Cellulose Composite Materials Research Articles

Strategic Design of Conductive Biopolymer Surface Coatings for Sensing and Remediation Applications

Advancement in the utility of conductive polysaccharide-based (i.e., agar, alginate, pectin, cellulose) composite materials for charge transfer applications requires effective surface functionalization and dopant matching to overcome limitations in electron transfer in these dielectric materials. A promising approach is the design of a biomimetic nanocomposite material, coupled with Fe-carboxyl coordination chemistry to photoinitiate the radical polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) in a uniform manner throughout a templated polymer matrix. Results have shown the feasibility of establishing a responsive carbon-based sensor, capable of modulating charge transfer performance in the presence of differing dopants (i.e., hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, polyelectrolyte). The aim of this work is to expand upon previous findings by unraveling the dopant-specific charge transport mechanisms as they relate to the polarizability and mobility of the dopant. Additionally, a network-level understanding of how changing the identity of the polymer backbone and the conductive polymer (i.e., aniline, pyrrole, thiophene) alters the charge transfer efficiency and overall stability of the conductive matrix. Current-voltage (I-V) sweeps reveal that these n-doped conductive polymer nanocomposites show enhanced current flow and reduced internal resistance compared to non-functionalized controls. Lastly, once the network reached an equilibrated state, the addition of a model contaminant (mucin) showed a decrease in the potential; however, upon an applied voltage, the contaminant was removed, and the system recovered to its original state. Alternatively, the network was also evaluated for the remediation of model pollutants. Results show that upon an applied voltage in simulated textile wastewater, there was a 10% degradation of methylene blue within 1 hour. Thus, the backbone/dopant/conducting polymer relationship is critical to achieving optimal performance with various applications.

Progress of silver-loaded cellulose composite antimicrobial materials

Silver-loaded cellulose composite antimicrobial materials have become a hot spot in the field of scientific research due to their excellent antimicrobial properties, good biocompatibility and environmental friendliness. The preparation methods include in situ chemical reduction, hydrothermal reduction, sol-gel and electrostatic self-assembly. These materials achieve antibacterial effects through mechanisms such as disrupting bacterial cell walls, inhibiting enzyme and protein activity, and disrupting bacterial DNA, and have broad application prospects in medical, packaging, and water treatment fields. This article provides a detailed summary of the research progress in the preparation methods, antibacterial mechanisms, and applications of silver loaded cellulose composite antibacterial materials, and looks forward to future research trends.

New Advances in the Application of Bacterial Cellulose Composite Materials in the Field of Bone Tissue Engineering

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a type of extracellular polymeric nanomaterial secreted by microorganisms over the course of their growth. It has gained significant attention in the field of bone tissue engineering due to its unique structure of three-dimensional fibrous network, excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and exceptional mechanical properties. Nevertheless, BC still has some weaknesses, including low osteogenic activity, a lack of antimicrobial properties, small pore size, issues with the degradation rate, and a mismatch in bone tissue regeneration, limiting its standalone use in the field of bone tissue engineering. Therefore, the modification of BC and the preparation of BC composite materials have become a recent research focus. Herein, we summarized the relationships between the production, modification, and bone repair applications of BC. We introduced the methods for the preparation and the modification of BC. Additionally, we elaborated on the new advances in the application of BC composite materials in the field of bone tissue engineering. We also highlighted the existing challenges and future prospects of BC composite materials.

Highly active polyethylene glycol grafted cellulose supported Pd nanoparticles for glucose electrooxidation

In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted cellulose (CE) composite catalyst support material (PEG-CE) was obtained by chemically cross-linking PEG at varying molecular weight and CE with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and 2,4-toluylene diisocyanate (TDI). PEG-CE supported Pd (Pd/PEG-CE) catalyst was prepared by the chemical reduction method. The crystal size of the Pd/PEG-CE catalyst is 4.79 nm and its crystal structure has been determined to be face-centered cubic Pd. Elemental mapping results indicate that Pd was reduced onto PEG-CE successfully and uniformly. Pd exists in the elemental and Pd-O form in the catalyst system. The Pd loading rate of Pd/PEG-C_IPDI catalyst was determined as 18.8% by mass. Among the PEG-CEs prepared with TDI and IPDI, PEG4000-CE_TDI and PEG6000-CE_IPDI displayed the highest specific activities of 1.03 and 1.50 mA cm−2 for glucose electrooxidation. With Pd reduction on PEG4000-CE_TDI and PEG6000-CE_IPDI, the specific activities increased to 1.62 mA cm−2 and 6.97 mA cm‐2. Pd/PEG6000-CE_IPDI has the highest electrocatalytic activity and stability in this study for glucose electrooxidation and is an encouraging anode catalyst for direct glucose fuel cells.

Органоминеральные целлюлозные композиционные материалы информационного назначения (офисные виды бумаги)

The main stages of the production of organomineral cellulose composite materials (CCM) for informational purposes (office types of paper) have been examined. The possibility of transfer to a resource-saving adaptation technology by molding paper from a mixture of partially bleached cellulose, bleached chemical-thermomechanical pulp and a mineral filler — precipitated calcium carbonate (Precipitated Calcium Carbonate — PCC) — with the creation of a new type of office paper — ECO paper, is shown. The change in the nature of inter-fibrillar and inter-fiber bonds during the transition from bleached cellulose to partially bleached was analyzed. The morphological features of these semi-finished products, as well as the optical and physic-mechanical properties of the resulting paper have been studied. The problems of directional changes in the zeta potential of the paper mass are identified when the nature of paper-forming fibers changes. On an industrial papermaking machine (PMM) with a capacity of more than a thousand tons per day, pilot production and transfer of PMM to mass production of new types of paper, with appropriate addition of existing standards, were carried out.

Material Design of Citric Acid-Modified Cellulose Composite Polymeric Materials with Both Tough and Sustainable Enhancement by Multiple Noncovalent Bonds

Material Design of Citric Acid-Modified Cellulose Composite Polymeric Materials with Both Tough and Sustainable Enhancement by Multiple Noncovalent Bonds

Effect of Synthetic Fiber on Physical, Mechanical, and Absorption Properties of Cellulose Composite Material

Effect of Synthetic Fiber on Physical, Mechanical, and Absorption Properties of Cellulose Composite Material

Graphene Oxide/Nanocrystalline Cellulose Composite: A Facile Phase Modulator

In the past few years, graphene and graphene-based materials have received enormous interest from the scientific community due to their extraordinary mechanical, electronic, optical and electrochemical properties. The success of graphene applications highly motivates the exploration of other applications such as in designing of antennas, phase modulation, as a frequency multiplier, design of graphene-based Field Effect Transistors, its use as an electrode in batteries and as a supercapacitor. In this paper, we present the Graphene Oxide/ Nanocrystalline cellulose (GO/NCC) composite material experimental phase modulation investigation. The modulator produced a 0.2πᶜ phase shift and the temporal profile obtained. The insertion loss at an ideal voltage of 2V and the extinction ratio was determined to be 15.17 dB at 25MHz and 12.22 dB respectively. The 0.2πᶜ phase shift demonstrated by GO/NCC implies that it can be used in phase shift keying, specifically, in Off-set quadrature phase-shift keying modulation where a phase change of not greater than π/2 radians at a time is required.

Nature-Inspired Cellulose-Based Active Materials: From 2D to 4D

Multifunctional materials and devices with captivating properties can be assembled from cellulose and cellulose-based composite materials combining functionality with structural performance. Cellulose is one of the most abundant renewable materials with captivating properties, such as mechanical robustness, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Cellulose is a low-cost and abundant biodegradable resource, CO2 neutral, with a wide variety of fibers available all over the world. Over thousands of years, nature has perfected cellulose-based materials according to their needs, such as function vs. structure. Mimicking molecular structures at the nano-, micro-, and macroscales existing in nature is a great strategy to produce synthetic cellulose-based active materials. A concise background of cellulose and its structural organization, as well as the nomenclature of cellulose nanomaterials, are first addressed. Key examples of nature-designed materials with unique characteristics, such as “eternal” coloration and water-induced movement are presented. The production of biomimetic fiber and 2D fiber-based cellulosic materials that have attracted significant attention within the scientific community are represented. Nature-inspired materials with a focus on functionality and response to an external stimulus are reported. Some examples of 3D-printed cellulosic materials bioinspired, reported recently in the literature, are addressed. Finally, printed cellulosic materials that morph from a 1D strand or 2D surface into a 3D shape, in response to an external stimulus, are reported. The purpose of this review is to discuss the most recent developments in the field of “nature-inspired” cellulose-based active materials regarding design, manufacturing, and inspirational sources that feature existing tendencies.

Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Laboratory for an Integrated Chemistry/Biology Program: Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs)-Cellulose Composite Materials with Antimicrobial Activity.

This laboratory exercise integrates chemistry and biology concepts to give third/fourth-year undergraduate students an opportunity to apply knowledge from different subject areas to address a real-world biomedical issue such as pathogen inhibition using composite materials. It involves the preparation of a bacteria-derived cellulosic biopolymer through microbial cultivation, impregnation of the bacterial cellulose (BC) with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), followed by the analysis of the materials and the antimicrobial properties of the biomaterial-AgNPs composites. The methods are relatively simple and use inexpensive chemicals. A Tollens type approach is adopted to produce silver nanoparticles-bacterial cellulose (AgNPs-BC) composites by the reduction of [Ag(NH3)2]+ complex embedded in the cellulose matrix. The samples were dried by two different methods: freeze-drying or vacuum-drying. The dried AgNPs-BC films were evaluated for antimicrobial properties against a test organism, in this example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative biosafety containment level 2 (BSL 2) bacterium, using an agar diffusion test. For additional flexibility and customization, options for dividing the chemistry/biology content of this laboratory into smaller units with an emphasis on characterization techniques of nanomaterials for chemistry majors are also discussed.

Challenges associated with cellulose composite material: Facet engineering and prospective

Cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide on earth. It has a large number of desirable properties. Its low toxicity makes it more useful for a variety of applications. Nowadays, its composites are used in most engineering fields. Composite consists of a polymer matrix and use as a reinforcing material. By reducing the cost of traditional fibers, it has an increasing demand for environment-friendly purposes. The use of these types of composites is inherent in moisture absorption with hindered natural fibers. This determines the reduction of polymer composite material. By appropriate chemical surface treatment of cellulose composite materials, the effect could be diminished. The most modern and advanced techniques and methods for the preparation of cellulose and polymer composites are discussed here. Cellulosic composites show a reinforcing effect on the polymer matrix as pointed out by mechanical characterization. Researchers tried their hard work to study different ways of converting various agricultural by-products into useful eco-friendly polymer composites for sustainable production. Cellulose plays building blocks, that are critical for polymer products and their engineering applications. The most common method used to prepare composites is in-situ polymerization. This help to increase the yields of cellulosic composites with a significant enhancement in thermal stability and mechanical properties. Recently, cellulose composites used as enhancing the incorporation of inorganic materials in multi-functional properties. Furthermore, we have summarized in this review the potential applications of cellulose composites in different fields like packaging, aerogels, hydrogels, and fibers.

Degradation of 2,4-DCP by the immobilized laccase on the carrier of sodium alginate-sodium carboxymethyl cellulose.

In this paper, sodium alginate-sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SA-CMC) composite material was used as a carrier, and sodium alginate-embedded laccase (Lac@SC) was prepared by traditional embedding method. After that, ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) and glutaraldehyde (GLU) were used as cross-linking agents, two different cross-linking-embedded co-immobilized laccases (Lac@SCG and Lac@SCE) were innovatively prepared, respectively, and then these immobilized laccases were characterized by SEM, FT-IR and XRD, and the stability of the three immobilized laccases was explored. In addition, the effects of different factors on the removal of 2,4-DCP by immobilized laccase were studied, and the degradation kinetic models of three immobilized laccases on 2,4-DCP were summarized, the possible degradation pathways of pollutants were also given. Experimental results showed that compared to free laccase, the pH stability, thermal stability and storage stability of immobilized laccase were greatly improved. These immobilized laccases could maintain high activity at pH3~6, 45~55°C. Lac@SCG had the best storage stability. After 30days of storage, the relative enzyme activity was still more than 40%. Lac@SC had good reusability, the relative enzyme activity was still more than 50% after 5 uses. In the degradation of 2,4-DCP, all three immobilized laccases showed good performance, when Lac@SCE was at pH5, 35°C, 25h, the removal rate of 2,4-DCP could reach 95.2%; When at 45°C, Lac@SC had the highest degradation rate which reach to 94%; At 45°C, the degradation rate of Lac@SCG reached 83.2%.

Biological Application of Novel Biodegradable Cellulose Composite as a Hemostatic Material.

Degradable hemostatic materials have unique advantages in reducing the amount of bleeding, shortening the surgical operation time, and improving patient prognosis. However, none of the current hemostatic materials are ideal and have disadvantages. Therefore, a novel biodegradable cellulose-based composite hemostatic material was prepared by crosslinking sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CCNa) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), following an improved vacuum freeze-drying method. The resulting cellulose composite material was neutral in pH and spongy with a density of 0.042 g/cm3, a porosity of 77.68%, and an average pore size of 13.45 μm. The composite's compressive and tensile strengths were 0.1 MPa and 15.2 MPa, respectively. Under in vitro conditions, the composites were degraded gradually through petite molecule stripping and dissolution, reaching 96.8% after 14 days and 100% degradation rate at 21 days. When implanted into rats, the degradation rate of the composite was slightly faster, reaching 99.7% in 14 days and 100% in 21 days. Histology showed a stable inflammatory response and no evidence of cell degeneration, necrosis, or abnormal hyperplasia in the tissues around the embedded material, indicating good biocompatibility. In the hemorrhagic liver model, the time to hemostasis and the total blood loss in the cellulose composite group was significantly lower than in the medical gauze group and the blank control group (P < 0.05). These data indicate that the novel cellulose composite is a promising implantable hemostatic material in clinical settings.

Modification of triacetate cellulose polymer compositions by oligodiurethanediols

We carried out the research on the modification of triacetate cellulose composite materials by oligodiurethanediols synthesized on the basis of a mixture of isomers of toluene diisocinate and aliphatic diols (individual or oligomeric) which differ in the length of the aliphatic chain between the hydroxyl groups and the nature of the hydroxy group itself. It was shown that used oligodiurethanediols are effective modifiers of the soluble triacetate cellulose compositions. At the stage of film casting, such additives allow governing the viscosity of the solution in a wide range and, at the same time, improving the physical and mechanical characteristics of the cast films (ensuring an increase in the tensile strength of the films by almost 2.5 times). This effect was achieved due to the presence of polar urethane groups in the structure of the modifier, which are formed at the stage of its synthesis, which have higher values of total cohesion energy (36.6 kJ/mol), in comparison with the ester groups (12.2 kJ/mol) of phthalate or adipinate plasticizers.

CELLULOSE-BASED COMPOSITES AND THEIR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

"Biopolymers have gained significant attention from researchers belonging to diverse fields, due to their unique physicochemical properties, renewability, biocompatibility and biodegradability, rendering them suitable for a wide variety of applications. Within its class of materials, cellulose has been the most widely exploited one. The present review aims to critically appraise the reported biomedical applications of cellulose and cellulose-based composite materials. The fabrication methods of the composites are discussed in brief and subsequently, the biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, wound healing, drug delivery etc., are reviewed."

Optimization and analysis of dry sliding wear process parameters on cellulose reinforced ABS polymer composite material

PurposeThis study aims to the optimization using three factors and three-level parameters (sliding speed [rpm], sliding distance [m/s] and load [N]) of design matrix were adapted to Box–Behnken design using design expert v8.0 software. Based on the parameters, to develop the linear regression equation and to find the significant considerable wear process parameters based on output responses like wear loss (WL) and coefficient of friction (COF) value of polymer matrix composites (PMC) specimen of Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)/cellulose composite (80 wt% of ABS and 20 wt% of cellulose).Design/methodology/approachThe fabrication of the ABS/cellulose composite sample was carried out by the simple hands-on stir process method. As per the American Society for Testing and Materials G99 standard, the sample was made by the molding process. The wear analysis was made by multi tribotester TR25 machine and validated the developed model by using statistical software design expert v.8.0 and numerical tools like analysis of variance. The surface morphology [field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis] of the sample was also observed using the Quanta FEG-250 FESEM instrument.FindingsThe parameters like sliding speed, sliding distance and load are independently affected the COF value and WL of the 80% of ABS matrix and 20% cellulose reinforced composite material. The regression equations were generated by the coefficient of friction value and WL, which predicted the minimum WL of 80% of ABS matrix and 20% of cellulose reinforced composite material. The worn surface analysis result exposes the worn path and equal distribution of reinforcement and matrix on the surface of composite material.Originality/valueThe literature survey revealed a small number of studies available regarding wear analysis of ABS matrix and cellulose reinforced composite materials. In the present work, to fabricate and evaluate the wear performance of PMC (80% of ABS and 20% of cellulose) depends on the WL and COF value. The maximum and minimum COF value (µ) of 80% of ABS and 20% of cellulose composite material is 4.71 and 0.28 with the optimized wear process parameter by 1,000 mm of sliding distance, 0.25 (m/s) of sliding speed and 9 N of load.

Preparation and applications of chitosan and cellulose composite materials

Chitosan is a natural fiber, chemically cellulose-like biopolymer, which is processed from chitin. Its use as a natural polymer is getting more attention because it is non-toxic, renewable, and biocompatible. However, its poor mechanical and thermal strength, particle size, and surface area restrict its industrial use. Consequently, to improve these properties, cellulose and/or inorganic nanoparticles have been used. This review discusses the recent progress of chitosan and cellulose composite materials, their preparation, and their applications in different industrial sectors. It also discusses the modification of chitosan and cellulose composite materials to allow their use on a large scale. Finally, the recent development of chitosan composite materials for drug delivery, food packaging, protective coatings, and wastewater treatment are discussed. The challenges and perspectives for future research are also considered. This review suggests that chitosan and cellulose nano-composite are promising, low-cost products for environmental remediation involving a simple production process.

Technology and mechanism of enhanced compatibilization of polylactic acid-grafted glycidyl methacrylate

A PLA-based bagasse cellulose composite material with excellent performance and low cost was prepared. As one of the most commonly used thermoplastic materials in fused deposition modeling (FDM), PLA is currently the most widely used three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. It has the natural advantage of being biodegradable. However, due to its poor toughness, it cannot meet the requirements for 3D printing consumables in some areas. Therefore, polylactic acid (PLA) is used as the matrix, tert-butyl peroxybenzoate (TBPB) are used as the free radical initiator, and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is used as the reaction monomer to prepare the PLA-GMA graft product, which realizes the toughening of PLA, and the PLA/PLA-GMA/BC (bagasse cellulose) composite material is prepared by the physical blending method, which realizes the reinforcement of PLA; it was proved by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and 1H NMR that GMA was successfully grafted onto the PLA molecular chain, and the influence of the grafting rate on the toughness of PLA-GMA was explored. It was concluded that the grafting rate of PLA-GMA with the best toughness was 10.33%. The strength is 15.94 MPa, the modulus of elasticity is 969.01 MPa, and the elongation at break is 278.17%, which is about 44 times the elongation at break of pure PLA. The PLA/PLA-GMA/BC composite material with high cellulose loading was prepared by physical blending. The effect of PLA-GMA content, BC particle size and BC content on the properties of composite materials was explored. The results showed that PLA-GMA when the addition amount is 25%, the capacity enhancement effect is the best; when the additional amount of BC is as high as 40%, the PLA/PLA-GMA/BC composite still has good mechanical properties, and the addition of BC can promote the crystallization of PLA; DSC results show that BC can promote the crystallization of PLA, and the addition of PLA-GMA is not conducive to the composite material the formation of PLA crystalline regions; the temperature at the maximum decomposition rate of 40% BCB/25% PLA-GMA/PLA composite material is 355.44 ℃, and the thermal stability is improved. This study proves that the functional group properties of GMA realize the toughening and enhanced dual modification of polylactic acid, which expands the choice and application range of FDM 3D printing materials.

Synthesis of proton-conducting membranes based on sulfonated polystyrene and bacterial cellulose

Synthesis of composite material based on sulfonated polystyrene and bacterial cellulose as a proton membrane has been carried out. In this study, the membrane was made with the variations mass ratio of sulfonated polystyrene : bacterial cellulose 1,5: 3,5, 2,5: 2,5, 3,5: 1,5. The previous step was sulfonation of polystyrene, in which the polystyrene used is styrofoam from electronic goods packaging waste. Polystyrene in this case styrofoam is sulfonated using the sulfonating agent trimethylsilyl chlorosulfonate. The membranes have characterized by analyzing of functional groups, proton conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and degree of swelling. The FTIR spectrum showed that the sulfonated polystyrene-bacterial cellulose composite material was successfully synthesized which was shown at the peak at wave number 1124.767 cm−1 which was a SO3 stretching vibration. The peak at wave number 962-1150 cm−1 was assigned the stretching of CO vibrations for C-OC and C-OH which indicates cellulose glycosidic bonds. The highest Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) value and proton conductivity were in the composite membrane: bacterial cellulose mass ratio 3,5: 1,5, the CEC value 2.25 meq/g and the proton conductivity value 1.176 x 10−6 S/cm2. This result shows that the sulfonated polystyrene-cellulose bacterial composite membrane has the ability to deliver protons so that it has the potential to be developed as a fuel cell membrane.

A Review of Cellulose Coarse-Grained Models and Their Applications

Cellulose is the most common biopolymer and widely used in our daily life. Due to its unique properties and biodegradability, it has been attracting increased attention in the recent years and various new applications of cellulose and its derivatives are constantly being found. The development of new materials with improved properties, however, is not always an easy task, and theoretical models and computer simulations can often help in this process. In this review, we give an overview of different coarse-grained models of cellulose and their applications to various systems. Various coarse-grained models with different mapping schemes are presented, which can efficiently simulate systems from the single cellulose fibril/crystal to the assembly of many fibrils/crystals. We also discuss relevant applications of these models with a focus on the mechanical properties, self-assembly, chiral nematic phases, conversion between cellulose allomorphs, composite materials and interactions with other molecules.