Collaborative Research: Wood Fiber Reinforced Polymers using Ring-Opening Polymers for Structural Applications

合作研究：使用开环聚合物的木纤维增强聚合物用于结构应用

• 批准号: 1161292
• 负责人: Joshua Otaigbe
• 金额: $ 18万
• 依托单位: University of Southern Mississippi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1161292&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Wood; Fiber; Reinforced

The focus of this collaborative research project will be on the effectiveness of wood fibers to reinforce alternative plastics. A long-standing goal for research on natural-fiber composites has been to replace glass-fiber, reinforced plastics with natural-fiber composites. Natural fibers have excellent mechanical properties and should be able to replace glass-fiber applications in the built environment with a more sustainable material. Unfortunately, the transformation to natural fibers has been slow, in part due to an overemphasis of prior work on "exotic" fibers and on reinforcement of incompatible plastics. Wood fibers are being combined with a polyamide matrix, which has excellent mechanical properties and is likely to be compatible with wood fibers. The composites will be made via ring-opening polymerization of novel oligomeric cyclic amides. This approach avoids the high temperatures in polymer processing that can damage natural fibers. The composites will be characterized for mechanical and interfacial properties. Wood fibers are readily available in commercial wood pulp products. The effect of pulping process on composite properties will be evaluated. All wood-fiber composites will be compared to glass-fiber controls to verify their suitability as a replacement material.Global demand for glass-fiber, reinforced plastics is increasing, but those products are neither renewable nor sustainable. The development of wood-fiber, reinforced plastics will define a new, cost-effective, sustainable, bio-composite material. The deployment of wood-fiber, reinforced plastics would involve collaborations between the wood pulping and the plastics industries. Although the wood pulping industry is larger than the glass fibers industry, it is currently in decline. The introduction of wood-fiber, reinforced plastics could impact the future of this declining US industry and could impact society by providing more sustainable materials. The novel processing methods developed may also lead to new opportunities for using engineering polymers with bio-based materials. This project will train two graduate students in sustainable materials development. Oregon State University has recently transformed its undergraduate curriculum for wood science and engineering department into a "Renewable Materials Program." This project will involve undergraduate researchers, which will enhance an emerging program on sustainable materials. Oregon has many underrepresented forestry students and Southern Mississippi has a sizable minority student population. These students will benefit from training in the broad area of sustainable materials engineering.

这个合作研究项目的重点将放在木纤维增强替代塑料的有效性上。天然纤维复合材料研究的一个长期目标是用天然纤维复合材料取代玻璃纤维和增强塑料。天然纤维具有优异的机械性能，应该能够用更可持续的材料取代玻璃纤维在建筑环境中的应用。不幸的是，向天然纤维的转变一直很缓慢，部分原因是过分强调先前对“外来”纤维和不相容塑料的增强的工作。木纤维正在与聚酰胺基体结合，聚酰胺具有优异的机械性能，很可能与木纤维相容。该复合材料将通过新型低聚环酰胺开环聚合制备。这种方法避免了聚合物加工过程中可能损坏天然纤维的高温。将对复合材料的力学性能和界面性能进行表征。木纤维很容易在商业木浆产品中得到。将评价制浆工艺对复合材料性能的影响。所有木纤维复合材料将与玻璃纤维对照进行比较，以验证其作为替代材料的适用性。全球对玻璃纤维和增强塑料的需求正在增加，但这些产品既不可再生，也不可持续。木纤维、增强塑料的发展将定义一种新的、具有成本效益的、可持续的生物复合材料。木材纤维和增强塑料的部署将涉及木材制浆和塑料工业之间的合作。虽然木浆工业比玻璃纤维工业大，但目前处于下降趋势。木纤维、增强塑料的引入可能会影响这个衰落的美国工业的未来，并可能通过提供更多可持续的材料来影响社会。开发的新型加工方法也可能为将工程聚合物与生物基材料结合使用带来新的机会。该项目将培养两名可持续材料开发方面的研究生。俄勒冈州立大学最近将其木材科学与工程系的本科课程改为“可再生材料项目”。该项目将包括本科生研究人员，这将加强可持续材料的新兴项目。俄勒冈州有许多代表性不足的林业学生，密西西比州南部有相当多的少数民族学生。这些学生将受益于可持续材料工程广泛领域的培训。