Development of continuous process for producing cellulose nanocrystal from tunicates.

爱德华王子岛是最大的贻贝生产国，出口到世界各地，为农村社区带来了可观的收入。然而，这一点受到了被毛类的侵扰的挑战。被囊类是一种生长迅速的海洋无脊椎动物，会干扰贻贝的生长，影响贻贝的产量和质量。贝贝的种植者想出了一种昂贵的方法来解决导致贻贝生产成本增加15%-25%的问题。考虑到衣酸盐可能是高质量纤维素纳米晶(CNC)的来源，申请人先前开发了一种将衣酸盐转化为NC的方法，并研究了其形态和物理化学性质。与目前市场上最先进的植物数控相比，涂层数控具有更高的结晶度、更高的长径比和更高的模数等独特特性，因此更适合于轻质材料中的增强应用。该混合体，即Tunate-Cnc和Plants-Cnc，已显示出更好的机械和物理化学性能，开辟了当前使用Plants-Cnc的Tunate-Cnc的新应用领域。虽然T-cnc的性能优于P-cnc，但T-cnc的规模化生产并不存在。 本文的研究重点是开发一种可扩展的原型机，用于由被毛虫连续生产计算机数控系统。这项研究将整合先前在实验室规模验证的中间步骤，并优化连续生产的关键工艺变量。该项目的成功将有三个方面：a)它将为贻贝种植者提供另一种收入来源；b)开发具有独特性能的新产品，这与加拿大在纤维素纳米晶领域的领先地位相得益彰；c)在被衣类化合物的加工和应用领域有新业务的机会-cnc。

Prince Edward Island is the largest producer of mussels and is exported worldwide generating significant revenue to rural communities. This however has been challenged by the infestation of tunicates. Tunicates is a marine invertebrates which grows quickly to disrupt the growth of the mussels affecting the yield and the quality. PEI mussel growers came up with an expensive way of tackling the issues that led to an increased cost of mussel production by 15-25%. Understanding that the tunicates could be a source for high quality cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), the applicant previously has developed a process for the conversion of tunicates to CNC and studied its morphology and physicochemical properties. The tunicates-CNC posses unique characteristics such as higher crystallinity, higher aspect ratio, and higher modulus compared to state-of-the-art plant-CNC currently available in the market and thus, better suited for reinforcement application in lightweight materials. The hybrid i.e. Tunicate-CNC and Plant-CNC, has shown to have better mechanical and physiochemical properties, opening new area of application for Tunicate-CNC where Plant-CNC is currently used. While the properties of T-CNC outperform the P-CNC, the scalable production of T-CNC doesn't exist. The proposed research is focused on developing a scalable prototype for continuous production of CNC from tunicates. The research will integrate intermediate steps previously validated at laboratory scale and optimize the key process variables for continuous production. The success of the project will be threefold: a) It will provide an alternative revenue generation for the mussel growers b) Develop new product with unique properties that compliments with the leadership taken by Canada in the area of cellulose nanocrystals c) Opportunities for new business in the area of processing and application of tunicates-CNC.