Functional cellulose fibers

我们这个星球面临的最大问题是气候变化，这主要是由工业、汽车和建筑物供暖燃烧化石燃料产生的二氧化碳排放造成的。为了减缓气候变化，我们应该做出广泛努力，为木材的使用找到经济上可持续的解决方案。目前木材的大规模用途是：建材、纸张和纺织。这项建议涉及一种制造功能性纤维素纤维的新方法，这种纤维可以制成长丝、智能纺织品、高价值纤维素生物材料，如超疏水纤维和高强度纤维，以及高价值染色纤维。长期的愿景是在加拿大拥有一个可持续的纤维素生物制品工业，从而大幅增加木材的使用。目前，加拿大的许多纸浆和造纸厂都处于闲置状态，可以很容易地转换为生产功能性纤维素纤维的工厂，前提是我们可以以可持续和经济可行的方式这样做。我们将在生产过程中通过将感兴趣的分子与羧化纤维素纤维共价连接来提供生产功能纤维素纤维的知识，例如疏水分子、染料、交联剂以增加强度和减少膨胀。还将生产超疏水和超亲油纤维(例如，用于清理漏油的纤维)。拥有大量木材供应的加拿大应该成为用木材生产生物制品的世界领先者。预期的结果是生产智能纤维素纤维、疏水和超疏水长丝、智能纺织品和不需要进一步染色的纺织品，所有这些都是由加拿大卡夫工厂生产的卡夫纤维制成的。这种新型纤维易于改性，从而扩大了其潜在的应用范围。加拿大森林工业的加强将使加拿大受益，创造就业机会，并极大地促进以化石燃料为基础的经济逐步转变为真正的生物经济。

The biggest issue facing our planet is climate change, caused mainly by CO2 emissions generated by combustion of fossil fuels by industry, automobiles and heating of buildings. To mitigate climate change, we should make extensive efforts to find economically sustainable solutions for the use of wood. At present the large scale uses of wood are: building materials, paper and textile. This proposal deals with a new way of making functional cellulose fibers, which can be made into filaments, smart textiles, high value cellulose biomaterials, such as superhydrophobic fibers and fibers of high tenacity, as well as high value dyed fibers. The long term vision is to have a sustainable cellulose bioproducts industry in Canada, thus increasing considerably the use of wood. Presently many pulp and paper mills in Canada are idle and could be readily converted to mills producing functional cellulose fibers, provided we can do so in a sustainable and economically viable way. We will provide the knowledge to produce functional cellulose fibers by covalently linking interesting molecules to carboxylated cellulose fibers during the production process, such as hydrophobic molecules, dyes, crosslinkers to increase strength and reduce swelling. Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic fibers (e.g. for cleaning up oil spills) will also be produced. Canada with its large supply of wood should become a world leader in producing bioproducts from wood. The expected outcomes are the production of smart cellulose fibers, hydrophobic and superhydrophobic filaments, smart textiles, and textiles that do not require further dyeing, all made from kraft fibers, produced by Canadian kraft mills. The novel fibers will be easy to modify, thus extending their range of potential applications. The strengthening of the Canadian forest industry will benefit Canada, create jobs and contribute greatly to the gradual conversion of a fossil fuel based economy to a true bio-economy.