Cellulose nanocrystals (also referred to as cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW)) have been extensively studied and used as the filler phase in polymer-matrix nanocomposites, However, the filler aggregation limited CNWs' ability to reinforce matrix under a certain loading threshold. An orientation of CNWs inside matrices was proved to be an effective way to exploit the high stiffness of CNWs as a reinforcement phase. To achieve orientation, we proposed a study to incorporate magnetic properties into CNWs by tethering magnetic nanoparticles and orient those modified CNWs in matrices under a relatively low external magnetic field. In this study, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were successfully tethered onto CNWs in-situ. The attachment of IONPs on CNWs was confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and results showed that CNWs were uniformly decorated with ~20 nm IONPs. Selected Area Electron and Diffraction Element analysis results verified the composition of IONPs. Raman spectroscopy was utilized to analyze the molecular interaction between CNWs and attached IONPs.

Synthesis of cellulose nanowhiskers tethered with iron oxide nanoparticles

254th National Meeting (2017)

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