Responsive mesoporous photonic cellulose films by supramolecular cotemplating

Cellulose-based materials have been and continue to be exceptionally important for humankind. Considering the bioavailability and societal relevance of cellulose, turning this renewable resource into an active material is a vital step towards sustainability. Herein we report a new form of cellulose-derived material that combines tunable photonic properties with a unique mesoporous structure resulting from a new supramolecular cotemplating method. A composite of cellulose nanocrystals and a urea-formaldehyde resin organizes into a chiral nematic assembly, which yields a chiral nematic mesoporous continuum of desulfated cellulose nanocrystals after alkaline treatment. The mesoporous photonic cellulose (MPC) films undergo rapid and reversible changes in color upon swelling, and can be used for pressure sensing. These new active mesoporous cellulosic materials have potential applications in biosensing, optics, functional membranes, chiral separation, and tissue engineering.

From Cellulosic Based Liquid Crystalline Sheared Solutions to 1D and 2D Soft Materials

Liquid crystalline cellulosic-based solutions described by distinctive properties are at the origin of different kinds of multifunctional materials with unique characteristics. These solutions can form chiral nematic phases at rest, with tuneable photonic behavior, and exhibit a complex behavior associated with the onset of a network of director field defects under shear. Techniques, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Rheology coupled with NMR (Rheo-NMR), rheology, optical methods, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Wide Angle X-rays Scattering (WAXS), were extensively used to enlighten the liquid crystalline characteristics of these cellulosic solutions. Cellulosic films produced by shear casting and fibers by electrospinning, from these liquid crystalline solutions, have regained wider attention due to recognition of their innovative properties associated to their biocompatibility. Electrospun membranes composed by helical and spiral shape fibers allow the achievement of large surface areas, leading to the improvement of the performance of this kind of systems. The moisture response, light modulated, wettability and the capability of orienting protein and cellulose crystals, opened a wide range of new applications to the shear casted films. Characterization by NMR, X-rays, tensile tests, AFM, and optical methods allowed detailed characterization of those soft cellulosic materials. In this work, special attention will be given to recent developments, including, among others, a moisture driven cellulosic motor and electro-optical devices.

Nanocrystalline cellulose applied simultaneously as the gate dielectric and the substrate in flexible field effect transistors

Cotton-based nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), also known as nanopaper, one of the major sources of renewable materials, is a promising substrate and component for producing low cost fully recyclable flexible paper electronic devices and systems due to its properties (lightweight, stiffness, non-toxicity, transparency, low thermal expansion, gas impermeability and improved mechanical properties).Here, we have demonstrated for the first time a thin transparent nanopaper-based field effect transistor (FET) where NCC is simultaneously used as the substrate and as the gate dielectric layer in an 'interstrate' structure, since the device is built on both sides of the NCC films; while the active channel layer is based on oxide amorphous semiconductors, the gate electrode is based on a transparent conductive oxide.Such hybrid FETs present excellent operating characteristics such as high channel saturation mobility (>7 cm(2) V (-1) s(-1)), drain-source current on/off modulation ratio higher than 10(5), enhancement n-type operation and subthreshold gate voltage swing of 2.11 V/decade. The NCC film FET characteristics have been measured in air ambient conditions and present good stability, after two weeks of being processed, without any type of encapsulation or passivation layer. The results obtained are comparable to ones produced for conventional cellulose paper, marking this out as a promising approach for attaining high-performance disposable electronics such as paper displays, smart labels, smart packaging, RFID (radio-frequency identification) and point-of-care systems for self-analysis in bioscience applications, among others.

Analysing photonic structures in plants

The outer layers of a range of plant tissues, including flower petals, leaves and fruits, exhibit an intriguing variation of microscopic structures. Some of these structures include ordered periodic multilayers and diffraction gratings that give rise to interesting optical appearances. The colour arising from such structures is generally brighter than pigment-based colour. Here, we describe the main types of photonic structures found in plants and discuss the experimental approaches that can be used to analyse them. These experimental approaches allow identification of the physical mechanisms producing structural colours with a high degree of confidence.

Imprinting of Photonic Patterns with Thermosetting Amino-Formaldehyde-Cellulose Composites

A family of new amino resin-cellulose nanocrystal composites is reported. Owing to the chiral nematic order of the cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) embedded in the amino resin polymer, the materials appear highly iridescent and their color can be controlled by the addition of salt. The freshly prepared samples are highly flexible and their color can be manipulated by applying pressure to the films. Colored chiral nematic patterns can be permanently recorded in the composite films, suggesting their application for security features, pressure sensors, and decoration.

Thermal switching of the reflection in chiral nematic mesoporous organosilica films infiltrated with liquid crystals

Materials that undergo stimulus-induced optical changes are important for many new technologies. In this paper, we describe a new free-standing silica-based composite film that exhibits reversible thermochromic reflection, induced by a liquid crystalline guest in the pores of iridescent mesoporous films. We demonstrate that selective reflection from the novel mesoporous organosilica material with chiral nematic organization can be reversibly switched by thermal cycling of the 8CB guest between its isotropic and liquid crystalline states, which was proven by solid-state NMR experiments. The switching of the optical properties of the chiral solid-state host by stimulus-induced transitions of the guest opens the possibility of applications for these novel materials in sensors and displays.