Cellulose nanomaterials (CNM), typically found in the form of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), provide promise as both a rheological modifier and as a reinforcement material in applications ranging from fracking fluids to polymer composites. This talk will first highlight the potential rheological impact of processing techniques on nanocellulose, where resulting shear stresses have the potential to result in flow-induced alignment, but can also potentially degrade the length and functional nature of the CNCs. We investigate the effect of these strain rates and subsequent stresses on CNCs and CNFs over multiple concentrations up to 12.1 wt% in aqueous suspension. Subsequently, we highlight multiple different processing cases to discuss the impact of processing on CNM rheological behavior, with examples including controlled alignment in evaporation induced self assembly of drying droplets to additive manufacturing of cellulose nanocrystal/thermoplastic urethane polymer composites.

Nanocellulose rheology and degradation - practical considerations for processing

ACS Spring 2022

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