Professor
UBC President’s Excellence Chair in Forest Bioproducts
Office: Forestry 4036
Email: emily.cranston@ubc.ca
Website: cranstongroup.forestry.ubc.ca
Research Summary
Nanocellulose, Sustainable Nanocomposites and Hybrid Materials, Surface Functionalization of Lignocellulosics
Education
McGill University, 2008, Ph.D.
McGill University, 2001, B.Sc., Honours
Research interests + projects
Designing and characterizing innovative bio-based nanocomposites and bio-inspired materials
Exploring the applications of cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils and biopolymers in novel devices and products through interdisciplinary research
Measuring surface forces, morphology and tribology through advanced microscopy
Characterizing soft matter coatings, gels and emulsions using reflectivity and adsorption techniques
Extending state-of-the-art nano-testing tools and analyses to investigate new phenomena
Ensuring knowledge translation through high-impact publications and intellectual property
Collaborative Areas:
Academic: Biomedicine, Biomass-Enzyme Interactions, Energy Storage, Nan-device Fabrication, Polymer Processing/Self-Assembly/Reaction Engineering, Pulp & Paper, Wastewater Treatment
Industrial: Chemicals, Cosmetics, Engineering Solutions, Food, Household Products, Nanocellulose Production, Oil & Gas, Particles & Coatings, Plastics, Polymer Processing, Pulp & paper
Awards and honours
KINGFA Young Investigator’s Award, American Chemical Society’s Cellulose & Renewable Materials division , 2016
Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecturer, American Chemical Society and the Kavli Foundation , 2018
E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship (NSERC) , 2021
TAPPI Nanotechnology Division Technical Award , 2021
Society of Chemical Industries of Canada, LeSueur Award, 2021
TAPPI Nanotechnology Division Leadership and Service Award, 2023
Royal Society of Canada, College of New Scholars, 2023
Scholarly and professional activities + affiliations
Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
American Chemical Society
Chemical Institute of Canada
Canadian Society for Chemistry
Selected publications + presentations
Vanderfleet, O.M., Cranston, E.D. Production Routes to Tailor the Performance of Cellulose Nanocrystals. Nature Reviews Materials, 6, 124–144, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-020-00239-y
Delepierre, G., Vanderfleet, O.M., Niinivaara, E., Zakani, B., Cranston, E.D. Benchmarking Cellulose Nanocrystals Part II: New Industrially Produced Materials. Langmuir 27 (28), 8393-8409, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00550
Ferreira, E.S., Rezende, C.A., Cranston, E.D. Fundamentals of Cellulose Lightweight Materials: Bio-Based Assemblies with Tailored Properties. Green Chemistry 23, 3542 – 3568, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC00326G
Kedzior, S.A., Gabriel, V., Dubé, M.A., Cranston, E.D. Nanocellulose in Emulsions and Heterogeneous Water-Based Polymer Systems: A Review. Advanced Materials 2002404, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202002404
Yang, X., Shi, K., Zhitomirsky, I., Cranston, E.D. Cellulose Nanocrystal Aerogels as Universal 3D Lightweight Substrates for Supercapacitor Materials. Advanced Materials 27, 6104–6109,2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201502284