The main drivers to utilize (nano)cellulosic materials have been the sustainability trend and the fluctuating price of petroleum. However, when considering novel high value added applications, the utilisation of these materials cannot be justified simply because they are green, lightweight and renewable - although these are all certainly positive assets. The true potential is derived from the fact that nanocellulosic materials possess several inherent features in their physical performance. In the realm of nanoscaled materials, plant-based based cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) are intriguing elementary building blocks due to their peculiar gas transport performance, film-forming ability, pronounced water sensitivity and amphiphilic character coupled with high hygroscopicity. The strong interactions with water actually set them apart from many other nanoscaled materials that may be comparable in terms of high surface area, similar aspect ratios and mechanical properties. The unique combination of the aforementioned features is an advantageous premise for bioinspired applications operating in aqueous environment. This presentation will elaborate the fundamental insights of nanocellulose-water interactions taking place directly at interfaces where phenomena related to nanoscaled materials mostly occurs. This has been carried out using a set of surface sensitive methods reaching the molecular and nanoscale resolution able to reveal the distinct regions of water vapour sorption modes from specific sorption, multilayer build-up and clustering of water molecules. The discoveries related to high water sensitivity will be adapted towards the development of true biomaterial solutions demonstrated as e.g. selective membranes, nanotraps for air-borne particles as well as matrices for photosynthetic micro-organisms.

Designing nanocellulose-based architectures by exploiting water interactions

2019 Spring National Meeting

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