From a cholesteric non-aqueous cellulose nanocrystal suspension to a highly ordered film

Amira Barhoumi Meddeb, Inseok Chae, Federico Scurti, Justin Schwartz, Seong H. Kim, Zoubeida Ounaies

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

A highly ordered cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) film was processed and characterized from a non-aqueous suspension. As a first step, by drawing upon the negative magnetic anisotropy of CNCs, a global order of the nanocrystals is achieved by magnetic field-assisted manipulation of a cholesteric suspension in n-methylformamide (NMF), and then the order is subsequently preserved into a solid-state film. We study the differences between the structures of the 4 T-dried film and the control film dried in the absence of magnetic field. Additionally, we compare the NMF-dried films to those dried from aqueous suspensions with and without magnetic field. Optical microscopy, cross-sectional imaging analysis, and sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy show that the CNC-NMF film dried under magnetic field exhibited a highly ordered layered structure throughout the film, comparable to that observed when films were produced from aqueous suspensions. Extending the potential of the CNC alignment to non-aqueous systems will enable a broad spectrum of applications for CNC-based polymer composites.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3547-3554
Number of pages8
JournalMRS Advances
Volume5
Issue number64
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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