Sustainable Polymer Reaction Engineering

几乎所有的制造产品都含有聚合物，包括一系列创新产品和应用，大大提高了我们的生活水平。然而，在聚合物生产中大量使用基于化石燃料的原料导致了严重的环境影响。此外，禁止某些聚合物产品（例如，微球、塑料袋和吸管）指出迫切需要改变聚合物的生产和使用方式。我的实验室一直处于开拓性努力的前沿，使聚合物工艺更具可持续性。透过“绿色化学的12个原则”的透镜来观察有助于形成我们的方法。我们使用更安全的生产替代方案，如乳液聚合（一种水基技术，而不是溶剂基技术），并将可再生材料纳入聚合物产品中。我们面临的挑战是将典型的亲水性，可再生材料纳入典型的疏水性聚合物基质。我们还必须确定哪种生物来源的原料将导致更可降解的产品。此外，由于许多生物来源的材料不直接导致聚合物形成，因此通常使用化学衍生化，这与许多“绿色”原则相冲突。换句话说，我们需要一种全面的方法来检查从生产到降解的聚合物生命周期。因此，我们必须开发一种有效的方法来衡量聚合过程的整体可持续性，这样我们就可以根据材料的来源（生物基与废物与化石燃料）、衍生化程度、组分合成、聚合和加工阶段的能源考虑、降解性、所需的应用性能和使用寿命，在材料之间做出明智的选择。在拟议的研究计划中，我们将在新的粘合剂和涂料应用中使用丙烯酸酯化环氧大豆油。此外，我们将把我们最近在淀粉增容方面的领先进展与一种新的可再生单体丙烯酸2-辛酯结合起来，以生产更可持续的粘合剂产品。这项工作，沿着我们使用可再生组件的许多其他努力（例如，木质素、纤维素纳米晶体、甘油、柠檬烯）的应用使我们处于一个独特的位置，可以考虑采用一种更全面的方法来生产可持续的聚合物。因此，第三个重点将是开发完全可再生的聚合物产品，并首次开发考虑聚合物生命周期的可持续性指数。全球对不可再生化石燃料的依赖正在给我们的星球留下不可持续的社会、经济和环境足迹。还有许多可持续的选择有待探索，我的研究小组正在扩大其在这一领域的领导地位。该研究计划将影响整个供应链，从生物基原材料到成品聚合物产品，从而推动加拿大的清洁技术/生物经济部门，并在全球重要领域培训HQP。

Nearly all manufactured products contain polymers, including a broad range of innovative products and applications that greatly enhance our standard of living. However, the extensive use of fossil fuel-based raw materials in polymer production has led to serious environmental effects. In addition, recent trends in banning certain polymer products (e.g., microspheres, plastic bags and drinking straws) point to the urgent need to change the way polymers are produced and used.******My lab has been at the forefront of pioneering efforts to make polymer processes more sustainable. Looking through the lens of the “12 principles of green chemistry” has helped form our approach. We use safer production alternatives such as emulsion polymerization (a water-based, as opposed to solvent-based technology), and incorporate renewable materials into polymer products. Our challenge is to incorporate typically hydrophilic, renewable materials into typically hydrophobic polymer matrices. We must also identify which bio-sourced feedstock will lead to more degradable products. Moreover, because many bio-sourced materials do not lead directly to polymer formation, chemical derivatization is commonly used, which conflicts with many “green” principles. In other words, we need a holistic approach that examines the polymer life cycle from production to degradation. Thus, we must develop an effective measure of the overall sustainability of a polymerization process so that we can make intelligent choices between materials based on their source (bio-based vs. waste vs. fossil-fuel); degree of derivatization; energy considerations at the component synthesis, polymerization and processing stages; degradability; required application properties; and useful lifetime.******In the proposed research program, we will use an acrylated, epoxidized soybean oil in new adhesive and coating applications. In addition, we will bring together our recent, leading-edge advances in starch compatibilization with a newly available renewable monomer, 2-octyl acrylate, to generate more sustainable adhesive products. This work, along with our many other efforts using renewable components (e.g., lignin, cellulose nanocrystals, glycerol, limonene), puts us in a unique position to consider a more holistic approach to sustainable polymer production. Thus, a third thrust will be to develop fully renewable polymer products and for the first time, develop a sustainability index that considers a polymer's life cycle.******Global dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels is leaving an unsustainable social, economic and environmental footprint on our planet. There are many sustainable options yet to be explored and my research group is expanding its leadership in this field. This research program will affect the entire supply chain, from bio-based starting materials to finished polymer products, thereby advancing Canada's clean technology/bio-economy sectors and training HQP in an area of world-wide importance.