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Rudich A, Sapru S, Shoseyov O. Biocompatible, Resilient, and Tough Nanocellulose Tunable Hydrogels. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 13:nano13050853. [PMID: 36903731 PMCID: PMC10005666 DOI: 10.3390/nano13050853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogels have been proposed as potential candidates for many different applications. However, many hydrogels exhibit poor mechanical properties, which limit their applications. Recently, various cellulose-derived nanomaterials have emerged as attractive candidates for nanocomposite-reinforcing agents due to their biocompatibility, abundance, and ease of chemical modification. Due to abundant hydroxyl groups throughout the cellulose chain, the grafting of acryl monomers onto the cellulose backbone by employing oxidizers such as cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate ([NH4]2[Ce(NO3)6], CAN) has proven a versatile and effective method. Moreover, acrylic monomers such as acrylamide (AM) may also polymerize by radical methods. In this work, cerium-initiated graft polymerization was applied to cellulose-derived nanomaterials, namely cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), in a polyacrylamide (PAAM) matrix to fabricate hydrogels that display high resilience (~92%), high tensile strength (~0.5 MPa), and toughness (~1.9 MJ/m3). We propose that by introducing mixtures of differing ratios of CNC and CNF, the composite's physical behavior can be fine-tuned across a wide range of mechanical and rheological properties. Moreover, the samples proved to be biocompatible when seeded with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transfected mouse fibroblasts (3T3s), showing a significant increase in cell viability and proliferation compared to samples comprised of acrylamide alone.
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Li T, Chen C, Brozena AH, Zhu JY, Xu L, Driemeier C, Dai J, Rojas OJ, Isogai A, Wågberg L, Hu L. Developing fibrillated cellulose as a sustainable technological material. Nature 2021; 590:47-56. [PMID: 33536649 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03167-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 349] [Impact Index Per Article: 116.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, found in trees, waste from agricultural crops and other biomass. The fibres that comprise cellulose can be broken down into building blocks, known as fibrillated cellulose, of varying, controllable dimensions that extend to the nanoscale. Fibrillated cellulose is harvested from renewable resources, so its sustainability potential combined with its other functional properties (mechanical, optical, thermal and fluidic, for example) gives this nanomaterial unique technological appeal. Here we explore the use of fibrillated cellulose in the fabrication of materials ranging from composites and macrofibres, to thin films, porous membranes and gels. We discuss research directions for the practical exploitation of these structures and the remaining challenges to overcome before fibrillated cellulose materials can reach their full potential. Finally, we highlight some key issues towards successful manufacturing scale-up of this family of materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Li
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.,Center for Materials Innovation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Chaoji Chen
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.,Center for Materials Innovation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Alexandra H Brozena
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - J Y Zhu
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Lixian Xu
- Sappi Biotech, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Carlos Driemeier
- Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Jiaqi Dai
- Inventwood LLC, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Orlando J Rojas
- Bioproducts Institute, Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chemistry and Wood Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Akira Isogai
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Lars Wågberg
- Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology and Wallenberg Wood Science Centre, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Liangbing Hu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. .,Center for Materials Innovation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
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Ben Shalom T, Belsey S, Chasnitsky M, Shoseyov O. Cellulose Nanocrystals and Corn Zein Oxygen and Water Vapor Barrier Biocomposite Films. NANOMATERIALS 2021; 11:nano11010247. [PMID: 33477679 PMCID: PMC7831950 DOI: 10.3390/nano11010247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are well-suited to the preparation of biocomposite films and packaging material due to its abundance, renewability, biodegradability, and favorable film-forming capacity. In this study, different CNC and corn zein (CZ) composite films were prepared by adding CZ to the CNC suspension prior to drying, in order to change internal structure of resulting films. Films were developed to examine their performance as an alternative water vapor and oxygen-barrier for flexible packaging industry. Water vapor permeability (WVP) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of the biocomposite films decreased significantly in a specific ratio between CNC and CZ combined with 1,2,3,4-butane tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA), a nontoxic cross linker. In addition to the improved barrier properties, the incorporation of CZ benefitted the flexibility and thermal stability of the CNC/CZ composite films. The toughness increased by 358%, and Young's modulus decreased by 32% compared with the pristine CNC film. The maximum degradation temperature increased by 26 °C, compared with that of CNC film. These results can be attributed to the incorporation of a hydrophobic protein into the matrix creating hydrophobic interactions among the biocomposite components. SEM and AFM analysis indicated that CZ could significantly affect the CNC arrangement, and the film surface topography, due to the mechanical bundling and physical adsorption effect of CZ to CNC. The presented results indicate that CNC/CZ biocomposite films may find applications in packaging, and in multi-functionalization materials.
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