Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council

Farmers may soon have another market for their hemp and flax crops thanks to an innovative project by the Composites Innovation Centre (CIC).

With approximately $103,000 in funding from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), the Winnipeg-based not-for-profit corporation is examining the surface chemical characteristics of Manitoba-grown natural fibres to enhance the design of natural fibre-based material products to increase market penetration in industrial sectors such as ground transportation, civil infrastructure and aerospace.

Dr. Simon Potter, CIC sector manager for product innovation and civil infrastructure, says farmers will benefit by having a new value stream. Currently, hemp works best for the CIC’s purposes, says Potter, but flax can also be used. He’s hoping this work will encourage Manitoba farmers to grow more hemp.

The purpose of this project is to achieve biocomposite materials that perform better than existing ones, says Potter. “At the moment, biocomposite materials don’t have the required strength. They don’t meet up with the benchmark of fiberglass or steel or any of the other materials that we’re competing with,” he says. “And one of the potential reasons for that is the natural fibre does not bind with the matrix in the biocomposite that well. So we’ve engaged in this project to look at the chemistry of the surface of the fibre and how it interacts with the matrix, which is a resin.”

After we have characterized the chemistry of that interaction, we can start to rationally design the chemistry so that we can improve the strength qualities of the fibre, says Potter, adding the ultimate goal is to eliminate fiberglass in things like vehicles and rather have a biocompositable component.

Biocomposite materials are also more environmentally friendly, says Potter. They can be molded, which means fewer components are required to make a vehicle. This makes it easier and less expensive to manufacture. As well, biocomposite materials have less embodied energy in them so it takes less energy to produce a natural biocomposite than a glass composite or a metallic.

However, there is a disadvantage to working with biocomposite materials. The variability of the resource is an issue. “Because natural fibres are grown year by year and the weather can have an effect on the fibre, we see significant variation in the quality of the fibre,” he says.

The CIC has partnered with the Canadian Light Source (CLS), Canada’s national synchrotron research facility located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, for this project. A synchrotron is a source of brilliant light that enables scientists to study the microstructure and chemical properties of materials.

“We are used as a tool to understand materials at the molecular and chemical level. For this project we’re looking at how composites are assembled. This will give researchers the ability to look at fibres broken down to the Nanometer scale,” says Dr. Jeffrey Cutler, director of industrial science at the CLS. “It will give the CIC a leg up on their ability to understand the nature of these materials and how they behave. And hopefully it will help them develop new materials more effectively and develop products sooner.”

Cutler says this project is a great opportunity for the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to work together and develop some of these next generation materials. “We’re seeing a lot more interest in sustainable materials in every sector. Their expertise and our expertise coupled together will help put western Canada on the global map for the development of sustainable materials,” he says.

For more information on the Composites Innovation Centre visit www.compositesinnovation.ca. For more information on the Canadian Light Source visit www.lightsource.ca

Funding for this project has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program. In Manitoba, this program is delivered by the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council.

~ By Teresa Falk, MRAC Communications Officer

Photo: In the image of the vehicle above, some of the body panels will soon be made from hemp fibres. Photo courtesy Composites Innovation Centre.