Your son is moving into his
new dorm and wants to take the television in
the basement. He folds it neatly, tucks it
into his backpack, and is ready to leave.
You roll up your laptop in
a beach towel and are ready for the cottage.
You run the family car to
the ground. Instead of hauling it to the
junkyard, you park it in the backyard and
there it biodegrades, enriching the soil.
This is not in the realm of
science fiction. And it is not Keanu Reeves
describing a scene from the latest in the
Matrix series, either. According to a very
respected name in the field, we can expect all
of these and more in the very near future.
Dr Mohini Mohan Sain,
director, Centre for Biocomposites and
Biomaterials Processing, and a professor at
the UofT’s faculty of Forestry and Department
of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry,
is conducting advanced research on finding
uses for nano biocomposites.
"We are working on an
organic liquid display monitor for
televisions. We are developing an organic
polymer with a highly refractive index, a
material which will then allow us to develop
flexible monitors. This will replace synthetic
materials and be easier and cheaper to
transport as you will be able to roll it up
instead of putting it in a box. Our aim is to
use green, renewable, recyclable materials
such as hemp, flax, wheat straw and other
plant fibres to make car bumpers, building
materials, sports equipment and cardiac
devices, etc." says the founding member of
Canadian Natural Composites Council.
The Council promotes the
idea of using natural, renewable materials by
increasing public awareness and supporting
industries that use these materials. It
arrives at a general consensus for research by
identifying future needs and challenges.
Weight, performance and
cost are the three key factors driving the use
of materials today, explains Dr Sain.
Cellulose nano fibres are
two to three times lighter than synthetic
fibres. They are also high performance fibres.
Though a straw might be easy to break, if you
look at the anatomy of each straw, you see
that it is made of many bundles of nano fibres.
And each nano fibre is very tough and
difficult to break. That’s because it has
arrived at its true identity where it keeps
its material property. In a bundle, there is
interface between the fibres and thus it is
not as strong.
Dr Sain is working on
creating biocomposites that would be as strong
as steel and could one day replace many
synthetic materials.
"Mother Nature has done it
all for us. All we have to do is understand
how it works and we have a huge solution right
there. What we are doing now is reverse
engineering," says Dr Sain.
Moving on to cost, he
points out that since these fibres are
isolated from plants, they are in abundant
supply.
"As a scientist, you strive
to find the best way to achieve the result; in
this case, to isolate the fibres. But our
research indicates that it will not be
difficult to achieve cost efficiency. As
science develops, we will develop new
technology and this will, in turn, reduce
cost. Using plant fibres in automotives and
aerospace is our future target."
Long bus rides to his
college – St Xaviers in Kolkata – were
responsible for his interest in the field,
says Dr Sain.
"I’d inhale thick smoke
spewing out from the bus in front of ours all
the way to college and then again, all the way
back. My mother would say, ‘You are all
black,’ when I’d return home. But more than
that, I’d also feel very tired and fatigued. I
then realized that people were living in this
pollution and were not even aware of how it
was affecting their health and productivity.
This gave me an impetus to find a more
environmentally friendly means of
transportation. There was also a personal
reason. My son developed asthma when we moved
to Toronto and it made me want to focus my
work for the sustained good of the
environment."
However, a field that is
almost fashionable now, wasn’t so popular back
in the early 90s. People dismissed Dr Sain’s
ideas as "nonsense" and told him his ideas
would not fly. Many of his proposals were
rejected. Even his family and close friends
found it hard to understand his passion for
the environment.
"They said, ‘You can do
better’. I don’t blame them – I was earning
$30,000 to 35,000 a year for a long, long
time. But I didn’t want to become a
millionaire in a day! I believed in what I was
doing and now I am happy to see people the
world over are taking the environment
seriously."
Having completed his
Master’s in Chemical Engineering from iit
Kharagpur, Dr Sain moved to Europe and then to
Canada, when he was offered an international
fellowship and funding for his research.
But even with the funding,
life was not easy. His wife, Eva, was
here on a visitor visa and couldn’t take up
employment, though she had also worked in the
same field.
"There were day-to-day
challenges. We had a son, but not the finances
to afford daycare. Nor enough money to either
maintain our lifestyle at home or externally.
We were also coping with language difficulties
as we first moved to Quebec, but didn’t know
French! I took lessons and could converse in
English with colleagues, but my family felt
very isolated."
Dr Sain also didn’t have a
PEng, and without one, found it difficult to
land a job. It took him a long time to
establish roots in Canada, he says.
"I meet a lot of people at
the Ministry and it is a continuing challenge
– how to bring in good, qualified people and
utilize their skills optimally. The government
has to clarify the status before allowing
these foreign-trained professionals to come
in. It is very important that we are upfront
about what we can or can’t offer. These are
world-class people and should be given an
opportunity to make a good life for
themselves. By denying them the opportunity,
Canada loses out on a lot of talent. I would
say a more flexible approach is called for.
Definitely."
Dr Sain’s children, Noem
Martin, 16, and Susan, 14, are very
proud of their father’s work.
"They don’t express it
often – you know how kids are! But they take a
deep interest in it."
Dr Sain is a big soccer
fan, and likes to play badminton and pingpong
in his free time.
"I also like fishing, but
we don’t have good fishing in Toronto!"
Dr Sain drives a Nissan
Sentra.
"It’s a small car, and it’s
the only car we have. We don’t spend a lot on
gas, as it’s used only in emergencies. I take
the subway.
"I think we all need to be
more caring about our planet. We have to
improve the way we live, the way we think and
feel. If we understand that, we’ll all move
forward."
Dr Sain has published many
articles and received many awards. His work
has been written about in many scientific
journals and non-scientific publications. So
much so that he has lost track of how many.
When I tell him that I
first read of his work in Mark Cullen’s
A Sandbox of a Different Kind, he
chuckles.
"I didn’t know I’d been
featured there! I’m flattered. But as I said,
more and more people are taking an interest in
this field. This fuels our work."
So the truly green car is
not a dream?
"Not at all. The major car
companies have already introduced this
material in some form. We’ll see more and more
high-performance bio material being used
commercially. Give it a maximum of five years!
"Green technology will help
Canada reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Living in a bio-based economy means we will
not harm our environment."
– Shagorika Easwar
