Barrier Property Tester for Advanced Nanostructured Polymer Composites

聚合物是全球使用最广泛的包装材料，因为它们具有作为气体阻隔材料的能力（例如，氧气或水蒸气）。例如，食品包装材料往往必须具有很强的阻氧性，以防止食品氧化和变质。此外，聚合物的阻隔性能可以通过大量的方法来仔细控制，这些方法包括调节结晶性能、掺入微米/纳米颗粒填料或施加表面涂层。可用于调节聚合物阻隔性能的大量技术需要高精度测量设备。然而，由于传感器校准时间长、温度或湿度控制有限以及灵敏度差，大多数商业阻隔性能测试设备受到限制。这些限制了测试吞吐量，并阻止了超高阻隔材料的测量，最终限制了测量的适用性。 因此，PI和co-PI要求超高灵敏度MOCON OXTRAN 2/22 10 x氧气传输速率测试系统，用于工程材料分析。MOCON OXTRAN 2/22 10 x型号是世界上最灵敏的先进阻隔测试设备之一，可进行0.0005至200 cc/（m2.day）范围内的超灵敏阻隔性能测量，具有广泛的湿度和温度控制、快速测试时间和自动化功能。目前，只有圭尔夫大学和西方大学在其研究设施中拥有类似的仪器，但灵敏度较差。 申请人及其研究小组将在以下研究项目中使用要求的设备进行阻隔性能分析：（1）共挤出多纳米层聚合物膜，（2）原位纳米原纤化聚合物复合材料，（3）纳米颗粒增强聚合物复合材料，以及（4）用于可持续包装的完全生物基和可堆肥聚合物复合材料。这些研究项目代表了先进的制造工艺，能够生产具有增强阻隔性能的微/纳米结构材料，这些材料无法通过任何其他手段充分量化。收购这种阻隔性能测试设备将允许高影响力的研究，这将有助于信息和优化工业流程。这项研究对加拿大先进制造业的发展具有非常重要的价值，并为加拿大增加其在该领域的全球影响力和专业知识提供了一条途径。

Polymers account for the most-widely used packaging materials globally, owing to their capacity to behave as barrier materials against gases (eg. oxygen or water vapour). For example, food packaging materials often must be strong oxygen barriers, to prevent oxidation and spoiling of foods. Moreover, the barrier properties of polymers can be carefully controlled by an abundance of methods which involve the tuning of crystalline properties, the incorporation of micro/nanoparticle fillers, or the application of surface coatings. The vast number of techniques that can be used to tune a polymer's barrier properties necessitate a high-precision measurement device. However, most commercial barrier property testing apparatus is limited due to long sensor calibration times, limited temperature or humidity control, and poor sensitivity. These limit the testing throughput and prevent the measurement of ultra-high barrier materials, ultimately limiting the applicability of measurements. Hence, the PI and co-PI are requesting an ultra-high sensitivity MOCON OXTRAN 2/22 10x OXYGEN transmission rate testing system, for analysis of engineered materials. The MOCON OXTRAN 2/22 10x Model is one of the world's most sensitive advanced barrier testing devices, allowing for ultra-sensitive barrier property measurements in the range of 0.0005 to 200 cc/(m2.day), with a wide range of humidity and temperature control, rapid testing times, and automation capabilities. Currently, only the University of Guelph and Western University hold similar instruments at their research facilities, with poorer sensitivities. The applicants and their research groups will use the requested equipment for barrier property analysis in the following research programs: (1) Coextruded multi-nanolayer polymer films, (2) In situ nanofibrillated polymer composites, (3) Nanoparticle-reinforced polymer composites, and (4) fully bio-based and compostable polymer composites for sustainable packaging. These research programs represent advanced manufacturing processes capable of producing micro/nanostructured materials with enhanced barrier properties, that cannot be adequately quantified by any other means. The acquisition of this barrier property testing equipment will allow high-impact research that will help inform and optimize industrial processes. This research will be highly valuable in growing Canada's advanced manufacturing sector, and provide an avenue for Canada to increase its global impact and expertise in this field.