Evaluation of Dispersibility of Individualized Cellulose Nanofiber (CNF)

Introduction

Cellulose is a type of polysaccharide which is the main component of plant cell walls. Cellulose with a fiber diameter of 4 to 100 nm, length of several μm, and aspect ratio of 100 or more is called cellulose nanofiber (CNF), and has attracted attention as a leading-edge biomass new material. CNF has a number of outstanding functions. In addition to light weight and high strength, it also has a high gas barrier property, adsorption, and transparency. Moreover, as a plant-derived material, its production- and waste-related environmental impacts are low. Future applications are expected to include automotive components, electronic materials, and packaging. Application News No. A579 introduced an evaluation of networked CNF. In the present article, the dispersibility of monodisperse CNF was evaluated by using a Shimadzu UV2600i ultraviolet-visible light (UV-VIS) spectrophotometer. In addition, the monodisperse CNF was compared with commercially-available aqueous dispersions of woodderived CNF and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), which are networked CNFs. Those results are also introduced here.

May 15, 2020 GMT