Micro-injection molding for smart materials, advanced composites, MEMS and microfluidics

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This application supports the acquisition of a micro-injection molder, capable of precision injection of thermoplastics, elastomers and composite materials based on carbon, nano crystalline cellulose (NCC) and ceramic-in-polymers for microstructured materials. The translation of novel ideas and processes from universities to commercial products is often hampered by the fact that the leap to large scale manufacturing is not adequately considered early in the process. This can be particularly true in the fields of micromanufacturing and nanotechnology with plastics and composites. The University of Alberta is a world leader in nanomanufacturing, microelectronics and microfluidics research, but many of the processes and structures presently under development still require validation with commercial polymer manufacturing techniques like injection molding. Within the last two years, the primary applicants have made tremendous manufacturing leaps with the ability to replicate complex 3D microstructures in thermoplastics to change the base structural materials from thermoset elastomers and epoxies (which take hours or days to cure) to thermoplastic elastomers, electrically conductive composites and reinforced polymer composites while still maintaining feature sizes at sub-micron levels. The manufacturing processes with these newer materials however must presently be done by hand and are therefore not scalable so there is an urgent need to acquire equipment that can increase the reliability of these techniques. These manufacturing advances combined with injection molding can reduce cycle times to seconds, and allow nanotechnology and microstructuring to be applied to conventional plastics and processes. Applications of this equipment include; biomimetic surfaces and smart materials, like gecko-inspired adhesives, anti-biofouling and anti-icing surfaces; novel composites, including thermoplastics reinforced with NCC, for green manufacturing using renewable, bio-derived nanoparticles; and biomedical devices, including biocompatible dental implants and orthodonics, and microstructured polymer channels for fundamental investigations of biofilm formation and mitigation.