Material design of nanocellulose/polymer composites via Pickering emulsion templating

Abstract

Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is a crystalline fiber composed of a bundle of cellulose molecular chains and is expected to be used as a new biomass-derived nanomaterial. The CNF has a unique morphology: a few to tens of nanometer width and a submicrometer to micrometer length. Its application to various materials, in particular its utilization as a polymer reinforcing material, has been anticipated due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, CNFs and plastics are generally hard to mix, and thus, it is difficult to combine them at the nanolevel. In this review, we describe the CNF/polymer nanocompositing process from Pickering emulsion. We use ~3 nm-wide wood-derived CNFs and report on the preparation of CNF/polymer homogenous composite films. We also introduce a new type of CNF/polymer composite, a core-shell microparticle, using this Pickering emulsion as a template.

Antifungal features and properties of chitosan/sandalwood oil Pickering emulsion coating stabilized by appropriate cellulose nanofiber dosage for fresh fruit application

“…Morphology monitoring using CLSM revealed that orange fluorescence indicating acridine orange stained-CNFs lay at the surface of the dispersed phase, thereby stabilizing the oil droplets. This use of CLSM to confirm the template of the Pickering emulsion agent was also reported for zein particles stained with Nile blue A 5 , CNFs and nanocrystals stained with calcofluor white 35 , and nanocellulose stained with acridine orange 36 . Furthermore, CNFs affected the oil droplet size, indicating that CNFs had an important role in preventing the collision and aggregation of emulsion droplets by their accumulation at the oil–water interface.…”

Antifungal Features and Properties of Chitosan/Sandalwood Oil Pickering Emulsion Coating Stabilized by Appropriate Cellulose Nanofiber Dosage for Fresh Fruit Application

“…Morphology monitoring using CLSM revealed that orange fluorescence indicating acridine orange stained-CNFs lay at the surface of the dispersed phase, thereby stabilizing the oil droplets. This use of CLSM to confirm the template of the Pickering emulsion agent was also reported for zein particles stained with Nile blue A 5 , CNFs and nanocrystals stained with calcofluor white 35 , and nanocellulose stained with acridine orange 36 . Furthermore, CNFs affected the oil droplet size, indicating that CNFs had an important role in preventing the collision and aggregation of emulsion droplets by their accumulation at the oil-water interface.…”

3D-Printable Nanocellulose-Based Functional Materials: Fundamentals and Applications

“…Even though 3D-printable nanocellulose-based composites are still in their infancy, there has been an increase in their applications in different fields ranging from biomedicine, including wound dressing, drug release, and tissue engineering, sensors, food, and packaging, to energy storage and electronics, with growing interest in other areas as well [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ], summarized in Figure 6 . This section discusses the recent development in 3D-printed nanocellulose-based composites for food, environmental, food packaging, energy, and electrochemical applications.…”

“…The combination of nanocellulose with other materials, polymers, and fillers can increase mechanical and thermal stability and change the wetting behavior of the native material [41]. For example, significant enhancement of cellulose tensile strength was achieved by loading cellulose with only 0.2% graphene [42].…”