Nanocelulose based composites offer microphases that are confined in nanoscale dimensions to achieve potentially remarkable mechanical properties. However, the emergent performance of these materials depends strongly on both the chemistry of the interfaces and the microstructure of the material system, which complicates their design. In this talk, I will present a new computational materials-by-design paradigm based on molecular simulations for understanding phenomena occurring at such disparate scales in nanocellulose based materials. I will discuss several cases where the coupling between microstructure and chemical structure will lead to intriguing phenomena at polymer-cellulose interfaces. Drawing an analogy between thin films and nanocomposites, I will illustrate how understanding thin film simulations help us design better load-bearing nanocomposites cellulose nanocrystal fillers. <br/>

Understanding nanoconfinement and nanoscale interfaces in nanocellulose composites

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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