Cellulose Nanofillers

Matos-Ruiz, M., Cavaille, J.-Y., Dufresne, A., Graillat, C., Gerard, J.-F. New waterborne epoxy coatings based on cellulose nanofillers. Macromol. Symp. 169, 211-222 (2001)... 

Roohani M, Habibi Y, Belgacem NM et al (2008) Cellulose whiskers reinforced polyvinyl alcohol copol Tners nanocomposites. Eur Polym J 44 2489-2498 Ruiz MM, Cavaille JY, Dufresne A et al (2000) Processing and characterization of new thermoset nanocomposites based on cellulose whiskers. Compos Interface 7 117-131 Ruiz MM, Cavaille JY, Dufresne A et al (2001) New waterborne epoxy coatings based on cellulose nanofillers. Macromol Symp 16 211-222 Saito T, Nishiyama Y, Putaux JL et al (2006) Homogeneous suspensions of individualized microfibrils from TEMPO-catalyzed oxidation of native cellulose. Biomacromolecules 7 1687-1691... 

Moreover, cellulose nanofillers such as nanorod, rod-like cellulose microcrystals, nanowires, and long and straight crystals were investigated. 

The reason for the nanocomposites increased thermal properties is associated to the relocation of the plasticizer(s), water inclusive, from the starch matrix to the cellulose nanocrystals surfaces, which decreases the plasticization effect on the amorphous regions (Angles and Dufresne 2000, 2001). They proposed the formation of the transcrystaUine zone, around the cellulose nanofillers in order to explain the results obtained in plasticized waxy maize starch reinforced with tunicin nanowhiskers. This effect is caused by the recrystallization of amylopectin chains assisted by the plasticizer accumulation and the nucleating effect of C-NW. 

Nanocellulose Polymer Nanocomposites 5.2.5 Extraction of Cellulose Nanofillers... 

Elowever, cellulose nanofillers have some disadvantages such as moisture absorption and poor compatibility with the hydrophobic polymer matrices [27, 28]. The use of nanocellulosic fillers is mostly limited to hydrosoluble polymers, latexes, or DMF-soluble polymers [12, 29, 30]. To overcome this problem, several methods were proposed recently, which involved the chemical modification of the cellulosic fillers [12, 30] with various chemical reagents such as acetic anhydride [31], alkenyl succinic anhydrides [32], chlorosilanes [33,34], or hexamethyldisilazane [35]. 

In comparison with these conventional methods, in-situ polymerization of monomers in presence of cellulose nanofillers is advantageous in many ways ... 

The hydrophilic surface of the cellulose-based nanoreinforcements leads to poor interaction between matrix and the filler [29]. Furthermore, the chemical compatibility is very important in controlling the dispersion and the adhesion among them. Therefore, it is common to see weak filler-matrix interactions when hydrophilic whiskers were added to hydrophobic matrices [4]. The miscibility of cellulose nanofillers with hydro-phobic matrices can be improved by various surface modifications, for example, esterification and acylation. The increment in the filler/matrlx compatibility produces the enhancement of mechanical and thermal properties but also enhances the barrier properties [30]. 

For polymer emulsions and non-hydrosoluble polymers, two different routes were studied to uniformly disperse cellulose nanofillers in an adequate organic medium [3] ... 

---