Material design of nanocellulose/polymer composites via Pickering emulsion templating

Abstract

Abstract Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is a crystalline fiber composed of a bundle of cellulose molecular chains and is expected to be used as a new biomass-derived nanomaterial. The CNF has a unique morphology: a few to tens of nanometer width and a submicrometer to micrometer length. Its application to various materials, in particular its utilization as a polymer reinforcing material, has been anticipated due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, CNFs and plastics are generally hard to mix, and thus, it is difficult to combine them at the nanolevel. In this review, we describe the CNF/polymer nanocompositing process from Pickering emulsion. We use ~3 nm-wide wood-derived CNFs and report on the preparation of CNF/polymer homogenous composite films. We also introduce a new type of CNF/polymer composite, a core-shell microparticle, using this Pickering emulsion as a template.