{"461601":{"#nid":"461601","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Environmentally friendly high performance bio-based polymers for DoD applications","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Renewable Bioproducts Institute will host Dr. John La Scala of the Army Research Laboratory Nov. 5, when he will meet with faculty and delivery a seminar entitled \u0022Environmentally friendly high performance bio-based polymers for DoD applications.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. La Scala is Associate for Science \u0026amp; Technology for Weapons and Materials Research Directorate of the Army Research Laboratory and works in the area of bio-based precursors for polymer composite materials and carbon fibers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia in 1997 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 2002. He was a postdoctoral scientist at Drexel University before becoming an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education postdoctoral fellow at ARL in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD in 2003.\u0026nbsp; In 2005, he was hired as a federal employee at ARL, promoted to senior scientist in 2007, and appointed branch chief of the Coatings, Corrosion, and Engineered Polymers Branch in 2009.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPolymer composite materials are derived from non-renewable petroleum sources, making their use unsustainable and causing their cost to be highly volatile.\u0026nbsp; Furthermore, polymer composite materials often contain toxic components or produce toxic emissions.\u0026nbsp; To address these issues, we have used plant-derived renewable resources to develop a number of polymer composite materials technologies with properties and performance similar to that of petroleum-derived composites.\u0026nbsp; We formulated and developed fatty acid-based vinyl ester resins derived from plant oils and successfully demonstrated and validated them on weapons platforms across the DoD.\u0026nbsp; We chemically modified lignin to produce lignin-based carbon fiber with the highest reported strength and modulus.\u0026nbsp; We have been addressing toxicity issues associated with bisphenol, a component used in the production of many high performance polymers.\u0026nbsp; Through use of polymers from lignin-derived chemicals, such as guaiacol, and carbohydrate-derived isosorbide and furans, we have created a number of polymers with properties similar or superior to that of commercial polymers.\u0026nbsp; Furthermore, we have shown that these bio-based chemicals and polymers have reduced toxicity relative to the baseline commercial polymers.\u0026nbsp; As a result, we are currently preparing diamines derived from carbohydrates and lignin to reduce the toxicity and improve the sustainability of polyimides and epoxies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dr. John La Scala of Army Research Lab to deliver seminar Nov. 5"}],"uid":"28159","created_gmt":"2015-10-22 13:23:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:14:29","author":"Kelly Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2015-11-05T15:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2015-11-05T16:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2015-11-05T16:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2015-11-05 20:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2015-11-05 21:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2015-11-05 21:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"461611":{"id":"461611","type":"image","title":"La Scala, John Dr.","body":null,"created":"1449256373","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:53","changed":"1475895206","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:26","alt":"La Scala, John Dr.","file":{"fid":"203614","name":"la_scala.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/la_scala.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/la_scala.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":12955,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/la_scala.jpg?itok=EFDAmGHU"}}},"media_ids":["461611"],"groups":[{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"},{"id":"372221","name":"Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"145381","name":"bio-based"},{"id":"145371","name":"carbon fibers"},{"id":"145391","name":"La Scala"},{"id":"4216","name":"polymers"},{"id":"93811","name":"RBI"},{"id":"4174","name":"renewable"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMeisha Shofner, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:meisha.shofner@mse.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emeisha.shofner@mse.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}