Group Members
Education-PhD Student, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, 2008 - present.
-BSc, Chemistry, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, Canada, 2006.
Research Project:
Spectroscopic Characterization of the Structure and Surface Adsorption of Nano Crystalline Cellulose (NCC).
Project Description:
This work will investigate the nature of nano crystalline cellulose to adsorb from various solutions onto various organic monolayers. These monolayers will be self-assembled alkane thiols adsorbed onto reflective gold surfaces. It will provide a measure to order the adhesion forces between NCC and functional groups for acid hydrolyzed, surface modified and surfactant coated NCC. There will be the potential to observe the effects of altering the ionic strength, pH and NCC concentration as they contribute to the overall adsorption. Instrumentation that will lend itself to this work will include IRRAS, AFM and electron microscopy. Structural information regarding specific bond's orientation and bonding environment will be monitored as variables such as pH and surface fictionalizations occur. This work will find relevance in the application of employing NCC as an additive to polymers and plastics with the intention of increasing strength, biodegradability and thermal stability.
