Vapor sorption characterizes advanced materials for the water--energy--food nexus

蒸汽吸收分析(VSA)是评估材料对水分和其他溶剂的响应的必要组成部分。这是验证先进材料在集水、聚合物网、薄膜、新型吸附剂、天然纤维系统和热塑性复合材料中应用的关键分析步骤。这类应用显示了逆转水-食物-能量关系的负反馈循环特征的前景。例如，虽然过去农业产量的增加是以更多的农药径流和更多的农药生产和部署能源为代价的，但使用先进的聚合物网反而可以减少水污染和能源消耗。然而，这种新型材料的开发需要在实验室环境中进行适当的表征。VSA可以通过容积法和重量法来完成，每种方法都有各自的优缺点。除了提供与各种化合物的吸附和解吸有关的信息外，VSA还提供了对总表面积和(通过模型)孔径分布的洞察。重量法是最常见的方法(尽管它们的分析时间很长)，而体积系统基本上是不存在的。此外，尽管重力法VSA更为普遍，但在蒙特利尔地区一般无法获得，这要求申请人、共同申请人和潜在用户依靠广泛的旅行、省外样品运输或部署非标准化、低等级(和低精度)的自制替代品来继续他们的工作。这些努力进一步局限于对湿度吸附的严格研究，因为在这类仪器上不可能使用其他溶剂。来自蒙特利尔三所大学的化学工程、机械工程和工程物理的参与者组成了不同的研究团队。它们的核心价值观都是培养来自不同背景的高素质人才，首要目标是为加拿大经济贡献具有现实世界、可转让技能的增值人才。学生是大学教授的第一个可交付对象，VSA仪器的获得不仅将推动正在进行的高影响力研究，还将巩固世界级的多学科培训环境。该文书将向蒙特利尔学术界广泛提供，并相应地在各种数据库上公布(其中最重要的是CREPEC联盟)。

Vapor sorption analysis (VSA) is a necessary component to evaluate a material's response to moisture and other solvents. It is a key analytical step to validate advanced materials finding applications in water harvesting, polymer netting, thin films, novel adsorbents, natural fibre systems and thermoplastic composites. Such applications show promise to invert the negative feedback loops characteristic of the water-food-energy nexus. For example, while increases in agricultural yields have in the past come at the expense of greater pesticide runoff and increased energy for pesticide production and deployment, the use of advanced polymer nets can instead reduce water contamination and energy use. However, the development of such novel materials requires appropriate characterization in a laboratory setting. VSA can be accomplished through volumetric and gravimetric approaches, each with their advantages and disadvantages. On top of providing information pertaining to adsorption and desorption of various compounds, VSA also provides insight into total surface area and (through models) pore size distribution. Gravimetric approaches are the most common (despite their very long analysis times), and volumetric systems are essentially nonexistant. Further, despite being more prevalent, gravimetric VSAs are generally unavailable in the Montreal area and have required the applicant, co-applicants and prospective users to rely on extensive travel, sample shipping out-of-province or the deployment of unstandardized, low grade (and low precision) homemade alternatives in order to proceed with their work. These efforts have been further limited to strictly the study of humidity adsorption, as the use of other solvents was not possible on such instruments. The diverse research team assembled represents actors from chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering physics, across 3 universities in Montreal. All have as their core values the training of highly qualified personnel from various backgrounds, aiming first and foremost to contribute value-added personnel with real-world, transferable skills to the Canadian economy. Students are the first deliverable of a university professor, and the acquisition of a VSA instrument will not only advance the high-impact research being undertaken, but also solidify a world-class, multidisciplinary training environment. This instrument will be made widely available to the Montreal academic community, and publicized accordingly on a variety of databases (not the least of which is the CREPEC consortium).