Observation and Characterization of Dispersion State of Cellulose Nanofibers and Polymer Composite

Introduction

Cellulose is a polysaccharide, which is a main component of plant cell walls. Among nanocellulose materials produced by defibrating cellulose to the nanometer size, those with a width of 4 to 100 nm, length on the order of several μm, and high aspect ratio (100 or higher) are called cellulose nanofibers (CNF), and have attracted attention as a leading-edge new biomass material. Because CNF has a variety of outstanding functions, including a high gas barrier property, absorption, and transparency, in addition to light weight and high strength, composites of CNF with polymer materials are expected to display improved physical properties. Although characterization of the dispersion states of CNF and polymer composite in the material is important in the development of composite materials, the current characterization techniques cannot be considered adequate. This report introduces an example of a CNF composite material and characterization of its dispersion state by using a Shimadzu scanning probe microscope (SPM) and Nano Search microscope (SFT).

March 18, 2019 GMT