Advancing Bio-materials Production Services

Bio-materials can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate a rapid transition to a bio-basedleconomy. Thus, developing novel and innovative technologies and products related to bio-materials sectors is crucial. This has!resulted in extensive research into the development of biomaterials. Most research efforts have focused on materials selection,’fabrication, and optimization of bio-materials’ performance through experimentation, trial-and-error, and microstructural analysis. This proposed research project has been designed to advance bio-materials solutions for two of the most available natural materials,cellulose and lignin. The project will focus on the following two main sub-research areas: (A) Production and characterization ofregenerated cellulose based structures using 3D printing; (B) Investigating 3D printing of lignin-based multifunctional materials thatare capable of shape memory effect. Findings will enable lnnoTech Alberta to develop and test the performance of these promising,but currently undervalued, bio-materials without incurring high costs and will be able to deploy suitable biomaterial solutions efficientlyinto the stream of commerce and highly significant to the Canadian service enterprise, agricultural, 3D printing, oil and gas, forestry,constructions and plastics industries.

Faculty Supervisor:

Cagri Ayranci;M. Yaman Boluk

Student:

Irina Tatiana Garces Arguello

Partner:

InnoTech Alberta Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Alberta