Formation of Highly Oriented Cellulose Nanocrystal Films by Spin Coating Film from Aqueous Suspensions

Nanoscale electromechanical properties of template-assisted hierarchical self-assembled cellulose nanofibers

“…1b ), which suggests strong cohesion within the cellulose molecules. 49 Dissolution of the AAO template released the SA-CNFs which tended to agglomerate, as shown in the back-scattered SEM image in Fig. 1c .…”

“…Low-temperature post-deposition thermal treatment process was found to be necessary to realise SA-CNFs of higher crystallinity and improved mechanical stability, which are essential to obtain better piezoelectric response in cellulose. 49 The crystallinity of the SA-CNFs was determined from X-ray diffractometry (XRD) spectra of different SA-CNF samples before and after thermal treatment (ESI S4 † ). While all the samples did show typical cellulose Iβ peaks similar to the parent CNC sample (ESI S4b † ), the degree of crystallinity as calculated form the peak intensities were found to have increased in annealed SA-CNFs with a relative crystallinity index (ESI S4a † ) of 0.76, as compared to the non-annealed SA-CNFs with a relative crystallinity index of 0.48.…”

“…Post-preperation heat treatment of the infiltrated template at approximately 80 °C was carried out for 30 minutes to remove bound water and to facilitate the increase in the degree of bonding between CNCs, a technique earlier adopted by Jiang et al for self-assembly of CNC ultra-thin films. 49 …”

Multifunctional Surfaces for Improving Soft Tissue Integration

“…[ 15,16 ] Second, it has been previously reported that CNC alignment in radial direction arises from the viscous shear as the suspension flows outward during spin‐coating. [ 32 ]…”

“…[15,16] Second, it has been previously reported that CNC alignment in radial direction arises from the viscous shear as the suspension flows outward during spin-coating. [32] In order to confirm the differences on the relative orientation of the CNC, directional analysis of AFM images was performed. Figure 1c,d shows representative histograms of CNC directionality on either the center or the border of the random and aligned surfaces, respectively.…”