort, NSF's funding of this program will also support President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative whose goal is to "increase investments in research and development, strengthen education, and encourage entrepreneurship" and enable America to "remain a leader in science and technology." A focus of this research proposal is to develop technology that will enable cost-effective US manufacture of materials and components; thus supporting other "Made in America" type Federal initiatives.