DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS USING CANADIAN BIO-MASS

实现可持续建筑的可行途径之一是使用体现能源量较低的建筑材料。一些组织，如能源与环境设计领导组织(Leadance in Energy and Environmental Design，LEED)建议在建筑中使用可再生材料。生物质，特别是天然纤维是建筑材料的理想选择，因为它们是可再生的，对环境友好，并且具有高的比强度。这些材料可以作为生物复合材料的增强材料。 然而，一些障碍限制了它们在这些应用中的使用。这些问题与NFS的亲水性有关。这不仅阻止了它们被用于疏水聚合物(分散性差和界面粘附性差)，而且还提高了天然纤维增强复合材料(NFRC)的吸湿率。后者会导致膨胀、尺寸不稳定，最终导致性能恶化。 已经开发了各种方法来缓解这些问题。然而，这些方法的效率仍然值得怀疑。我已经开发了新的方法，可以显著降低NFRC的吸湿率，从而降低NFRC的饱和吸湿量。 虽然这些方法已经成功地降低了NFS的亲水性，同时提高了它们与聚合物基质的相容性，但它们的全部潜力尚未被开发出来。因此，需要根据材料的最终应用对方法进行优化。 这项研究计划主要是对我最近阐述的先前的治疗技术进行微调。其目的是修改NFS的亲水性，使其在不同程度的湿度(低、中和高湿度)下的应用中变得更耐用。最后，本研究打算将这些改性纤维用于建筑围护结构的内外部分，从而开发出耐用的NFRC。

One of the feasible ways to achieve sustainable construction is to use building materials with lower amount of embodied energy. Several organizations such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) proposed to use renewable materials in construction. Biomass and especially Natural Fibers (NFs) are ideal candidates for being used in building materials as they are renewable, eco-friendly, and have high specific strength. These materials can be used as reinforcements in bio-composites. However, some barriers limit their use in these applications. The problems are related to the hydrophilic nature of NFs. This not only prevents them from being used in hydrophobic polymers (bad dispersion and bad interfacial adhesion), but also increases the rate of moisture absorption of Natural Fibers Reinforced Composites (NFRC). The latter results in swelling, dimensional instabilities and finally the deterioration of properties. Various methods have been developed to mitigate these problems. However, the efficiency of these methods are still questionable. I have developed new methods, which could significantly decrease the NFs moisture absorption rate and consequently the NFRC moisture uptake capacity at saturation. Although the methods have successfully decreased the hydrophilic nature of NFs and in parallel increased the compatibility of NFs with polymeric matrices, their full potentials have not yet been developed. Hence, the methods need to be optimized according to the final application of the materials. This research program intends primarily to fine-tune the previous treatment techniques that I have recently elaborated. The objective is to modify NFs hydrophilic characteristic to become more durable in applications with different levels of exposure to humidity (low, medium, and high humidity). Finally, this research is going to develop durable NFRC by using these modified fibers for internal and external parts of building envelopes.