Functional cellulose fibers

地球面临的最大问题是气候变化，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：建筑材料，纸张和纺织品。该提案涉及制造功能性纤维素纤维的新方法，其可制成长丝、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。长期愿景是在加拿大建立一个可持续的纤维素生物制品行业，从而大大增加木材的使用。目前，加拿大的许多纸浆和造纸米尔斯都处于闲置状态，只要我们能够以可持续和经济可行的方式这样做，就可以很容易地转换为生产功能性纤维素纤维的米尔斯。我们将提供在生产过程中通过将感兴趣的分子共价连接到羧化纤维素纤维来生产功能性纤维素纤维的知识，例如疏水分子，染料，交联剂以增加强度和减少溶胀。还将生产超疏水和超亲油纤维（例如用于清理漏油）。 加拿大拥有大量的木材供应，应该成为从木材生产生物产品的世界领导者。预期的成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，所有这些都由加拿大牛皮纸米尔斯厂生产的牛皮纸纤维制成。这种新型纤维易于改性，从而扩大了其潜在的应用范围。加强加拿大森林工业将使加拿大受益，创造就业机会，并大大有助于逐步将以化石燃料为基础的经济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.