On the relationship between fibre morphology and rheology of papermaking fibres suspensions and hydrogels

纸浆是卑诗省最大的出口产品，也是加拿大最大的出口产业之一。这项研究的直接目的是通过更好地了解微纤化纤维素（MFC）的生产，提高这一战略行业的竞争力。

Pulp is BC's largest export and one of Canada's largest export industries. This research is directly aimed at improving the competitiveness of this strategic industry through a better understanding of the production of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). LC refining is process in which the papermaking fibre is beaten for the purpose of enhancing paper strength. Under extreme conditions, LC refining can produce an exciting new material, MFC, which is rapidly finding inroads into traditional pulp and paper applications. MFC is a yield stress fluid and the vision of this work is to implement an on-line tool to measure the rheology of the MFC suspension for the purpose of quality control. The goal of the work is to create a statistical linkage between the mesoscopic structure of MFC with the yield stress and reinforcing ability of MFC in composite paper samples. A 2 year collaborative program with Domtar (Canada) is proposed in which the research will be conducted by 1 post doctoral fellow and 2 undergraduate assistants