Multifunctional High‐Performance Biofibers Based on Wet‐Extrusion of Renewable Native Cellulose Nanofibrils

Fibrous architectures are among the most abundant loadcarrying materials in nature, encompassing molecular level peptide assemblies (e.g., amyloids), supramolecular protein materials (e.g., collagen), colloidal level native cellulose nanofi brils (nanofi brillated cellulose, NFC), through to macroscale spider silk. [ 1 , 2 ] NFC, also denoted as microfi brillated cellulose (MFC), exhibits diameters in the nanometer range and lengths up to several micrometers. These nanofi brils are composed of aligned β D -(1 → 4)glucopyranose polysaccharide chains, which form native cellulose I crystals where the parallel chains are strongly intermolecularly hydrogen bonded. NFC materials can be isolated by chemical/enzymatic and homogenization treatments [ 3 , 4 ] from the cell walls of wood and plants, where they are responsible for structural strength. NFC forms a remarkable emerging class of nature-derived nanomaterials because of its extraordinary mechanical properties, combining high stiffness of up to ca. 140 GPa and expected strength in the GPa range with a lightweight character (density ca. 1.5 g mL − 1 ). These properties rank NFC at the top end of high-performance natural materials, where the stiffness of cellulose I is 2–3 times higher than that of glass fi bers (50–80 GPa) and approaches that of steel (200 GPa). Since NFC is derived from wood or plant sources, it is globally abundant and renewable, and represents a resource that does not interfere with the food chain or require petrochemical components. In addition, related nanofi brils known as bacterial cellulose can be produced biotechnologically. [ 5 ] Consequently, NFC is emerging as one of the most promising sustainable building blocks for future advanced materials. So far the main interest in NFC has been to generate strong and tough nanopapers, nanocomposites upon adding small contents to polymeric matrices, or robust foams and aerogels. [ 4 , 6–16 ]

[1]  T. Iwata,et al.  Structure and mechanical properties of wet-spun fibers made from natural cellulose nanofibers. , 2011, Biomacromolecules.

[2]  Robin H. A. Ras,et al.  Superhydrophobic and superoleophobic nanocellulose aerogel membranes as bioinspired cargo carriers on water and oil. , 2011, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[3]  L. Berglund,et al.  Making flexible magnetic aerogels and stiff magnetic nanopaper using cellulose nanofibrils as templates. , 2010, Nature nanotechnology.

[4]  T. Lindström,et al.  Aerogels from nanofibrillated cellulose with tunable oleophobicity , 2010 .

[5]  H. Sehaqui,et al.  Mechanical performance tailoring of tough ultra-high porosity foams prepared from cellulose I nanofiber suspensions , 2010 .

[6]  Sergio Torres-Giner,et al.  Extraction of Microfibrils from Bacterial Cellulose Networks for Electrospinning of Anisotropic Biohybrid Fiber Yarns , 2010 .

[7]  Paul Gatenholm,et al.  Bacterial Nanocellulose as a Renewable Material for Biomedical Applications , 2010 .

[8]  T. Peijs,et al.  Cellulose Biocomposites—From Bulk Moldings to Nanostructured Systems , 2010 .

[9]  A. N. Nakagaito,et al.  Displays from Transparent Films of Natural Nanofibers , 2010 .

[10]  David Plackett,et al.  Microfibrillated cellulose and new nanocomposite materials: a review , 2010 .

[11]  Kentaro Abe,et al.  Review: current international research into cellulose nanofibres and nanocomposites , 2010, Journal of Materials Science.

[12]  Z. Shao,et al.  Animal silks: their structures, properties and artificial production. , 2009, Chemical communications.

[13]  Erik K. Malm,et al.  Nanostructured biocomposites based on bacterial cellulosic nanofibers compartmentalized by a soft hydroxyethylcellulose matrix coating , 2009 .

[14]  H. Yano,et al.  Optically transparent nanofiber sheets by deposition of transparent materials: A concept for a roll-to-roll processing , 2009 .

[15]  Masaya Nogi,et al.  Optically Transparent Nanofiber Paper , 2009 .

[16]  Olli Ikkala,et al.  Long and entangled native cellulose I nanofibers allow flexible aerogels and hierarchically porous templates for functionalities , 2008 .

[17]  Marielle Henriksson,et al.  Cellulose nanopaper structures of high toughness. , 2008, Biomacromolecules.

[18]  Masaya Nogi,et al.  Transparent Nanocomposites Based on Cellulose Produced by Bacteria Offer Potential Innovation in the Electronics Device Industry , 2008 .

[19]  L. Berglund,et al.  Biomimetic Foams of High Mechanical Performance Based on Nanostructured Cell Walls Reinforced by Native Cellulose Nanofibrils , 2008 .

[20]  Yasuaki Seki,et al.  Biological materials: Structure and mechanical properties , 2008 .

[21]  Richard Weinkamer,et al.  Nature’s hierarchical materials , 2007 .

[22]  L. Berglund,et al.  Biomimetic polysaccharide nanocomposites of high cellulose content and high toughness. , 2007, Biomacromolecules.

[23]  Akira Isogai,et al.  Cellulose nanofibers prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation of native cellulose. , 2007, Biomacromolecules.

[24]  O. Ikkala,et al.  Enzymatic hydrolysis combined with mechanical shearing and high-pressure homogenization for nanoscale cellulose fibrils and strong gels. , 2007, Biomacromolecules.

[25]  A. N. Nakagaito,et al.  Optically transparent bionanofiber composites with low sensitivity to refractive index of the polymer matrix , 2005 .

[26]  D. Blank,et al.  SPINEL COBALT FERRITE BY COMPLEXOMETRIC SYNTHESIS , 2005 .

[27]  G. Salazar-Alvarez,et al.  Controlled Synthesis of Near-Stoichiometric Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles , 2005 .

[28]  Hiroyuki Yano,et al.  Optically Transparent Composites Reinforced with Networks of Bacterial Nanofibers , 2005 .

[29]  A. Heeger,et al.  Counter-ion induced processibility of conducting polyaniline and of conducting polyblends of polyaniline in bulk polymers , 1992 .