Nanocellulose has been attracting attention as a renewable nano-reinforcing material, due to its fascinating properties such as high aspect ratios with several nanometer width, high elastic moduli, high strength and so on. To take advantage of the reinforcing properties, it is necessary to control the dispersibility, interaction with polymer matrices, and their orientation. Here, we report on the mechanical properties of all-cellulose composite films, where the orientation of nanocelluloses were changed by mechanical drawing. Nanocelluloses were prepared by TEMPO (2,2,6,6- tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl)-mediated oxidation, and effect of drawing on structure and mechanical properties of the composite films were evaluated. After mechanical drawing, the cellulose nanofibrils were successfully oriented and individually dispersed in the film, and the orientation parameter of the nanofibrils was as high as 0.80 with draw ratio of 2.0. Due to the reinforcement by the oriented cellulose nanofibrils, the composite film showed high Young’s modulus and tensile strength of 13.9 GPa and 317 MPa, respectively.

Uniaxial orientation of nanocelluloses in all-cellulose nanocomposite: The relationship between structure and mechanical properties

251st National Meeting (2016)

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