Currently in the United States, over 70% of all toxic waste contained in landfills is from e-waste.  Thus, in order to dramatically reduce the volume of waste from consumer electronics in landfills, the biodegradability of the components must be increased. Therefore, interest in the extraction and modification of nanocrystalline cellulose has intensified recently due to its potential use as a biodegradable reinforcement filler in technological devices.  From a general standpoint, mondispersed fillers are incorporated into nanocomposites materials to significantly enhance their performances such as, stiffness and thermostability.  In this research study, cellulose-based materials (e.g., wheat straw and wood biomass) will be used to extract nanocrystalline cellulose via the acid hydrolysis method.  Using a combination of hydrochloric and organic acids, size control of the cellulose nanocrystals will be investigated.  In addition, functionalization of the extracted hydrophilic nanocrystals using known chemical methods (e.g., esterification and acetylation) will be performed to yield hydrophobic nanocrystals with varied mechanical and thermal properties.  XRD, AFM, and SEM will be used to elucidate the chemical structure and composition of the formed nanocrystals.  Respectively, DMA and TMA will be used to investigate the viscoelastic and thermomechanical behaviors of the modified nanocyrstals.

Extraction, modification, and characterization of nanocrystals from cellulose-based materials

246th National Meeting (2013)

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