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）的使用量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，在过去的几年里，人们研究了生物塑料、生物复合材料和生物气凝胶的生产。尽管取得了进展，但性能（例如，所生产的生物产品的性能（例如热机械性能、水/气阻隔性和UV吸收性）不符合工业要求，因此存在产生具有更可接受的性能的功能性生物塑料、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。尽管其具有巨大的潜力，但木质素尚未用于高价值材料的生产。在申请人的研究小组中，已经开发了几个研究项目来使生物材料代中的木质素增值。这些项目包括1）生产用于食品包装应用的木质素衍生塑料，2）创建基于木质素纳米和微米颗粒的复合材料，以及3）开发用于食品包装和绝缘应用的木质素基气凝胶。为了实现既定计划的目标，17名研究生和博士后研究员（PDF）正在研究1）木质素的化学改性以诱导功能化木质素衍生物，2）将木质素衍生物纳入塑料，复合材料和气凝胶配方中，3）物理化学，表面和结构特性的评估和诱导产品的性能。尽管这些产品的热机械性能至关重要，但在湖首大学或雷霆湾没有热机械分析仪来评估所产生的产品的热机械性能。因此，开发的程序的研究目标不能得到满足，研究生/研究人员将不会有完整的生物材料开发和表征的培训。 动态热机械分析仪是用于评估塑料和聚合物材料的热机械行为的分析仪器。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力学性能，如模量、阻尼、蠕变和应力松弛。 预计，在这种仪器的帮助下，木质素基塑料，复合材料和气凝胶的热机械性能被确定，并与其他属性的诱导生物材料。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。增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.