Emerging Materials
Emerging Materials Research Program
The Emerging Materials research program develops in-house expertise in next-generation materials technologies that contribute to the protection of the environment and to the health, safety and security of Canadians. The program focuses on technologies and processes that:
- provide research and development support for materials used in defence and aerospace applications;
- prolong the service life of manufacturing systems and manufactured products;
- optimize current metals recycling technologies and develop new ones; and
- improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing in heavy industries.
There are six principal technical objectives in the Emerging Materials research program:
- to address materials issues for defence and aerospace applications;
- to develop hybrid composite materials with strong structural and functional performance properties;
- to optimize existing recycling technologies and processes and develop new materials recycling technologies to reduce the quantity of material being disposed of;
- to develop nanotechnology-based titanium dioxide photocatalyst materials and processes that break down air pollutants and criteria air contaminants and capture carbon dioxide emissions;
- to develop higher-efficiency thermoelectric materials that recover waste heat; and
- to develop highly corrosion-resistant materials for condensing heat exchangers.
Research is conducted in two research activity areas: materials for defence applications and ecomaterials.
The materials for defence applications research activity area provides support for the Department of National Defence and Defence Research and Development Canada. Materials expertise is provided to support Canada’s fleet of ships and submarines, light military vehicles, weapons systems, energetic materials and advanced electro-optical systems and to develop new materials.
The ecomaterials research activity area focuses on a more sustainable approach to manufacturing, with an emphasis on the development of materials and technologies that enable manufacturers to reduce or recover energy, lower waste and pollution emissions and improve recyclability.