Enhancement of mechanical properties of nanocellulose xerogels using TEMPO-oxidized fibers

Jerred Wassgren; Brandon R Clarke; M Bachir Messikh; Ching-Hsien Ho; Alfred J Crosby; Gregory N Tew; Kenneth R Carter

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122839

Enhancement of mechanical properties of nanocellulose xerogels using TEMPO-oxidized fibers

Carbohydr Polym. 2025 Jan 15;348(Pt B):122839. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122839. Epub 2024 Oct 30.

Authors

Jerred Wassgren¹, Brandon R Clarke¹, M Bachir Messikh¹, Ching-Hsien Ho¹, Alfred J Crosby¹, Gregory N Tew¹, Kenneth R Carter²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, United States of America.
² Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, United States of America. Electronic address: krcarter@umass.edu.

PMID: 39567108
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122839

Abstract

We report xerogels prepared from TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (Ox-CNF) that have enhanced yield stresses and Young's Modulus (E) up to 15.4 MPa. The xerogels were highly porous (>95 %) and were measured by density determination, SEM, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) experiments, and microCT analysis. The xerogels had a density of 0.0182 to 0.0471 g/cm³. We report that the solvent exchange process introduces a distribution of pore sizes and leads to enhanced mechanical properties. Mechanical properties were evaluated by monotonic and cyclical uniaxial compression measurements using a flat punch. These highly porous Ox-CNF xerogels have superior mechanical properties to other CNF xerogels and aerogels.

Keywords: Cellulose nanofiber (CNF); Porous materials; Solvent-exchange; Xerogel.