Transparent nanocellulose hybrid films functionalized with ZnO nanostructures for UV-blocking

Abstract

Transparent, nanocellulose-ZnO (NC-ZnO) hybrid films were fabricated via a pressure controlled extrusion process using NC fibrils and sheet-like ZnO (s-ZnO) or belt-like ZnO (b-ZnO) nanostructures. The s-ZnO and b-ZnO conjoined with the NC fibrils to form a heterogeneous, fibrous network structure. The NC-ZnO hybrid films with different amounts of ZnO nanostructures showed a synergic feature of high optical transparency and excellent UV-blocking. The results indicated that NC assembled with s-ZnO hybrid film possessed excellent UV-blocking ability in a wide range from 200 to 375 nm, in contrast to NC-b-ZnO.Moreover, the prominent thermal and photo stability of transparent NC-ZnO hybrid films enhanced extensibility and ease of use for diverse biological applications, which require tolerance of temperature changes.

Copper‐Nanocluster‐Based Transparent Ultraviolet‐Shielding Polymer Films

“…Even though the transmittance at 500 nm also slightly decreases with an increasing Cu 2+ concentration, more than 40% of light can still be transmitted with 15 mM Cu 2+ added. This constitutes a good performance for the Cu NC based films in terms of their UV blocking ability and visible transparency, as compared to the previously reported, PVA based films with a variety of UV absorbers, such as Sepia eumelanin, graphene oxide, microporous titanate, and ZnO (Table ). Moreover, our films do not include any toxic or expensive components, such as rare‐earth elements or noble metals.…”

UV-absorbing cellulose nanocrystals as functional reinforcing fillers in polymer nanocomposite films

“…The increase in the transmittance in the UVC region strongly indicates that the UV absorption was due to the incorporation of the PABA groups into the cellulose and not light absorption or light scattering by aggregation of CNCs that may have formed during the lm preparation. UV absorption properties of PABA-CNC reinforced PVA lms were similar to those of ZnO-nanoparticle-CNF 22 and lignin-CNC 21 composites. However, with PABA-CNCs, slightly higher UV light selectivity over visible light was observed.…”

“…However, the potential of nanocellulose as a bifunctional UV-absorbing and reinforcing ller in composites has not been widely reported. UV-absorbing nanocomposites containing CNCs with lignin 21 and CNFs with ZnO nanoparticles 22 have been produced, but their UV absorption was based on the presence of lignin or ZnO nanoparticles.…”

In Situ Growth of ZnO Nanostructures on Cotton Fabric by Solochemical Process for Antibacterial Purposes

“…Among the metal oxides used for the preparation of treated fabrics, ZnO nanostructures have a great application potential due to their unique properties such as chemical stability, nontoxicity, antibacterial and UV-protection, high photocatalytic activity, and high transparency in the visible wavelength range [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Moreover, this material possesses some advantages over silver nanoparticles, such as UVblocking property and lower cost, and it does not cause a change in the color of the final product [14][15][16].…”