Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:23:26.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

From a cholesteric non-aqueous cellulose nanocrystal suspension to a highly ordered film

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2020

Amira Barhoumi Meddeb*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Inseok Chae
Affiliation:
Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Federico Scurti
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Justin Schwartz
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Seong H. Kim
Affiliation:
Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Zoubeida Ounaies
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania16802, United States
Get access

Abstract

A highly ordered cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) film was processed and characterized from a non-aqueous suspension. As a first step, by drawing upon the negative magnetic anisotropy of CNCs, a global order of the nanocrystals is achieved by magnetic field-assisted manipulation of a cholesteric suspension in n-methylformamide (NMF), and then the order is subsequently preserved into a solid-state film. We study the differences between the structures of the 4 T-dried film and the control film dried in the absence of magnetic field. Additionally, we compare the NMF-dried films to those dried from aqueous suspensions with and without magnetic field. Optical microscopy, cross-sectional imaging analysis, and sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy show that the CNC-NMF film dried under magnetic field exhibited a highly ordered layered structure throughout the film, comparable to that observed when films were produced from aqueous suspensions. Extending the potential of the CNC alignment to non-aqueous systems will enable a broad spectrum of applications for CNC-based polymer composites.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020, published on behalf of Materials Research Society by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Lagerwall, J. P. F. et al. ., “Cellulose nanocrystal-based materials: from liquid crystal self-assembly and glass formation to multifunctional thin films,” NPG Asia Mater., vol. 6, p. e80, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, R. M. et al. ., “The Self-Assembly of Cellulose Nanocrystals: Hierarchical Design of Visual Appearance,” Adv. Mater., vol. 30, no. 19, p. 1704477, 2018.10.1002/adma.201704477CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhao, G., Zhang, S., Zhai, S., and Pan, M., “Fabrication and characterization of photonic cellulose nanocrystal films with structural colors covering full visible light,” J. Mater. Sci., vol. 55, no. 20, pp. 87568767, 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frka-Petesic, B., Kamita, G., Guidetti, G., and Vignolini, S., “Angular optical response of cellulose nanocrystal films explained by the distortion of the arrested suspension upon drying,” Phys. Rev. Mater., vol. 3, no. 4, p. 45601, Apr. 2019.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
[5] Schütz, C., Bruckner, J., Honorato-Rios, C., Kies, Z., Anyfantakis, M., and Lagerwall, J., “From Equilibrium Liquid Crystal Formation and Kinetic Arrest to Photonic Bandgap Films Using Suspensions of Cellulose Nanocrystals,” Crystals, vol. 10, p. 199, Mar. 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De France, K. J., Yager, K. G., Hoare, T., and Cranston, E. D., “Cooperative Ordering and Kinetics of Cellulose Nanocrystal Alignment in a Magnetic Field,” Langmuir, vol. 32, no. 30, pp. 75647571, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mao, Y. et al. ., “Phase Separation and Stack Alignment in Aqueous Cellulose Nanocrystal Suspension under Weak Magnetic Field,” Langmuir, vol. 34, no. 27, pp. 80428051, Jul. 2018.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dong, X. M. and Gray, D. G., “Induced Circular Dichroism of Isotropic and Magnetically-Oriented Chiral Nematic Suspensions of Cellulose Crystallites,” Langmuir, vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 30293034, 1997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frka-Petesic, B., Guidetti, G., Kamita, G., and Vignolini, S., “Controlling the Photonic Properties of Cholesteric Cellulose Nanocrystal Films with Magnets,” Adv. Mater., vol. 29, no. 32, p. 1701469, 2017.Google Scholar
Bruckner, J. R., Kuhnhold, A., Honorato-Rios, C., Schilling, T., and Lagerwall, J. P. F., “Enhancing Self-Assembly in Cellulose Nanocrystal Suspensions Using High-Permittivity Solvents,” Langmuir, vol. 32, no. 38, pp. 98549862, 2016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barhoumi Meddeb, A., Chae, I., Han, A., Kim, S. H., and Ounaies, Z., “Magnetic field effects on cellulose nanocrystal ordering in a non-aqueous solvent,” Cellulose, vol. 27, no. 14, pp. 79017910, 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiner, R. S. and Rudie, A. W., “Process scale-up of cellulose nanocrystal production to 25 kg per batch at the Forest Products Laboratory,” in Production and Applications of Cellulose Nanomaterials, Peachtree Corners, GA, 2013, pp. 2124.Google Scholar
Lee, C. M., Kafle, K., Huang, S., and Kim, S. H., “Multimodal Broadband Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation (MM-BB-V-SFG) Spectrometer and Microscope,” J. Phys. Chem. B, vol. 120, no. 1, pp. 102116, 2016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, S. et al. ., “Inhomogeneity of Cellulose Microfibril Assembly in Plant Cell Walls Revealed with Sum Frequency Generation Microscopy,” J. Phys. Chem. B, vol. 122, no. 19, pp. 50065019, 2018.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dufresne, A., Nanocellulose: From Nature to High Performance Tailored Materials. Berlin/Boston, GERMANY: De Gruyter, Inc., 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De France, K. J., Chan, K. J. W., Cranston, E. D., and Hoare, T., “Enhanced Mechanical Properties in Cellulose Nanocrystal–Poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) Injectable Nanocomposite Hydrogels through Control of Physical and Chemical Cross-Linking,” Biomacromolecules, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 649660, 2016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majoinen, J., Kontturi, E., Ikkala, O., and Gray, D. G., “SEM imaging of chiral nematic films cast from cellulose nanocrystal suspensions,” Cellulose, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 15991605, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, C. M., Kafle, K., Park, Y. B., and Kim, S. H., “Probing crystal structure and mesoscale assembly of cellulose microfibrils in plant cell walls, tunicate tests, and bacterial films using vibrational Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) spectroscopy,” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., vol. 16, no. 22, pp. 1084410853, 2014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Makarem, M. et al. ., “Dependence of Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) Spectral Features on the Mesoscale Arrangement of SFG-Active Crystalline Domains Interspersed in SFG-Inactive Matrix: A Case Study with Cellulose in Uniaxially Aligned Control Samples and Alkali-Treated Seconda,” J. Phys. Chem. C, vol. 121, no. 18, pp. 1024910257, May 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chae, I., Ngo, D., Makarem, M., Ounaies, Z., and Kim, S. H., “Compression-Induced Topographic Corrugation of Air/Surfactant/Water Interface: Effect of Nanoparticles Adsorbed beneath the Interface,” J. Phys. Chem. C, vol. 123, no. 42, pp. 2562825634, Oct. 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makarem, M. et al. ., “Distinguishing Mesoscale Polar Order (Unidirectional vs Bidirectional) of Cellulose Microfibrils in Plant Cell Walls Using Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy,” J. Phys. Chem. B, vol. 124, no. 37, pp. 80718081, Sep. 2020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, C. M., Chen, X., Weiss, P. A., Jensen, L., and Kim, S. H., “Quantum Mechanical Calculations of Vibrational Sum-Frequency-Generation (SFG) Spectra of Cellulose: Dependence of the CH and OH Peak Intensity on the Polarity of Cellulose Chains within the SFG Coherence Domain,” J. Phys. Chem. Lett., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 5560, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar