2023
Development of mesoporous polymer-in-ceramic ion conducting membranes for solid-state Li batteries
Current-state Li-ion batteries powering electric vehicles (EVs) are characterized by relatively low energy density, meaning limited driving range, employment of flammable chemicals (鈥渆lectrolytes鈥�), representing safety hazards, as well as non-sustainable sourcing of critical components. All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSBs) have been identified by the EV industry as truly transformative sustainable alternatives. This project develops a polymer-in-ceramic structure that is intended to provide stable solid electrolytes with optimized interfacial integration to lithium metal anode and composite cathode for high performance and sustainable next-generation EV batteries.聽Lead researcher:聽George Demopoulos (Materials Engineering)
New Tools for Sustainable Groundwater Management
For small Northern communities and households that use groundwater pumped from the subsurface, there are major sustainability challenges in ensuring clean water supply. All groundwater resources are vulnerable to contamination and climate change impacts. The first step to ensuring sustainable water resources is identifying a well鈥檚 capture zone (WCZ), the subsurface region from which a well extracts drinking water. By delineating the WCZ, groundwater can be protected for sustainable recovery. Most small Northern communities either haven鈥檛 identified the WCZ or hire expensive consultants. This project will build a new webtool that quickly estimates the WCZ for communities/households, utilizing a recently published new set of analytical solutions. An initial version of the webtool is programmed, but it requires investment to be fully operational for potential users. The tool requires interfacing with the global permeability database and local topography for assessing hydraulic gradients. Once completed, the tool allows a user to enter a location and potential pumping rate to immediately generate the WCZ. The project focuses on water resources for Northern Communities, and has a Yukon focus because 97% of the population relies on groundwater, but with sustainability challenges from climate change and contaminated sites.聽Lead researcher:聽Jeffrey McKenzie (Earth & Planetary Sciences)
2022
Multi-reconfigurable materials for recyclable packaging
This project combines a cellulose-based material with notions of paper folding to create a fully recyclable package with reconfigurable functionalities unmet by existing packaging technology. This lightweight material will also have impressive load-bearing capabilities and be fully collapsible to save space and reduce transportation costs. The goal at this stage is to test the material鈥檚 integrity and functionality when used in service conditions with exposure to varying environmental temperatures and moisture levels.聽Lead researcher:聽Damiano Pasini (Mechanical Engineering)
Development of high-throughput ball milling for battery materials synthesis
Ball milling is used extensively in advanced battery materials research and production, either for coatings or in making nanometric materials of high interest. The traditional approach is to make one sample at a time on the gram-scale, which is both time and resource intensive. This project will develop a high-throughput ball mill jar that will permit the preparation of 64 materials simultaneously on the milligram-scale. This methodology will then be applied to various battery materials such as carbon-coated cathodes and amorphous solid electrolytes.聽Lead researcher聽Eric McCalla (Chemistry)
2021
Developing a near real-time sensor network for urban air pollution
Air pollution and noise are important public health issues in urban environments. This project will develop and test a new prototype device capable of estimating near real-time levels of noise and urban air pollution using deep learning models combined with images and audio data (i.e. city sounds). Ultimately, the goal is to develop a new low-cost method of estimating high-resolution population exposures to environmental pollutants. Lead researchers Scott Weichenthal聽(Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health) & Pedro Pinheiro (Deep Genomics)
Cellulose-waste derived material for targeted removal of microplastics and nanoplastics from water
This project uses cellulose-based wastes 鈥� recovered from agriculture and paper industries 鈥� to fabricate materials that can be used to improve water treatment performance in a sustainable manner. The goal is to strategically modify the cellulose-based wastes so as to optimize the capture of microplastic and nanoplastic contaminants, as well as phosphorus, that are present in wastewaters.聽Lead researchers聽Nathalie Tufenkji聽& Mathieu Lapointe (Department of Chemical Engineering)
2020
Assessing the environmental impact of urban micro-mobility services
The influx of micromobility services, such as dockless scooter-share and e-bikes, in many cities are contributing to a substantial change in urban transportation. The rapid arrival of these services, however, has left little time for city regulators and citizens to assess the environmental impact of these services and compare them to existing transportation options. In this project we will develop and widely disseminate a survey to both users and non-users of micromobility services across Canada. Given the results of this survey, and vehicle emission data, we will calculate the actual environmental (GHG) impact of these new services on urban centres across Canada.聽Lead researcher: Jeffrey McKenzie (Earth & Planetary Sciences)
Prototype reactor for the Power-to-Gas (methane) process
The Power-to-Gas (P2G) process is a promising technology in which renewable electricity is converted into chemical energy (methane) and stored in the natural gas grid. The main challenges are the catalytic conversion of H2 and captured CO2 into CH4 (i.e., reactor design, heat removal). With this Innovation fund in combination with an NSERC-CRD project, we will be able to build prototype reactors (catalytic heat exchanger design with alternate reactive and non-reactive channels) and evaluate their performance in terms of CO2 conversion, long-term stability as well as conduct a techno-economic and life-cycle-analysis. Goal: Canada鈥檚 first P2G process!聽Lead researcher:聽Jan Kopyscinski (Chemical Engineering)
Deconstructing to Reconstruct 鈥� A Sustainable Valorization of Lignin to Pharmaceuticals
To maximize value from biomass, the value of lignin must be increased. Since more than 90% of current pharmaceuticals are produced from petroleum, large growth opportunities for lignin-derived building blocks exist in this sector. This research aims to capitalize upon recent advances in lignin depolymerization technologies to create a value chain that affords the chemotherapeutic podophyllotoxin. By valorizing lignin into pharmaceuticals, we hope to create an economic incentive for increased biomass utilization, and motivate additional engagement from pharmaceutical companies, interested in developing sustainable manufacturing practices from renewable feedstocks. Lead researcher: Jean-Philip Lumb (Chemistry)
Supercritical aluminum-water (SAW) reactor for on-demand hydrogen production
Building on previous success, where aluminum was reacted with supercritical water to produce heat and hydrogen, this project focusses on the design of an industry-relevant supercritical aluminum-water reactor capable of delivering a continuous stream of hot hydrogen and steam to an engine.聽Lead researcher Jeffrey Bergthorson (Mechanical Engineering)
Plant-based pigments from cellulose nanocrystals for color cosmetics and organic seed coatings
This project will develop a new class of vibrant, naturally sourced pigments based on algal and plant-derived dyes, combined with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). We establish how 鈥渕olecular mixing鈥� of botanical dyes on the surface of CNC yields a gamut of hues, quantify color stability and demonstrate applications for Natural color cosmetics and seed coatings for organic farming.聽Lead researcher Mark Andrews (Chemistry)
Including Persons with Disabilities in Multilateral Climate Governance
As the world moves forward with measures to tackle the climate crisis and adapt to the impacts of climate change, it is critical that these efforts include persons with disabilities. This project will establish a working group of disabled persons organizations and their allies that want to collaborate on disability-inclusive climate action and justice. Through collaborative research, capacity-building, and advocacy, this working group will help ensure that the rights and perspectives of persons with disabilities are meaningfully included in the climate justice movement and in the adoption of climate policies and initiatives.聽Lead researcher Sebastien Jodoin (Law)
2019
Building Resilience in Fragile Ecosystems: Innovative cellulose hydrogels for water and fertilizer savings in dryland agriculture.
Hydrogels derived from forestry waste will be engineered for the slow release of NPK fertilizers by crops. In combination with new drip irrigation technology, precision amounts of water and nutrients will be delivered to the rhizosphere to meet crop requirements. Sustainability benefits include: improved water efficiency, reduced fertilizer use and greenhouse gas emissions, and reuse of waste biomass to produce bio-degradable hydrogels.聽Lead researcher Chandra Madramootoo (Bioresource Engineering)
Greener synthetic approaches to biologically active oligonucleotides
Current methods of DNA and RNA chemical synthesis are challenged by problems of cost, scale, and environmental impact associated with extensive use of solvents that subsequently become chemical waste. To overcome this problem, a new metho that utilizes milling/grinding technology is being developed by the Damha鈥怓risci research groups, opening a path to eliminate or significantly reduce solvent consumption. Lead researcher Masad Dahma (Chemistry)
2018
Design of Advanced Solid State Batteries
The poorly understood Na-Fe-Mn-O pseudo-ternary system contains promising Na-ion cathode materials. Herein, high-throughput techniques will be used to characterize and screen the battery performance of hundreds of compositions. This will help develop advanced electrode materials from earth abundant benign materials and thereby lower the batteries鈥� environmental impact.聽Lead researcher Eric McCalla (Chemistry)
Solvent-free enzymatic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Plastic contamination is a major environmental problem. Poly(ethylene)terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely used plastics with 30M tons produced globally in 2015. This project will explore a novel, non-conventional method for the degradation of PET. Unlike current degradation processes, our method is clean and does not restrict to downcycling.聽Lead researcher Karine Auclair (Chemistry)
Sustainable Green Plasticizers
Plasticizers are added to the majority of consumer plastics to improve their flexibility and processing behavior. During the last decade, the most common plasticizers, known as phthalates and which are produced in the millions of tons annually, have been shown to have adverse health effects. Moreover, they are made from fossil fuels and are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. In this work, we will be performing large scale production run of our replacement sustainable green plasticizer as a validation towards commercialization.聽Lead researcher Richard Leask (Chemical Engineering)
Closing the Phosphorus Loop through Phosphate Rock Production from Municipal Sludge
Municipal wastewater contains high concentrations of phosphorus (P) that must be reduced to prevent algal blooms and eutrophication. Current wastewater treatment precipitates insoluble iron phosphate, which is too stable to act as a P-fertilizer. This project investigates P-capture as phosphate rock to produce P-fertilizer from municipal wastewater, CO2, and limestone.聽Lead researcher Sidney Omelon (Mining and Materials Engineering)
Novel plasma technology for renewable ammonia synthesis
Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most important chemicals produced today. It is produced at large scale using the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, and used in the synthesis of fertilizers and virtually all synthetic nitrogen-containing chemicals. The annual production of NH3 is larger than 160 million tons, with associated CO2 emissions exceeding 300 million tons, and energy requirements accounting for ~2% of the world鈥檚 energy consumption. The proposed plasma technology bears the potential to displace the energy-intensive and polluting H-B process by using electricity from renewables as the only energy source.聽Lead researcher Sylvain Coulombe (Chemical Engineering)
