Process 11 Twin-Screw Extruder for Advanced Polymer Blending

该NSERC RTI应用程序申请资金购买Process 11双螺杆挤出机，这是马尼托巴大学支持各种新型研究应用程序的迫切需要。挤出是聚合物工业中最常用的生产方法之一，也是将添加剂混合、混合和加入到聚合物混合物中的主要技术。这些工艺在包括食品包装材料在内的广泛行业中得到了应用。高级挤出机的使用和经验培训是所有HQP使用聚合物的关键。生物系统工程系的David Levin博士和Song Liu博士将使用Process 11双螺杆挤出机开发智能食品包装材料，该材料由具有增强的物理和热性能的混合生物可降解聚合物组成，并添加天然抗氧化剂、抗菌和/或对pH敏感的化合物。电气和计算机工程系Derek Oliver博士、马尼托巴省材料研究所(MIM)主任Derek Oliver博士将使用Process 11挤出机探索将混合生物可降解聚合物用作电气绝缘体，并在微米级研究其非破坏性降解过程。尽管马尼托巴大学食品和营养科学系配备了一台双螺杆挤出机，但它仅用于食品应用，不能用于添加生物活性化合物的不同聚合物类型的混合。HQP目前正在研究这些材料，这依赖于与皇后大学的一名教授的合作，这导致每位共同申请者及其学生在实现研究目标方面的进展严重延误。本科生和研究生都不能及时完成实验，这影响了他们收集数据、发表结果、制作高质量论文和毕业的能力。收购Process 11双螺杆挤出机将极大地提高研究人员和他们的HQP混合不同类型聚合物的能力，这些聚合物通常是不相容的。Process 11挤出机将使可生物降解的食品包装材料以及电气绝缘材料的开发成为可能，这些材料不是来自石化产品。这些材料的制造还将使对生物降解的调查和受控降解过程的开发成为可能，这些过程是在其寿命结束时结束循环所需的，从而实现真正可持续的聚合物工业的愿景。Process 11双螺杆挤出机将极大地促进本科生、研究生和博士后在聚合物材料科学方面的培训，并加快智能、可生物降解的食品包装材料以及先进电气绝缘体的开发。

This NSERC RTI application requests funds to purchase a Process 11 twin-screw extruder, which is urgently required to support a variety of novel research applications at the University of Manitoba. Extrusion is one of the most-used methods of production in the polymer industry, and is the primary technique for blending, compounding, and incorporating additives into polymer mixtures. These processes find applications in a wide range of industries, including food-packaging materials. Training in the use of, and experience with, an advanced extruder is essential for all HQP working with polymers. Dr. David Levin and Dr. Song Liu in the Department of Biosystems Engineering will use the Process 11 twin-screw extruder to develop smart food-packaging materials consisting of blended biodegradable polymers with enhanced physical and thermal properties, with the addition of natural antioxidants, antimicrobial, and/or pH-sensitive compounds. Dr. Derek Oliver, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director of the Manitoba Institute for Materials (MIM) will use the Process 11 extruder to explore the use of blended biodegradable polymers as electrical insulators, and study their non-destructive degradation processes at the micron scale. Although a twin-screw extruder is located in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba, it is used exclusively for food applications, and cannot be used for the blending of different polymer types with the addition of bioactive compounds. HQP currently working on these materials rely on a collaboration with a Professor at Queens University, which has resulted in significant delays in progress towards research objectives for each of the co-applicants and their students. Both undergraduate and graduate students are unable to complete experiments in a timely manner, which is affecting their ability to collect data, publish their results, produce high quality Theses, and graduate. Acquisition of the Process 11 twin-screw extruder will greatly benefit the researchers and their HQP by significantly improving their ability to compound different polymers types that normally would not be compatible. The Process 11 extruder will enable the development of biodegradable food-packaging materials, as well as electrical insulation materials, that are not sourced from petrochemical origins. The manufacture of these materials will also enable investigations of biodegradation and the development of controlled degradation processes that are needed to close the circle at their end-of-life, fulfilling the vision of a truly sustainable polymer industry. The Process 11 Twin-screw extruder will greatly facilitate training of undergraduate students, graduate students, and Postdoctoral Fellows in polymer-based material sciences, and accelerate the development of smart, biodegradable food-packaging materials, as well as advanced electrical insulators.