Clearly Transparent Nanopaper from Highly Concentrated Cellulose Nanofiber Dispersion Using Dilution and Sonication
1
Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 8-1, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
2
Research and Development Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
3
The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 8-1, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nanomaterials 2018, 8(2), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8020104
Received: 12 January 2018 / Revised: 8 February 2018 / Accepted: 8 February 2018 / Published: 12 February 2018
Nanopaper prepared from holocellulose pulp is one of the best substrates for flexible electronics because of its high thermal resistance and high clear transparency. However, the clearness of nanopaper decreases with increasing concentration of the starting cellulose nanofiber dispersion—with the use of a 2.2 wt % dispersion, for example—resulting in translucent nanopaper with a high haze of 44%. To overcome this problem, we show that the dilution of this high-concentration dispersion with water followed by sonication for 10 s reduces the haze to less than 10% while maintaining the high thermal resistance of the nanopaper. Furthermore, the combination of water dilution and a short sonication treatment improves the clearness of the nanopaper, which would translate into cost savings for the transportation and storage of this highly concentrated cellulose nanofiber dispersion. Finally, we demonstrate the improvement of the electrical conductivity of clear transparent nanopaper prepared from an initially high-concentration dispersion by dropping and heating silver nanowire ink on the nanopaper. These achievements will pave the way toward the realization of the mass production of nanofiber-based flexible devices.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Kasuga, T.; Isobe, N.; Yagyu, H.; Koga, H.; Nogi, M. Clearly Transparent Nanopaper from Highly Concentrated Cellulose Nanofiber Dispersion Using Dilution and Sonication. Nanomaterials 2018, 8, 104.
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