Projects per year
Abstract
The trend to replace petrochemical materials with sustainable alternatives has increased interest in plant-based particles like cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). A remarkably simple and effective method for producing uncharged CNCs involves solid-state hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid gas (HCl(g)). While this chemistry results in HCl(g)-CNCs produced at very high yields (>97%), they cannot be easily dispersed as individual nanoparticles. Here, the potential of using oligosaccharide surface modifiers as dispersing agents for HCl(g)-CNCs to yield isolated and colloidally stable CNCs is investigated. Importantly, the cello-oligosaccharide surface modifiers used were externally-produced and had very low charge. By increasing the amount of oligosaccharide added relative to HCl(g)-CNCs, it was possible to proportionally increase the degree to which the CNC surface was modified. This surface modification resulted in ubiquitous improvements to the dispersibility of HCl(g)-CNCs. We also applied this surface modification to uncharged CNCs produced using aqueous hydrochloric acid (i.e., HCl(aq)-CNCs) and observed marked improvements to their colloidal stability in aqueous media that did not trend with increasing charge but rather with oligosaccharide content. Overall, this study indicates the applicability of an easily scalable modification route that opens the door for expanded CNC functionality and tailoring colloidal stability of these versatile materials.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2260-2270 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Materials Advances |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 30 Jan 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Mar 2024 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
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FinnCERES: Competence Center for the Materials Bioeconomy: A Flagship for our Sustainable Future
Hämäläinen, J. (Principal investigator)
01/05/2022 → 30/06/2026
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
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Tuning cellulose nanocrystal/water interactions with designer cello-oligosaccharides
Niinivaara, E. (Principal investigator)
01/09/2019 → 31/08/2022
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding