Nanocellulose Sustainable Isolation and Advanced Applications

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As a type of green and sustainable nanomaterial, nanocellulose has attracted tremendous interest in research and development in both academia and industry. Although nanocellulose is naturally existing in the sustainable biomass, its sustainability is heavily dependent on the isolation process. In addition, in order to keep up the momentum gained in nanocellulose over the past two decades, it is essential to further explore the potential of nanocellulose in the development of high value-added advanced materials. In this webinar, I would review the research activities of my lab (Sustainable Functional Biomaterials lab at UBC) in both areas over the past two years, including our approaches in isolating lignin-containing cellulose nanocrystals from thermomechanical pulp using deep eutectic solvent, developing cellulose nanofibrils based hydrogel sensors, 3D printing of cellulose and nanocellulose into strong and superelastic materials, as well as fabricating super thermal-insulating aerogel. It is expected this webinar can spark more research interest in the field of bio-based nanomaterials.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand the importance and approaches for sustainable nanocellulose isolation
  • Learn how nanocellulose can help in varied application areas such as sensors and thermal insulating materials
  • Understand the design-properties relationship of nanocellulose-based materials
  • Be motivated in developing more advanced materials using bio-based nanomaterials

Speaker

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Feng Jiang received his B.S. degree in Wood Science and Technology from Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University in 2004, and then obtained a M.Sc. degree in Wood Science and Technology from Chinese Academy of Forestry in 2007, working on wood-plastic composite. He joined the Department of Wood Science (now Department of Sustainable Biomaterials) in Virginia Tech as a PhD student in 2007, working towards understanding the interaction mechanisms between cellulose nanocrystals and cellulase enzyme, surfactant, and cellulose binding domains. He gradated in 2011 with a PhD degree in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from VT. From 2011-2018, he worked as postdoc in University of California Davis and University of Maryland.

Currently, Feng Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wood Science at the University of British Columbia, and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Functional Biomaterials. He serves as Webinar Chair for TAPPI NANO Division, Member at Large for ACS CELL Division, Editorial Board member of Carbohydrate Polymers, and Guest Associate Editor for Frontiers in Energy Research. His research area focuses on developing advanced materials from lignocellulosic biomass, and his research interest includes isolation and functionalization of bio-based nanomaterials, assembly of bio-based nanomaterials into fibres, films, aerogel, and hydrogels, additive manufacturing, wood adhesives, as well as applications in thermal management, energy storage, and environmental remediation. He has published 68 journal articles (h index = 30, citations: 4038 based on google scholar) in high-impact journals, including Nature Materials, Science Advances, Joule, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie, ACS Nano, Energy Storage Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Chemical Engineering Journal, Nanoscale Horizons, Chemistry of Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Carbon, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Carbohydrate Polymers, etc. He has authored several invited book chapters and been invited to deliver over 20 presentations at international conferences and universities.

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