Vahideh Akbari receives the CRMR’s Autumn 2024 support scholarship, a value of $5,000!
Congratulations to Vahideh Akbari, recipient of the autumn 2024 support scholarship from the Renewable Materials Research Centre (CRMR), a value of $5,000. Vahideh is pursuing a PhD in wood and bio-based materials engineering under the supervision of Véronic Landry and Stéphanie Vanslambrouck.
The aim of this scholarship is to promote university studies and research related to the CRMR’s research areas by offering financial assistance to a graduate student at the end of his/her studies who has no source of funding. Vahideh’s application was selected by the committee on the basis of her academic performance, her personal and scientific achievements, and the quality and progress of her research project.
Congratulations to Vahideh on her success, and a big thanks to the committee for their involvement throughout the process!
Project title: Development of innovative wood hardening solutions
The construction sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 40% of the total, with building materials and construction alone responsible for 10% of these emissions. This trend is expected to grow significantly by 2030. To address these environmental concerns, the adoption of green materials, particularly wood products, offers a promising solution to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in construction.
Wood, commonly used in residential buildings (71% market share), faces limitations in non-residential structures due to hardness and flammability concerns. Wood densification, a technique aimed at enhancing wood density and hardness, presents a promising solution for expanding wood’s use across various applications. Current densification methods, however, have limitations in terms of cost and environmental impact. This project introduces an environmentally friendly approach involving in-situ polymerization using Michael-addition reaction between biobased acrylate and malonate monomers. This reaction, conducted in mild conditions with reducing energy and solvent consumptions, aims to enhance wood densification while minimizing environmental impact.
Various malonate-acrylate systems are formulated, optimized, and tested on three different North American hardwoods. The study aims to advance sustainable wood-polymer composites to enhance wood properties, particularly hardness and potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the sector.