Integrating cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in sheet molding compound (SMC) line: 1) by coating glass fiber passing through aqueous suspensions of CNC and 2) by mixing CNC in SMC resin.
Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC): Cellulose-based whisker-shaped nanoparticles derived from plants
SMC Manufacturing of lightweight hybrid CNC-GF/epoxy composite for automotive appllications.
After the CNC-containing GFRP SMC composites are conditioned, they will be cut, stacked upon one another depending on the required thickness, and molded in a hot-press.
Tensile, flexural and impact properties show that incorporating ~1 wt% CNC in SMC composites by dispersing in the matrix allows removing 12-16 wt% glass fibers (GFs) in SMC composites with 60 wt% GF loading with no penalty on performance
Left: SMC GFRP without CNC-Right: SMC GFRP with CNC Adding CNC in the SMC composites alters the fracture morphology from smooth surfaces (left) to rougher surfaces (right), delineating that more energy is required for final fracture.
Supercritical CO2 Assisted Atomization (SAA) system to disperse CNC onto GFs during the manufacturing of SMC composites
Water Droplets containing CNC atomized using pressurized air captured by high-speed camera. The average diameter of droplets is 31 micrometer.
Lightweight structures increase fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emission in automotive and marine industries. Scalable manufacturing of lightweight composites by integrating nanotechnology and large scale manufacturing is a focus in PCAM lab. We investigate the interaction between mico/nano reinforcements coexisting in polymer composites and the potential of using this synergy to remove a part of heavier components (such as glass fiber) in composites without any penalty on performance.
