Observation of Cellulose Nanofibers and Measurement of Fiber Length/Diameter

Introduction

Cellulose is a polysaccharide consisting mainly of plant cell walls. Nanocellulose is produced by defibrating cellulose to the nanometer size. Nanocellulose with a diameter of 4 to 100 nm, length of approximately several μm, and high aspect ratio (100 or more) is called cellulose nanofiber (CNF), and is a focus of attention as an advanced new biomass material. In addition to light weight and high strength, CNF also offers outstanding functions such as a high gas barrier property, adsorption, and transparency. Moreover, because CNF is a plant fiber-derived material, the environmental impacts associated with production and disposal are small. Application to automotive, electronic, packaging and other materials is expected in the future. The lack of an established method for evaluating the basic physical properties of CNF is one current issue. As basic measurements, establishment of a method for measuring the fiber length and diameter of CNF is demanded, as they are thought to influence the mechanical strength of CNF composites. The scanning probe microscope (SPM) and electron microscope are generally used to observe nanometer- size objects, and are also widely used in observation of CNF. This article introduces a method for observation of CNF and measurement of the fiber length/diameter by using Shimadzu’s scanning probe microscope SPM-9700HT.

January 22, 2021 GMT