The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films was characterized using novel experimental techniques complemented by molecular simulations. The characteristic birefringence exhibited by CNC films was utilized to calculate the in-plane CTE of self-organized and shear-oriented self-standing CNC films from room temperature to 100 °C using polarized light image correlation. CNC alignment was estimated via Hermans order parameter (S) from 2D X-ray diffraction measurements. We found that films with no preferential CNC orientation through the thickness (S: ∼ 0.0) exhibited an isotropic CTE (∼25 ppm/K). In contrast, films with aligned CNC orientations (S: ∼0.4 to 0.8) had an anisotropic CTE response: For the highest CNC alignment (S: 0.8), the CTE parallel to CNC alignment was ∼9 ppm/K, while that perpendicular to CNC alignment was ∼158 ppm/K. CNC film thermal expansion was proposed to be due primarily to single crystal expansion and CNC-CNC interfacial motion. The relative contributions of inter- and intracrystal responses to heating were explored using molecular dynamics simulations.

We achieved a multiscale description of the thermal conductivity of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from single CNCs (∼0.72-5.7 W m(-1) K(-1)) to their organized nanostructured films (∼0.22-0.53 W m(-1) K(-1)) using experimental evidence and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The ratio of the approximate phonon mean free path (∼1.7-5.3 nm) to the lateral dimension of a single CNC (∼5-20 nm) suggested a contribution of crystal-crystal interfaces to polydisperse CNC film's heat transport. Based on this, we modeled the thermal conductivity of CNC films using MD-predicted single crystal and interface properties along with the degree of CNC alignment in the bulk films using Hermans order parameter. Film thermal conductivities were strongly correlated to the degree of CNC alignment and the direction of heat flow relative to the CNC chain axis. The low interfacial barrier to heat transport found for CNCs (∼9.4 to 12.6 m(2) K GW(-1)), and their versatile alignment capabilities offer unique opportunities in thermal conductivity control.

The coefficient of hygroscopic swelling (CHS) of self-organized and shear-oriented cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films was determined by capturing hygroscopic strains produced as result of isothermal water vapor intake in equilibrium. Contrast enhanced microscopy digital image correlation enabled the characterization of dimensional changes induced by the hygroscopic swelling of the films. The distinct microstructure and birefringence of CNC films served in exploring the in-plane hygroscopic swelling at relative humidity values ranging from 0% to 97%. Water vapor intake in CNC films was measured using dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) at constant temperature. The obtained experimental moisture sorption and kinetic profiles were analyzed by fitting with Guggenheim, Anderson, and deBoer (GAB) and Parallel Exponential Kinetics (PEK) models, respectively. Self-organized CNC films showed isotropic swelling, CHS ∼0.040 %strain/%C. By contrast, shear-oriented CNC films exhibited an anisotropic swelling, resulting in CHS ∼0.02 and ∼0.30 %strain/%C, parallel and perpendicular to CNC alignment, respectively. Finite element analysis (FEA) further predicted moisture diffusion as the predominant mechanism for swelling of CNC films.

Patchy particles with shape complementarity can serve as building blocks for assembling colloidal superstructures. Alternatively, encoding information on patches using DNA can direct assembly into a variety of crystalline or other preprogrammed structures. Here, we present a tool where DNA is used both to engineer shape and to encode information on colloidal particles. Two reactive oil emulsions with different but complementary DNA (cDNA) brushes are assembled into CsCl-like crystalline lattices. The DNA brushes are recruited to and ultimately localized at the junctions between neighboring droplets, which gives rise to DNA-encoded faceted patches. The emulsions are then solidified by ultraviolet (UV) polymerization, producing faceted patchy particles. The facet size and DNA distribution are determined by the balance between the DNA binding energy and the elastic deformation energy of droplets. This method leads to a variety of new patchy particles with directional interactions in scalable quantities.

Thermal expansion represents a vital indicator of the processing history and dimensional stability of materials. Solvent-sensitive, thin, and compliant samples are particularly challenging to test. Here we describe how textures highlighted by contrast enhanced optical microscopy modes (i.e., polarized light (PL), phase contrast (PC)) and bright field (BF) can be used to determine the thermal expansion of polymer films in a contact-free way using digital image correlation (DIC). Three different films were explored: polyetherimide (PEI), polyimide (PI), and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN). Image textural features (e.g., intensity, size, speckle pattern characteristics) obtained by BF, PC, and PL were analyzed by two-dimensional Fourier transform and autocorrelations. The measured in-plane CTEs of PEI, PI, and PEN films, 51.8, 20.5, and 10.2 ppm/K, respectively, closely approached those previously reported using DIC with artificially applied speckle patterns.