Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing (CBBP)

What the facility does

Research of sustainable manufacturing; synergy between nanotech and biotech; nano-biomaterials design, manufacturing and scale-up; commercial scale demonstration and industry support for technology transfer.

Areas of expertise

The Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing provides research and commercial scale up opportunities for nanocellulose and nanocellulose composites; biofoams, biocomposites; thermoforming, profile and injection molded product; sustainable and lightweight product manufacturing for automotive and aerospace sectors.

Nanobiomaterials optimization; composite processing; R&D and prototyping services (injection moulding, sheeting extrusion and compounding), with specific focus on using renewable bio-material and developing and providing technology for high-performance composite products for building and construction; packaging, consumer goods and technical goods. The Centre also conducts properties evaluations of plastics, bioplastics, enzymes, biological strains, composite samples, and is involved in bio-material based nanofiber production and nanocomposite application. We also provide proteomic analysis and fermentation services. Nanocellulose pilot scale production with and without enzymatic modifications.

Research services

Fibre-reinforced composite research and development, prototyping service, injection-moulding, sheeting extrusion and compounding, high-end composite production, properties evaluation of composite samples, nanofibre production, nanocomposite application, proteomic analysis, fermentation service.

Sectors of application

Agriculture, animal science and food

Automotive

Construction (including building, civil engineering, specialty trades)

Education

Forestry and forest-based industries

Manufacturing and processing

Specialized labs and equipment

Specialized lab	Equipment	Function
Bio-composite Processing lab	Lab co-rotating twin screw extruder with side feeder and pelletizer	Suitable for compounding polymers with different additives, bio-material-based filler : Model: Onyx TEC-25/40 Throughput: 2 ~ 10 kg/hr Screw diameter: 25mm L/D Ratio: 40
	Full size industry injection moulding machine	Model: Onyx IM-380 Shot weight: 1115 g Injection pressure: 1698 kg/cm² Clamping force: 380 ton Max daylight: 1450 mm
	Co-rotating twin screw extruder compounding line	One 65-mm co-rotation parallel twin-screw extruder for compounding polymer and additives or bio-fillers; One die-face cutting pelletizing line to convert melt into pellet L/D ratio: 44 Maximum screw rpm: 600 Throughput: up to 200 kg/hour
	Composite sheet line (consisting of co-rotating twin screw extruder, single extruder and three-roll calendar line)	Making fiber (such as micro cellulose, glass, or carbon fiber) reinforced polymer composite sheet One 120 mm single extruder to convey melt from up twin-screw extruder into the sheet die One 3-roller calendar sheet line including conveyer, puller and cutter Roll diameter: 35 mm Sheet thickness: 1 to 3 mm Sheet width: 45 mm
	AEC dehumidifying (desiccant) material dryer from AEC Inc.	Generating very low dew point hot air to dry moisture sensitive polymer (PET, PLA etc), Model: AD60/4.0p Dried air CFM: 60 Hopper capacity: 4 cubic feet
Proteomic Lab	4800 MALDI TOF/TOF™ Analyzer from Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX	Generating MS spectrum by ionization and time of flight of protein peptides.
	EXQuest Spot Cutter from BIO-RAD Laboratories Inc.	For cutting the proteins and transfer into the gel plate for trypsin digestion
	2D electrophoreses cell (Protean/IEF Cell)	Separate proteins by IEF and SDS-PAGE
	Janus Automated Liquid Handling System	Used to handle a vast number of liquid samples
	Bio-Rad Image Scanner	For image scan of gels
Analytical and Testing Lab	FT-IR TENSOR 27 spectrometer from Bruker Corporation	Rapidly identify, quantify and verify routine samples Spectra range of 7500-370 cm-1 with standard KBr beam-splitter, resolution better than 1 cm-1. Equipped with micro ATR sampling accessory, OPUS software allows data acquisition, manipulation and evaluation in one intuitive package
	SENTERRA Raman spectrometer from Bruker Corporation	Full-featured dual laser Raman spectrometer with confocal microscope system that accommodates multiple excitation wave lengths with the highest possible spatial resolution.
	X-ray micro-computed 3D tomograph (SkyScan 1172 desktop) from Bruker	Allows cutting virtual sections or even fly-through samples non-destructively. No preparation, coating or vacuum treatment necessary Maximum specimen size: 20 mm diameter, 50 mm height for standard scan Pixel size: 5 - 35µm Scan duration: 15 – 300 minutes
	RH200 Capillary Rheometer from Bohlin Instrument	Bench top capillary rheometer provides highly flexible measurement capabilities and configuration options for a wide variety of applications.
	Insron Universal Tester Model 3367	For tensile, flexural and compression test with 2 kN and 30 kN load cells.
	Instron Dynatup-Drop Weight Impact Testing Instrument	Model 8200 Standard drop weight mass: 3.0 to 13.6 kg Adjustable increments: 1.1 kg Max. drop height: 1.0 m Max. velocity: 4.4 m/s Impact energy range: 1.356 to 132.8 J (1 to 97.9 ft lb)
	Environmental chamber	Providing testing environment over a wide range of temperature and humidity from 20% to 95%. Model: Burnsco WTH-6-6-8/5 Chamber dimension: 96” H X 72” W X 72” L
Nano Cellulose Fibre Procession Lab	Lab Homogenizer Panda from Niro Soavi SpA, Italy	Reducing samples dimension to Nano scale Processing pressure: up to 1500 bars Sample viscosity: < 20000 cp Temperature: < 90°C

Private and public sector research partners

Ingredion Canada Inc.
Powertrain Engineering Research and Development Center
Omtec Inc.
Performance Materials of DSM Corp.
Bayview Flowers Ltd.
Tembec inc.
Crest Mold Technology Inc.
AV Cell Inc.
Total American Services Inc.
Alliance Surface Finishing Inc.

Additional information

Title	URL
Green Technologies from Biomass	http://www.iupac.org/publications/ci/2013/3501/3_gu.html#author