A Canadian Sustainable Solution for the Production of Carbon

Carbon fibres (CFs) are produced from carbonization of a polymeric precursor obtained from crude oil. This project aims at developing a Canadian solution to the production of CFs from Alberta oilsands asphaltenes. A multidisciplinary team from McGill University, with expertise in green chemistry, soft matter characterization, polymer synthesis and composite materials processing, proposes a novel and sustainable solution to this challenge. Minimal designer-ionic liquids will be used to dissolve the asphaltene in bitumen, and then generate fibres that will continuously carbonized will produce CFs. This approach minimizes wastes and significantly reduces the energy required to produce CFs.