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Nanomaterials
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Cellulose Nanocrystals
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Cellulose Nanocrystals

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanocomposite Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 19569

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Elena Vismara

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milan, Italy
Interests: nanocellulose and its application; preparation of hybrid organic–inorganic nanoparticles for biomedical applications; synthesis of carbohydrate derivatives with antimetastatic properties; polymeric materials from natural and synthetic fibers for sanitary and environmental applications; recovery of cellulose from natural and industrial waste for the synthesis of artificial fibers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nae-Man Park

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea
Interests: nanocellulose materials and devices; inorganic nanomaterials; transparent electrodes; energy harvesting; silicon quantum dots.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cellulose is an old topic but has recently been the focus of increased interest because it can be decreased to nanosize and is an eco-friendly and non-toxic material. Until now, nanocellulose materials have not been mass-produced, which hinders their commercialization. However, many potential applications have been published and they are still attractive materials. This Special Issue will cover materials, characterizations, and applications concerning nanocellulose. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Cellulose nanofiber (CNF)
  • Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)
  • Bacterial cellulose (BC)
  • Applications related to nanocellulose

Prof. Dr. Elena Vismara
Dr. Nae-Man Park
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cellulose nanofiber (CNF)
  • Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)
  • Bacterial cellulose (BC)
  • Applications related to nanocellulose

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 7161 KiB  
Article
Suspended Multifunctional Nanocellulose as Additive for Mortars
by Maria Vittoria Diamanti, Cristina Tedeschi, Mariagiovanna Taccia, Giangiacomo Torri, Nicolò Massironi, Chiara Tognoli and Elena Vismara
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(7), 1093; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12071093 - 26 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1963
Abstract
Cellulose derivatives have found significant applications in composite materials, mainly because of the increased mechanical performance they ensure. When added to cement-based materials, either in the form of nanocrystals, nanofibrils or micro/nanofibers, cellulose acts on the mixture with fresh and hardened properties, affecting [...] Read more.
Cellulose derivatives have found significant applications in composite materials, mainly because of the increased mechanical performance they ensure. When added to cement-based materials, either in the form of nanocrystals, nanofibrils or micro/nanofibers, cellulose acts on the mixture with fresh and hardened properties, affecting rheology, shrinkage, hydration, and the resulting mechanical properties, microstructure, and durability. Commercial cotton wool was selected as starting material to produce multifunctional nanocelluloses to test as additives for mortars. Cotton wool was oxidized to oxidized nanocellulose (ONC), a charged nanocellulose capable of electrostatic interaction, merging cellulose and nanoparticles properties. Oxidized nanocellulose (ONC) was further functionalized by a radical-based mechanism with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and with a mixture of GMA and the crosslinking agent ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) affording ONC-GMA and ONC-GMA-EGDMA, both multifunctional-charged nanocellulose merging cellulose and bound acrylates properties. In this work, only ONC was found to be properly suitable for suspension and addition to a commercial mortar to assess the variation in mechanical properties and water-mortar interactions as a consequence of the modified microstructure obtained. The addition of oxidized nanocellulose caused an alteration of mortar porosity, with a decreased percentage of porosity and pore size distribution shifted towards smaller pores, with a consequent increase in compressive resistance, decrease in water absorption coefficient, and increased percentage of micropores present in the material, indicating a potential improvement in mortar durability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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13 pages, 3019 KiB  
Article
Shear-Coated Linear Birefringent and Chiral Cellulose Nanocrystal Films Prepared from Non-Sonicated Suspensions with Different Storage Time
by Olga Rubi Juárez-Rivera, Reina Araceli Mauricio-Sánchez, Kenneth Järrendahl, Hans Arwin and Arturo Mendoza-Galván
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(9), 2239; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11092239 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2308
Abstract
Nanocelluloses are very attractive materials for creating structured films with unique optical properties using different preparation techniques. Evaporation-induced self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) aqueous suspensions produces iridescent films with selective circular Bragg reflection. Blade coating of sonicated CNC suspensions leads to birefringent CNC [...] Read more.
Nanocelluloses are very attractive materials for creating structured films with unique optical properties using different preparation techniques. Evaporation-induced self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) aqueous suspensions produces iridescent films with selective circular Bragg reflection. Blade coating of sonicated CNC suspensions leads to birefringent CNC films. In this work, fabrication of both birefringent and chiral films from non-sonicated CNC suspensions using a shear-coating method is studied. Polarization optical microscopy and steady-state viscosity profiles show that non-sonicated CNC suspensions (concentration of 6.5 wt%) evolve with storage time from a gel-like shear-thinning fluid to a mixture of isotropic and chiral nematic liquid crystalline phases. Shear-coated films prepared from non-sonicated fresh CNC suspensions are birefringent, whereas films prepared from suspensions stored several weeks show reflection of left-handed polarized light. Quantification of linear and circular birefringence as well circular dichroism in the films is achieved by using a Mueller matrix formalism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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15 pages, 5151 KiB  
Article
PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment
by Yanzhen Sun, Xiaoli Ma, Xiaodong Jing and Hao Hu
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(7), 1640; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071640 - 22 Jun 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2210
Abstract
Gene therapy is used to correct or compensate for diseases caused by gene defects and abnormalities. Improving the transfection efficiency and reducing the toxicity of gene carriers are the keys to gene therapy. Similar to a typical cationic gene carrier—polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa)—the [...] Read more.
Gene therapy is used to correct or compensate for diseases caused by gene defects and abnormalities. Improving the transfection efficiency and reducing the toxicity of gene carriers are the keys to gene therapy. Similar to a typical cationic gene carrier—polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa)—the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer also has a large number of amino groups. These amino groups can be complexed with nucleic acids after protonation under physiological conditions. However, the concentrated positive charge can cause undesirable cytotoxicity. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have good biocompatibility and unique needle-like morphology, and have been proven to be efficiently taken up by cells. In this article, three-dimensional spherical PMAMA dendrimers are conjugated onto the surface of CNCs to obtain a kind of needle-like cationic carrier (CNC-PAMAM). PAMAM dendrimers act as anchors to bind the plasmid DNAs (pDNA) to the surface of the CNC. The prepared CNC-based carrier showed high transfection efficiency and low toxicity. The CNC-PAMAM can effectively deliver the suicide gene to the tumor site, enabling the suicide gene/prodrug system (cytosine deaminase/5-fluorocytosine (CD/5-FC)) to play an effective anti-tumor role in vivo. This research demonstrates that the functionalization of CNCs with PAMAM dendrimers is an effective method for developing novel gene delivery systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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17 pages, 6518 KiB  
Article
Changes in Mechanical Properties of Polyhydroxyalkanoate with Double Silanized Cellulose Nanocrystals Using Different Organosiloxanes
by Jaemin Jo, Hyeyun Kim, So-Yeon Jeong, Chulhwan Park, Ha Soo Hwang and Bonwook Koo
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(6), 1542; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061542 - 11 Jun 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3151
Abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a biodegradable plastic with great potential for tackling plastic waste and marine pollution issues, but its commercial applications have been limited due to its poor processability. In this study, surface-modified cellulose nanocrystals were used to improve the mechanical properties of [...] Read more.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a biodegradable plastic with great potential for tackling plastic waste and marine pollution issues, but its commercial applications have been limited due to its poor processability. In this study, surface-modified cellulose nanocrystals were used to improve the mechanical properties of PHA composites produced via a melt-extrusion process. Double silanization was conducted to obtain hydrophobically treated CNC-based fillers, using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). The morphology, particle size distributions, and surface characteristics of the silanized CNCs and their compatibility with a PHA polymer matrix differed by the organosiloxane treatment and drying method. It was confirmed that the double silanized CNCs had hydrophobic surface characteristics and narrow particle size distributions, and thereby showed excellent dispersibility in a PHA matrix. Adding hydrophobically treated CNCs to form a PHA composite, the elongation at break of the PHA composites was improved up to 301%, with little reduction of Young’s modulus, compared to pure PHA. Seemingly, the double silanized CNCs added played a similar role to a nucleation agent in the PHA composite. It is expected that such high ductility can improve the mechanical properties of PHA composites, making them more suitable for commercial applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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20 pages, 6140 KiB  
Article
Morphological and Rheological Properties of PLA, PBAT, and PLA/PBAT Blend Nanocomposites Containing CNCs
by Mojtaba Mohammadi, Marie-Claude Heuzey, Pierre J. Carreau and Aurélie Taguet
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(4), 857; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11040857 - 27 Mar 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5654
Abstract
Morphological and rheological properties of poly(lactic acid), PLA (semicrystalline and amorphous), and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), PBAT, and their blends (75 wt%/25 wt%; PLA/PBAT) were investigated in the presence of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) prepared from solution casting followed by melt mixing. For the solution casting [...] Read more.
Morphological and rheological properties of poly(lactic acid), PLA (semicrystalline and amorphous), and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), PBAT, and their blends (75 wt%/25 wt%; PLA/PBAT) were investigated in the presence of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) prepared from solution casting followed by melt mixing. For the solution casting step, the CNCs were either incorporated into the matrix, the dispersed phase, or both. The dispersion and distribution of the CNCs in the neat polymers and localization in their blends were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The highly dispersed CNCs in the solution cast nanocomposites were agglomerated after melt mixing. In the blends with 1 wt% CNCs, the nanoparticles were mostly localized on the surface of the PBAT droplets irrespective of their initial localization. The rheological behavior of the single polymer matrix nanocomposites and their blends was determined in dynamic and transient shear flow in the molten state. Upon melt mixing the complex viscosity and storage modulus of the solution cast nanocomposites decreased markedly due to re-agglomeration of the CNCs. Under shearing at 0.1 s−1, a significant droplet coalescence was observed in the neat blends, but was prevented by the presence of the CNCs at the interface in the blend nanocomposites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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15 pages, 4784 KiB  
Article
Relationship between Structural Characteristics of Cellulose Nanocrystals Obtained from Kraft Pulp
by María Graciela Aguayo, Arturo Fernández-Pérez, Claudia Oviedo, Guillermo Reyes and Pablo Reyes-Contreras
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(9), 1775; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10091775 - 08 Sep 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3032
Abstract
Kraft pulp cellulose was hydrolyzed using sulfuric acid, under different thermophysical conditions of temperature, time, pulp concentration, and sonication time. The experimental design revealed the effect of these conditions and their interaction on the hydrolysis yield obtained. In addition, the top five cellulose [...] Read more.
Kraft pulp cellulose was hydrolyzed using sulfuric acid, under different thermophysical conditions of temperature, time, pulp concentration, and sonication time. The experimental design revealed the effect of these conditions and their interaction on the hydrolysis yield obtained. In addition, the top five cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) yields from this experiment design were analyzed. The results obtained indicated that CNCs possess a morphology that can be described as individualized rod particles, with average diameters less than 50 nm and different size distribution. In the analysis of CNCs features, significant Pearson correlations were established between the crystallinity of the CNC, CNC yield, and interplanar crystallites distance (Δd/d). The thermogravimetric (DTG) profiles exhibited two CNCs degradation stages, where the second stage CNCs degradation showed a significative correlation with CNC sulfur content. In our analysis, the crystallographic parameters exhibited a correlation with the mechanical behavior of the CNC, since the potential variation between the distances of the crystalline planes is related to the stress and deformation present in the crystallites of CNCs. This study provides new knowledge regarding CNCs, further enhancing information for CNC-based industries and the processability of CNCs for the development of new materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose Nanocrystals)
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