Dispersive Ability of Carboxylated Cellulose Nanofibrils for Aqueous Monolayer Montmorillonite Dispersion:Influence of Na^(+) and Ca^(2+) Concentrations

Carboxylated cellulose nanofibrils(CNFs)have emerged as effective green dispersants for monolayer montmorillonite(MMT)dispersions.However,their dispersion capability is sensitive to the metal ion concentration in aqueous solutions.Hence,this study investigated the effects of Na^(+) and Ca^(2+) concentrations on the dispersive ability of carboxylated CNFs for monolayer MMTs in water.Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring(QCM-D)and atomic force microscopy(AFM)were utilized to explore the interfacial interactions between the carboxylated CNFs and monolayer MMTs under different Na^(+) and Ca^(2+) concentrations.When the concentration of Na^(+) reached 0.1 mmol/L,the adhesion mass of carboxylated CNFs on MMT-coated wafer peaked at 24.47 mg/m^(2),higher than control sample(carboxylated CNF-dispersed monolayer MMT dispersion without metal ions,16.03 mg/m^(2)).Moreover,the electrostatic shielding effect promoted a better dispersion of monolayer MMTs by carboxylated CNF dispersant.With a further increase in the Na^(+) concentration,the surface charge of CNFs and MMTs would be reversed resulting from the improved electrostatic shielding effect,which weaken the dispersive ability of carboxylated CNFs.The addition of Ca^(2+) reduced the dispersive ability of carboxylated CNFs for monolayer MMTs,because Ca^(2+) required a lower concentration for the onset of charge reversal compared to Na^(+).This study provides interfacial scale insights into the influence of metal ion concentration on carboxylated CNF-dispersed monolayer MMT dispersions.It also provides a strategy to enhance the dispersive ability of carboxylated CNFs for monolayer MMTs.

Immobilization of nano-zero-valent irons by carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals for wastewater remediation

Nano-zero-valent irons(nZVI)have shown great potential to function as universal a nd low-cost magnetic adsorbents.Yet,the rapid agglomeration and easy surface corrosion of nZVI in solution greatly hinders their overall applicability.Here,carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals(CCNC),widely available from renewable biomass resources,wer e prepared and applied for the immobilization of nZVI.In doing so,carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals supporting nano-zero-valent irons(CCNC-nZVI)were obtained via an in-situ growth method.The CCNC-nZVI were characterized and then evaluated for their performances in wastewater treatment.The results obtained show that nZVI nanoparticles could attach to the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of CCNC,and well disperse on the CCNC surface with a size of〜10nm.With the CCNC acting as corrosion inhibitors improving the reaction activity of nZVI,CCNC-nZVI exhibited an improved dispersion stability and electron utilization efficacy.The Pb(II)adsorption capacity of CCNC-nZVI reached 509.3 mg·g^-1(298.15 K,pH=4.0),significantly higher than that of CCNC.The adsorption was a spontaneous exothermic process and could be perfectly fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model.This study may provide a novel and green method for immobilizing magnetic nanomaterials by using biomassbased resources to develop effective bio-adsorbents for wastewater decontamination.

Influences of Carboxyl Methyl Celluloseon Performances of Mortar

Carboxyl methyl cellulose （CMC） was mixed into mortar to improve the waterretention performance of mortar, the quality of floated coat of aerated concrete became better. The consistency and compression strength of mortar with CMC were studied. The water absorption was studied with the method of filter paper. The micro mechanism was researched with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The experimental results show the water-holding performance of mortar with CMC is largely improved and it is better when the mixed amount is about 1.5%; the compression strength had a descending trend with the increase of CMC; CMC reacted with calcium hydroxide（CH） into the deposition of calcium carboxyl methyl cellulose.

Fabrication of nanocomposite electrochemical sensors with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)conductive polymer and Au nanoparticles adsorbed on carboxylated nanocrystalline cellulose

Au nanoparticles(AuNPs)were prepared by reducing HAuCl4 with NaBH4,and then adsorbed uniformly on the surface of carboxylated nanocrystalline cellulose(CNCC).The obtained AuNPs/CNCC particles were doped into a conductive polymer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)(PEDOT)to yield a highly conductive nanocomposite,which was deposited onto a glassy carbon electrode(GCE)by an electrochemical method.The PEDOT/AuNPs/CNCC nanocomposite showed low electrochemical impedance and good electrocatalytic activity toward ascorbic acid.Based on this novel nanocomposite material,an amperometric sensor was developed for the detection of ascorbic acid with a detection limit as low as 0.29μM.When operated at-0.15 V,the sensor detected ascorbic acid in the range of 0.88μM to 15000μM.

In-situ growth of porous Cu_(3)(BTC)_(2) on cellulose nanofibrils for ultra-low dielectric films with high flexibility

The design of flexible polymeric films with internal porous structures has received increasing attention in low dielectric applications.The highly porous metal-organic frameworks(MOFs)of[Cu_(3)(BTC)_(2)]_(n)(BTC=benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate)were introduced into aramid nanofibers(ANF)matrix by using carboxylated cellulose nanofibrils(CNF)as carriers to obtain strong,flexible,and ultra-low dielectric films.The well-dispersed“flowers-branch”like CNF@CuBTC through in-situ growth of CuBTC on CNF surface endowed the ANF/CNF@Cu BTC films with excellent thermal stability,mechanical integrity and low dielectric properties.Besides,the flexible dielectric films exhibited superior ultraviolet(UV)resistance,lower coefficient of thermal expansion(4.28×10^(-5)℃^(-1))and increased water contact angle(83.81°).More interestingly,the removal of guest molecules from the ANF/CNF@CuBTC films according to the vacuum heat treatment(VHT)process significantly improved their dielectric response.The specific surface areas of the composite films after VHT increased obviously,and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent decreased to the expected 1.8-2.2 and 0.001-0.03 at 100 MHz,respectively.Consequently,such designable ultra-low dielectric films with high flexibility play an incredible significance in applications of microelectronics under large deformation conditions,especially in flexible/wearable devices at the arrival of 5 G era.

Dual-responsive fiber-reinforced hydrogel actuators by direct ion patterning

Nature inspired deformable heterogeneous smart hydrogels have attracted much attention in many fields such as biomedicine devices and soft actuators.However,normal spatial heterogeneous hydrogel structures can only respond to single factor and take one action as set in fabrication.Herein,we report a pre-stretched metal-liganded shape memory hydrogel with fiber reinforced,P(AAc-co-AAm)/CCNFs-Fe3+(CCNFs:carboxylated cellulose nanofibers,AAc:acrylic acid,AAm:acrylamide),which can conduct shape deformation by solvent induction and ultraviolet(UV)light.The deformation pattern could be programmed by the deposing of ferroin ions.Also,the pre-stretched shape memory hydrogels could effectively produce cyclic actuation or complex shape actuation by UV light.More importantly,combining the solvent response with the light response enabled complex reversible actuations,such as simulating the bending and unfolding of fingers.The addition of CCNFs significantly enhanced the mechanical properties of the hydrogels.The hydrogels with 3 wt.%CCNFs showed an elongation at break of about 500%and a significant increase in tensile strength of 8.7-fold to 1.55 MPa after coordination with metal ions,which was able to meet the mechanical requirements of the bionic actuated hydrogels.This work demonstrated that combining light-programmed and light-responsive shape-memory hydrogels,complemented by another independent response property,could achieve complex and reversible programmed actuations.