Welcome

Natural fiber polymer composites, or biocomposites, have proven to be a technical, economical, and environmentally conscious alternative to E-glass fiber composites without sacrificing performance. However, their use in load-bearing applications has been limited due to their lower stiffness, the hydrophilic nature of natural fibers, and the brittleness and low thermal performance of economical polymer resins.

Recent development in biobased polymers has shown that blends of functionalized vegetable oils with petroleum-based resins can lead to resin systems with increased toughness, without sacrificing stiffness, while improving its environmental friendliness. Further, emerging research on nanocomposites, consisting of nano-particle reinforcements within a polymer, have shown that a small amounts (~2-5%) of nano-clay particles can significantly enhance and stabilize the mechanical and thermal properties of the base polymer while also improving its fire retardancy. Finally, our improved ability to scrutinize nature's materials has also shown us that even moderately performing constituents can achieve high structural efficiency when used in optimized designs.

This research project thus focuses on improving the performance of biocomposites for load-bearing structural applications by combining the developments in biobased materials with the emerging technology of nanocomposites and the structural engineering skills evolution towards biomimetic design.