Flexible and transparent films produced from cellulose nanowhisker reinforced agarose

Felfel, Reda M.; Hossain, Kazi M. Zakir; Kabir, Sumaya F.; Yee, Soon L.; Ahmed, Ifty; Grant, David M.

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.005

Flexible and transparent films produced from cellulose nanowhisker reinforced agarose

Felfel, Reda M.; Hossain, Kazi M. Zakir; Kabir, Sumaya F.; Yee, Soon L.; Ahmed, Ifty; Grant, David M.

Authors

Reda M. Felfel

Kazi M. Zakir Hossain

Sumaya F. Kabir

Soon L. Yee

Professor IFTY AHMED ifty.ahmed@nottingham.ac.uk
PROFESSOR OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Professor DAVID GRANT DAVID.GRANT@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
PROFESSOR OF MATERIALS SCIENCE

Abstract

Transparent and flexible nanocomposite films with a range of Agarose to Cellulose Nano-Whisker (CNW) ratios were produced using never-dried CNWs. The incorporation of never-dried CNWs within Agarose played an important role in the surface roughness (Ra 7–15 nm) and light transparency of the films (from 84 to 90%). Surface induced crystallisation of Agarose by CNWs was also found with increasing percentage of crystallinity (up to 79%) for the nanocomposite films, where CNW acted as nucleating sites. The enhanced tensile strength (ca. 30% increase) and modulus (ca. 90% increase) properties of the nanocomposite films compared to the control Agarose film indicated the effectiveness of the nanowhiskers incorporation. The storage modulus of the nanocomposite films increased also to be tripled Agarose alone as the CNWs content reached 43%. The swelling kinetics of the nanocomposites revealed that addition of CNWs reduced the long-term swelling capacity and swelling rate of the nanocomposite.

Citation

Felfel, R. M., Hossain, K. M. Z., Kabir, S. F., Yee, S. L., Ahmed, I., & Grant, D. M. (2018). Flexible and transparent films produced from cellulose nanowhisker reinforced agarose. Carbohydrate Polymers, 194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.005

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 1, 2018
Online Publication Date	Apr 12, 2018
Publication Date	Aug 15, 2018
Deposit Date	Apr 16, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Apr 13, 2019
Journal	Carbohydrate Polymers
Print ISSN	0144-8617
Electronic ISSN	1879-1344
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	194
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.005
Keywords	Cellulose nanowhiskers; Agarose; Transparency; Crystallinity; Tensile properties; Swelling kinetics
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/949044
Publisher URL	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144861718303734
Contract Date	Apr 16, 2018