A Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer for Assessing Thermomechanical Characteristics of Advanced Functional Materials

石油基塑料、复合材料和气凝胶（即泡沫）的使用在全球范围内有所增加，但这些产品对环境的影响很大。为了解决这个问题，生物塑料、生物复合材料和生物气凝胶的生产在过去的几年里得到了研究。尽管取得了进展，但所生产的生物制品的性能（例如，热机械、水/气阻隔和紫外线吸收）仍未满足工业要求，因此存在生产性能更可接受的功能性生物塑料、生物复合材料和生物气凝胶的空间。另一方面，木质素，制浆工业的副产品，可以在加拿大以商业规模生产。尽管具有巨大的潜力，但木质素尚未在高价值材料生产中得到利用。在申请人的课题组中，已经开发了几个研究项目来评估木质素在生物材料中的价值。这些项目包括1)用于食品包装的木质素衍生塑料的生产，2)木质素纳米和微颗粒基复合材料的创造，以及3)用于食品包装和绝缘应用的木质素基气凝胶的开发。为了实现上述计划的目标，17名研究生和博士后（PDF）正在研究1)木质素的化学改性以诱导木质素衍生物的功能化，2)木质素衍生物在塑料，复合材料和气凝胶配方中的加入，以及3)评估诱导产物的物理化学，表面和结构性质和性能。尽管这些产品的热机械性能至关重要，但湖首大学或桑德贝没有热机械分析仪来评估所创建产品的热机械性能。因此，开发项目的研究目标无法实现，研究生/研究人员无法在生物材料的开发和表征方面得到完整的训练。动态热机械分析仪是一种用于评价塑料和高分子材料热机械性能的分析仪器。它能够测定聚合物材料的玻璃化转变和熔点，以及塑料、复合材料和气凝胶的机械性能，如模量、阻尼、蠕变和应力松弛。预计，在该仪器的帮助下，木质素基塑料、复合材料和气凝胶的热机械性能将被确定，并与诱导生物材料的其他性能相关联。此外，木质素衍生生物材料的使用将显著减少传统油基聚合物材料的使用，从而有助于减少其环境足迹。附加值木质素基材料的创造也将有助于制浆行业的整体财务利润，这是加拿大GDP的主要贡献者之一。

The use of petroleum-based plastics, composites, and aerogels (i.e., foams) has been increased globally, but these products have significant environmental footprints. To tackle this issue, the production of bioplastics, biocomposites, and bioaerogels has been studied in the past few years. Despite the progress, the properties (e.g., thermomechanical, water/gas barrier, and UV absorption) of the produced bioproducts do not meet the requirement of the industry, and hence there exists room for generating functional bioplastics, biocomposites, and bioaerogels with more acceptable properties. On the other hand, lignin, the byproduct of the pulping industry, can be produced at commercial scales in Canada. Despite its tremendous potential, lignin has not been utilized in high-value material productions. In applicant's research group, several research programs have been developed to valorize lignin in biomaterial generations. These programs include 1) the production of lignin-derived plastics for food wrapping applications, 2) the creation of lignin nano- and micro- particle-based composites, and 3) the development of lignin-based aerogels for food packaging and insulation applications. To meet the objectives of the stated programs, 17 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows (PDF)s are researching 1) the chemical modification of lignin to induce functionalized lignin derivatives, 2) the incorporation of lignin derivatives in plastic, composite, and aerogel formulas and 3) the assessment of physicochemical, surface, and structural properties and performance of the induced products. Despite the critical importance of the thermomechanical performance of such products, a thermomechanical analyzer is not available at Lakehead University, or in Thunder Bay, to assess the thermomechanical performance of the created products. Therefore, the research objectives of the developed programs cannot be met, and the graduate students/researchers will not have complete training on biomaterial development and characterization. A dynamic thermomechanical analyzer is an analytical instrument used for assessing the thermomechanical behavior of plastics and polymeric materials. It is capable of determining glass transition and melting points of polymeric materials, and mechanical properties, such as modulus, damping, creep, and stress relaxation, of plastics, composites, and aerogels. It is expected that, with the help of this instrument, the thermomechanical properties of lignin-based plastics, composites, and aerogels be determined and correlated with other properties of the induced biomaterials. Furthermore, the use of lignin-derived biomaterials will remarkably reduce the use of traditional oil-based polymeric materials and thus contribute to reducing their environmental footprints. The creation of value-added lignin-based materials will also help the overall financial profits of the pulping industry, which is one of the major contributors to GDP in Canada.