Green process for chemical functionalization of nanocellulose with carboxylic acids.

An environmentally friendly and simple method, named SolReact, has been developed for a solvent-free esterification of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) surface by using two nontoxic carboxylic acids (CA), phenylacetic acid and hydrocinnamic acid. In this process, the carboxylic acids do not only act as grafting agent, but also as solvent media above their melting point. Key is the in situ solvent exchange by water evaporation driving the esterification reaction without drying the CNC. Atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses showed no significant change in the CNC dimensions and crystallinity index after this green process. The presence of the grafted carboxylic was characterized by analysis of the "bulk" CNC with elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and (13)C NMR. The ability to tune the surface properties of grafted nanocrystals (CNC-g-CA) was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The hydrophobicity behavior of the functionalized CNC was studied through the water contact-angle measurements and vapor adsorption. The functionalization of these bionanoparticles may offer applications in composite manufacturing, where these nanoparticles have limited dispersibility in hydrophobic polymer matrices and as nanoadsorbers due to the presence of phenolic groups attached on the surface.

Designed cellulose nanocrystal surface properties for improving barrier properties in polylactide nanocomposites.

Nanocomposites are an opportunity to increase the performance of polymer membranes by fine-tuning their morphology. In particular, the understanding of the contribution of the polymer matrix/nanofiller interface to the overall transport properties is key to design membranes with tailored selective and adsorptive properties. In that aim, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)/polylactide (PLA) nanocomposites were fabricated with chemically designed interfaces, which were ensuring the compatibility between the constituents and impacting the mass transport mechanism. A detailed analysis of the mass transport behaviour of different permeants in CNC/PLA nanocomposites was carried out as a function of their chemical affinity to grafted CNC surfaces. Penetrants (O2 and cyclohexane), which were found to slightly interact with the constituents of the nanocomposites, provided information on the small tortuosity effect of CNC on diffusive mass transport. The mass transport of water (highly interacting with CNC) and anisole (interacting only with designed CNC surfaces) exhibited non-Fickian, Case II behaviour. The water vapour caused significant swelling of the CNC, which created a preferential pathway for mass transport. CNC surface grafting could attenuate this phenomenon and decrease the water transport rate. Anisole, an aromatic organic vapour, became reversibly trapped at the specifically designed CNC/PLA interface, but without any swelling or creation of an accelerated pathway. This caused the decrease of the overall mass transport rate. The latter finding could open a way to the creation of materials with specifically designed barrier properties by designing nanocomposites interfaces with specific interactions towards permeants.