Epoxy monomers cured by high cellulosic nanocrystal loading
Authors
F. Khelifa, Y. Habibi, L. Bonnaud, and P. Dubois
Reference
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 8, no. 16, pp. 10535-10544, 2016
Description
The present study focuses on the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as the main constituent of a nanocomposite material and takes advantage of hydroxyl groups, characteristic of the CNC chemical structure, to thermally cross-link an epoxy resin. An original and simple approach is proposed, based on the collective sticking of CNC building blocks with the help of a DGEBA/TGPAP-based epoxy resin. Scientific findings suggest that hydroxyl groups act as a toxic-free cross-linking agent of the resin. The enhanced protection against water degradation as compared to neat CNC film and the improvement of mechanical properties of the synthesized films are attributed to a good compatibility between the CNC and the resin. Moreover, the preservation of CNC optical properties at high concentrations opens the way to applying these materials in photonic devices.
