Director Norman Marsolan joined representatives of the Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, and TAPPI and other industry and university researchers at a US Forest Service Forest Products Lab review in Madison, WI, May 14-16. The group provided feedback on FPL’s portfolio and its relevance to the industry. The event also featured a tour of the new nanocrystalline cellulose pilot plant expected to start up this summer.
Professors Art Ragauskas and Yulin Deng are leading a team supported by another FPL grant to develop functional hydrophobic/hydrophilic barriers for paper-based packaging systems. These innovative green barrier materials will provide sustainable solutions for securing the nation’s food, medical, and various other packaging needs. The program will provide new high-value markets for nano-cellulosic materials and sustainable packaging.A related workshop at Purdue University is April discussed some of the projects in the FPL portfolio, including two being undertaken pursuant to grants to Georgia Tech/IPST. GT Professors Car-son Meredith and Meisha Shofner and Greg Schueneman of FPL are collaborating on a pro-ject to address the challenges for developing high-strength, lightweight crystalline nanocellulose- (CNC-) based advanced resin formulations for the aerospace industry. The results will provide an understanding of relationships between processes and properties for CNC composites, intended to enable widespread adoption of CNC’s and nano-fibrillated cellulose as a performance additive or structural filler.