PolyDiethyleneglycol–bisallyl carbonate matrix transparent nanocomposites reinforced with bacterial cellulose microfibrils

Abstract

Transparent nanocomposite films were prepared using bacterial cellulose (BC) as reinforcement and diethylene glycol bis(allyl carbonate) polymer (DEAC) as matrix by vacuum infiltration and UV polymerization. The BC/DEAC nanocomposites exhibit excellent transparency up to 88% at wavelength of 550nm. The uniform dispersion of resin in BC 3D network was evidenced from SEM and ATR-FTIR analyses, confirms the complete photo-polymerization of diethylene glycol bis(allyl)carbonate monomer to Poly (diethylene glycol bis(allyl carbonate) in BC network. The BC/DEAC composites have good mechanical properties, reaching a tensile strength of 130MPa and a Young’s Modulus of 6.4GPa. Applying a micromechanic modeling approach, the elastic modulus of the composite was used in order to determine the average aspect ratio of BC fibers. These flexible transparent BC/DEAC composite films can be considered as functional films for optoelectronics application.