Chairs
Professor Steve Eichhorn, College of Engineering, Maths & Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
Professor Steve Eichhorn, College of Engineering, Maths & Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
Professor Steve Eichhorn is Chair in Materials Science within the College of Engineering, Maths & Physical Sciences. Steve joined Exeter in 2011, prior to which he was at the University of Manchester for 16 years, both as a PhD student and a member of academic staff in the School of Materials. He originally trained as a physicist, at Leeds (Physics, 1990-1993), but works closely with engineers, biologists, physicists and chemists. His research focuses on the mechanical properties and interfaces in natural and sustainable materials, particularly cellulose fibres and composites. He has made notable contributions to the field of cellulosic nanomaterials, and was awarded the 2012 Rosenhain Medal and award. He is currently the chair of the American Chemical Society’s Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division.
13:30-14:15
Cellulose Nanomaterials as Green Nanoreinforcements for Polymer Nanocomposites
Professor Alain Dufresne, INP Pagora, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France
Abstract
Unexpected and attractive properties can be observed when decreasing the size of a material down to the nanoscale. Cellulose is no exception to the rule. In addition, the highly reactive surface of cellulose resulting from the high density of hydroxyl groups is exacerbated at this scale. Different forms of cellulose nanomaterials, resulting from a top-down deconstructing strategy (cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils) or bottom-up strategy (bacterial cellulose) are potentially useful for a large number of industrial applications. These include the paper and cardboard industry, use as reinforcing filler in polymer nanocomposites, basis for low-density foams, additive in adhesives and paints, as well as a wide variety of filtration, electronic, food, hygiene, cosmetic, and medical products. However, it is as a biobased reinforcing nanofiller that they have attracted significant interest during the last 20 years. Impressive mechanical properties can be obtained for these materials. They obviously depend on the type of nanomaterial used, but the crucial point is the processing technique. As for any nanoparticle, the main issue is related to their homogeneous dispersion within the polymeric matrix. An important challenge consists in the preparation of polymer nanocomposites using industrial melt processing techniques, avoiding the liquid medium methods.
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Professor Alain Dufresne, INP Pagora, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France
Professor Alain Dufresne, INP Pagora, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France
Alain Dufresne received his PhD in 1991 from the Department of Electronics at the National Institute of Applied Science in Toulouse (France). He was then Postdoctoral Research Associate at Polytechnique Montreal (Canada), and Temporary Lecturer and Research Assistant at the National Institute of Applied Science in Lyon (France). He was appointed Associate Professor in 1993, and then Professor in 2001, at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble (France). He is now, and since 2003, Professor at Grenoble Institute of Technology. He has been visiting Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), at National University of Malaysia (Malaysia), and at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in Fortaleza (Brazil). His main research interests concern the processing and characterization of polymer nanocomposites reinforced with nanoparticles extracted from renewable resources. He has published over 230 peer-reviewed papers related to these topics.
14:15-15:00
Optimizing Cellulose Nanocrystal Surface Chemistry to Enhance Colloidal and Thermal Stability
Professor Emily Cranston, Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are rod shaped nanoparticles extracted from natural cellulose sources through a hydrolysis procedure which most commonly uses sulfuric acid. Recently, other acids have been used in the hydrolysis procedure to modify CNC properties. CNCs hydrolysed with phosphoric acid have been shown to have increased thermal stability; however, this new procedure has not been optimized. Phosphoric acid-hydrolyzed CNCs (P-CNCs) have low surface charge, causing them to aggregate in suspension and even more so after heat treatment. A design of experiments approach was completed to study the effects of hydrolysis parameters on P-CNC size, aspect ratio, crystallinity, thermal stability and colloidal stability. Additionally, hydrolyses were performed with both sulfuric and phosphoric acid to yield CNCs with a combination of charged surface groups. It was found that the hydrolysis conditions have significant effects on several CNC properties, most notably on colloidal stability and aspect ratio. This study proposes facile methods (and small tweaks to industrial production protocols) for controlling key properties which are crucial for high temperature/pressure applications of CNCs, such as oil and gas drilling and completion fluids.
Anticipated Paper Title: Design of Experiments Optimization of Cellulose Nanocrystals Produced through Phosphoric Acid Hydrolysis for Enhanced Colloidal and Thermal Stability
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Professor Emily Cranston, Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada
Professor Emily Cranston, Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada
Emily Cranston is an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University in Canada. Her research focuses on sustainable nanocomposites and hybrid materials from cellulose and other biopolymers. Her academic path began at McGill University where she received her Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry with bio-organic specialty and a PhD in Materials Chemistry in the group of Professor Derek Gray. The study of value-added products from cellulose took her to Stockholm, Sweden as a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) before she returned to Canada in 2011. Emily is the recipient of the KINGFA Young Investigator’s Award from the American Chemical Society’s Cellulose & Renewable Materials division and is a Distinguished Engineering Fellow at McMaster University.
15:30-16:15
Watching Paper Dry: Making Photonic Structures form Cellulose Nanocrystals
Professor Mark MacLachlan, Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) obtained from paper or cotton are of great interest for many applications. In water, CNCs spontaneously form a chiral nematic lyotropic liquid crystalline phase, which can be preserved in dried films. The helicoidal structural organization of the CNCs in these films resembles the Bouligand structure of chitin found in crabs and other arthropods, and leads the films to be iridescent.
In 2010, Shopsowitz, Qi, Hamad, and MacLachlan reported that this liquid crystalline phase of CNCs can be used to template mesoporous silica with chiral nematic order, and they have since been able to transfer the supramolecular organization of CNCs to diverse other materials, including titania, polymers, and hydrogels. In this talk, Prof. MacLachlan will discuss his team’s recent progress to use CNCs as a template for the construction of new materials. He will discuss the use of hydrogels as a means to study the liquid crystallinity and to form spheres with chiral nematic order.
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Professor Mark MacLachlan, Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Canada
Professor Mark MacLachlan, Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Canada
Mark MacLachlan received his B.Sc. degree in chemistry at UBC and Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto (1999). After an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at M.I.T., he returned to UBC to begin his independent career. Mark’s research interests span supramolecular chemistry, macrocycle chemistry, nanomaterials, mesoporous materials, photonic structures, and biopolymers. He has received an E. W. R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship (2012-2014), the Strem Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry from the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) (2013), the Rutherford Medal of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) (2013), the Steacie Prize (2014), and the Award for Excellence in Materials Chemistry of the CSC (2015). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and holds the Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Materials.
16:15-17:00
Better together: Synergy in Nanocellulose Blends
Professor Alexander Bismarck, University of Vienna and Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
Abstract
Cellulose nanopapers have gained significant attention in the recent years as large-scale reinforcement for high-loading cellulose composites, substrates for printed electronics and filter nanopapers for water treatment applications. The mechanical properties of nanopapers are of fundamental importance for all these applications. Cellulose nanopapers can simply be prepared by filtration of nanocellulose. It was already demonstrated that the mechanical properties of cellulose nanopapers can be tailored by the fineness of the fibrils used or by modifying nanocellulose fibrils for instance by polymer adsorption but nanocellulose blends remain underexplored. We show that the mechanical and physical properties of nanopapers can be tuned by creating hierarchical structures in nanopapers by blending various grades of nanocellulose, i.e. bacterial cellulose, cellulose nanofibrils extracted from bagasse by mechanical and chemical pre-treatments. We found that nanopapers made from blends of two or even more nanocellulose grades show synergistic effects resulting in improved stiffness, strength, ductility and toughness and physical properties.
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Professor Alexander Bismarck, University of Vienna and Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
Professor Alexander Bismarck, University of Vienna and Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
Alexander Bismarck is Professor of Materials Chemistry and Head of the Institute of Materials Chemistry in the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna, which he joined in 2012, and Polymer Materials in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. His research group, the Polymer and Composite Engineering (PaCE) Group is split between the two sites. Prior his first academic appointment he held a permanent position as R&D engineer at Sulzer Innotec/Sulzer Composites (later Gurit Suprem) Winterthur, Switzerland. PaCE research activities are organised into four major themes: advanced and multifunctional composites, green materials, water-soluble polymers and macroporous polymers. Their research focus is on the development, engineering and processing of hierarchical, i.e. fibre reinforced nano-composites as well as multifunctional composites.