Itzel Lopez-Carreon

Roles and responsibilities

Technical Officer in the Façade Systems and Products group.

Involved in the development of sustainable polymer-based building envelope materials, their performance evaluation, aging and durability assessment.

Responsible for performing physical and chemical analysis of polymeric materials aged under various oxidative, non-oxidative, and alkaline conditions. Characterization techniques include dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), optical microscopy, thermal analysis (DSC & TGA), and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Current research and/or projects

Currently leading a multi-year research project on outdoor weathering of silicone and polyurethane construction sealants in order to investigate their natural aging, compare it with laboratory accelerated aging, and validate a previously-developed crack growth model.

Education

M.A.Sc. Materials Engineering, Carleton University (2023-present)
B.Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry, University of Ottawa, 2020

Key publications

J. F. Masson, I. Lopez–Carreon, W. Jiyuan, O. Obukohwo, P. Collins, M. Riahinezhad, E. Esmizadeh. Degradation and Service-Life Prediction of Silicone Rubber in a Highly Alkaline Environment Simulating Concrete. Engineering Failure Analysis, 138, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106305
J.-F. Masson, P. Collins, M. Riahinezhad, I. Lopez-Carreon, and J. Johansen. Resistance of a silicone membrane to long-term UV and moisture aging in light of climate change. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering. 49(2): 192-200, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2020-0730