Since the early days of cellulose research, scientists have investigated the structure of microfibrils by unraveling cell walls with chemical and mechanical treatments. These studies have provided the foundation for structural models of the cellulose microfibril. Over the years, these models have been refined through computational studies and new imaging technologies, providing insight into fibril dimensions and morphology. Further chemical modification via oxidation, followed by mechanical treatment has provided evidence that microfibrils can be deconstructed beyond the ‘elementary fibril’ level. When split along their length, fragments can have single digit Angstrom-level thickness with nanometer widths.  In addition, other isolation methods of nanocellulose materials have reported the fragmentation of cellulose within the microfibril structure. These microfibril fragments, broken parallel to the length, provide interesting properties with different quantities of hydrophobic surface area, depending upon the fragmentation plane. Hence, fragmentation in this fashion yields higher surface area particles and potentially Janus like surface structures that would be important in multiphase systems. The intrigue of further creating higher surface area materials through fragmentation coupled with its significant impact on material properties when used as a reinforcement phase has not been fully explored for cellulose. The questions of how these microfibrils are split and if deconstruction can be controlled will be examined in this talk. <br/>

From microfibrils to fragments: Nanocellulose deconstructed

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.