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Requested Publication

Title: Cellulose nanocrystals as a reinforcing material for electrospun poly(methyl methacrylate) fibers: formation, properties and nanomechanical characterization

Source: Carbohydrate Polymers 87 (2012) 2488?2495

Author(s): Dong, Hong; Strawhecker, Kenneth E.; Snyder, James A.; Orlicki, Joshua A.; Reiner, Richard S.; Rudie, Alan W.

Publication Year: 2012  View PDF » Mail this web page's link »

Publication Series: Journal Articles
Associated Research Project(s):   FPL-4709-2A

Abstract: Uniform fibers composed of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) reinforced with progressively increasing contents of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), up to 41 wt% CNCs, have been successfully produced by electrospinning. The morphological, thermal and nanomechanical properties of the composite sub-micron fibers were investigated. The CNCs derived from wood pulp by sulfuric acid hydrolysis were well dispersed in solutions of PMMA and the processing solvent N,N-dimethylformamide prior to fiber formation. Well-formed fibers with controllable diameters were generated reproducibly at all CNC contents investigated including 41 wt%. The orientation of the CNCs along the fiber axis was facilitated by the electrospinning process and observed directly from microscopy examination. Shifts in thermal transitions of PMMA with increasing CNC content suggest hydrogen bonding interactions between CNC hydroxyl groups and carbonyl groups on the PMMA matrix. Nanoscale dynamic mechanical analysis (nano-DMA) was performed using nanoindentation on single fibers perpendicular to the fiber axis. Many of the current challenges associated with single fiber nanoindentation are addressed, such as fiber diameter range and minimum, depth to diameter ratio, and valid depth range under these experimental conditions. Fibers that contained 17 wt% CNCs showed a modest increase of 17% in the storage modulus of PMMA, a high modulus polymer of interest for transparent composite applications.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Nano-DMA; Nanoindentation; Poly(methyl methacrylate) fibers; Electrospinning; Thermal properties

Publication Review Process: Formally Refereed

File size: 617 kb(s)

Date posted: 04/25/2012

This publication is also viewable on Treesearch:  view
RITS Product ID: 41935
Current FPL Scientist associated with this publication
Rudie, Alan W.
Supervisory Research Chemist
  

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