Cellulose nanowhiskers thermal stability

The nanocellulose/PANI composite shows the combination behavior of PANI and nanocellulose at elevated temperature (Figure 1.8(b)). The improved thermal stability is due to the protecting layer of PANI formed on the cellulose—nanowhisker surface. The maximum degradation rate increases with an increase in the concentration of aqueous cellulose suspension. The composites containing 20wt% PANI remain 37—40% at the aqueous nanocellulose concentration of 0.1—2.0 wt%. The composites show improved thermal stability resulting from PANI coating on the surface of cellulose nano whiskers. 

Another possibility, which is widely used for the production of bio-nanocomposites, also with resin directty obtained from biomass, is extracting cellulose nanociystals (CNC) from other biomass source or from aspecilic cellulose. This led also to original solutions, such as the fabrication of materials including a kind of hierarchical structure, hence introducing both a macrosized reinforcement and a nanosized one. In particular, in a jute and soy flour composite, with glutaraldehyde providing suitable interface adhesion, cellulose nanowhiskers have been introduced in addition or not to nanoclay (Fig. 13.5), a procedure which provided improved thermal, mechanical and dimensional stability (Iman et al., 2013). 

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