Nanocrystalline Cellulose NCC

In the 1950s, Ranby reported for the first time that colloidal suspensions of cellulose can be obtained by controlled sulphuric acid-catalysed degradation of cellulose fibers [10-12]. This work was inspired by the studies of Nickerson and Habrle [40], who observed that the degradation induced by boiling cellulose fibers in acidic solution reached a limit after a certain time of treatment. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of dried suspensions revealed for the first time the presence of aggregates of 

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Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCCs) are general referred to as rigid rod-like crystals having a diameter in the range of 10-20 nm and lengths of a few hundred nanometers [47]. Figure 1.6 depicts the location and extraction of nanocrystalline cellulose [50]... 

Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), crystallites, rodlike cellulose microcrystals, cellulose whiskers (CW) or cellulose nano whiskers (CNW) 2-20 100-600 10-100... 

Nanocrystalline cellulose, a rod-shaped nanoscale material with exceptional strength and physicochemical properties, can be prepared from inexpensive renewable biomass. Besides its potential use as a reinforcing agent for industrial biocomposites, pristine NCC exhibits low toxicity and poses no serious environmental concerns, providing impetus for its use in bioapplications [115]. 

Different descriptors have been used in the literature to designate the crystalline rod-like nanoparticles. These particles are mainly referred to as whiskers, nanowhiskers, cellulose nanocrystals, NCC (nanocrystalline cellulose), monocrystals, microcrystals, or microcrystallites, despite their nanoscale dimensions. The terms microfibrils, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) are used to designate cellulosic nanoparticles obtained by a simple mechanical shearing disintegration process (Fig. 7.2) as described in the next section. 

Today, electronics are manufactured with expensive materials that often contribute to the increase of pollution and are rarely recyclable. The market of printed electronic is expanding rapidly and therefore needs new materials that could help revolutionize the electronic industry and would be relative inexpensive. Nanocellulose, one of the most common, cheapest, and reqrclable substrate materials, is believed to be able to successfully replace plastic, metallic foil or paper substrates currently used for manufacturing flexible electronics [81, 82]. The authors of article [81] studied composites made of inoi anic filler particles and cellulose nanofibers for printed electronics applications. In their research, nanocellulose was assumed to fill voids of the structure. On the other hand, Caspar et al. worked on "nanocrystalline cellulose applied simultaneously as the gate dielectric and the substrate in flexible field effect transistors [82]. Figure 21.42 presents transmittance of two NCC membranes produced by two approaches NCC evaporation and NCC casting. 

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