Media report on Tajvidi’s grant to continue CNF product research, development
Mainebiz and WABI (Channel 5) reported Mehdi Tajvidi, an assistant professor of renewable nanomaterials at the University of Maine, has been awarded $250,000 to develop next-generation floor and wall products that use cellulose nanofibrils. CNF are the microscopic natural structural building units of wood that are biodegradable and possess incredible strength and bonding attributes, according to Mainebiz. Tajvidi’s award from P3Nano — a public-private partnership founded by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the U.S. Forest Service — will be used to develop three building materials, including a scratch-, fire- and water-resistant flooring system made of CNF and cement, the reports state. Tajvidi told WABI the CNF products would be a big boost to Maine’s forest products industry. “we have all the infrastructure here to produce pulp and that pulp could easily be turned into nanocellulose that we use as the binder here and then the same facilities can also be a little bit modified to be able to produce the products that we are trying to produce,” Tajvidi said, adding the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at UMaine offers a facility for this research that can’t be found anywhere else.