91¸£Àû and ORNL Hub & Spoke Partnership
Research collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 91¸£Àû.
The Hub & Spoke partnership between the two organizations began in June 2019 with Phase 1 completion on September 2022. The goal of the partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 91¸£Àû is to accelerate the advancement of nanocellulose and other forest products composite technology, reduce the time from laboratory discovery to market impact, and facilitate the transition of bio-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies to industry. This collaboration is the first large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing program in the US, connecting regional industry and university clusters with national lab resources.
Scientists from ORNL and 91¸£Àû are conducting research in several key areas, including CNF production, drying, functionalization, and compounding with thermoplastics, multiscale modeling, and sustainability life-cycle analysis. As a forest product, CNF could rival steel properties and its successful incorporation into plastics shows great promise for a renewable feedstock suitable for additive manufacturing.
APPTI, in collaboration with ORNL, will be hosting a webinar series to share research findings from this program. The webinar series will launch in later January 2022. Watch for more information on the APPTI website.