Cellulose nanofibrils from wood are important building blocks in new materials, and typically have diameters in the 3-15 nm range. One argument in favor of nanocellulose materials is that very high mechanical properties can be achieved. This is also true for materials from cellulosic wood fibers, although they have mm-scale length and diameters of 20-30μm. In order to make fair comparison of films, they need to have similar porosity and fiber/fibril organization (random-in-plane, oriented etc). Such comparisons are important, not only for the selection of fiber and fibrils, but also because absolute numbers for material properties are important for comparisons with molded glass fiber reinforced plastics from petroleum-based polymers.<br/> <br/>Data indicate that materials from cellulosic wood fibers can even have higher modulus than films based on cellulose nanofibrils. Reasons for this are analyzed. When it comes to ultimate strength, the nanocellulose films show better properties since damage development is delayed to larger strains, compared with materials based on 30μm diameter fibers. The properties of cellulose fiber/fibril composites with a polymer matrix can be modulated by the choice of fiber volume fraction, polymer matrix and fiber orientation distribution. Interestingly, wood fiber/polymer composites can show very high strength, provided the wood fiber is well preserved in terms of limited mechanical damage and chemical degradation. There are favorable effects not only from preserving cellulose structure, but also from the preservation of hemicelluloses and their distribution in the fiber cell wall.

Materials from cellulosic wood fibers or fibrils: Why are mechanical properties different?

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.