ABSTRACT
Nanowhiskers ............................................................................................. 197 8.3 Extraction Process of Cellulose Nanowhiskers: Optimization
of BCNW Nanofabrication by Acid Hydrolysis .................................... 199 8.4 Plant Cellulose Nanowhiskers vs. Bacterial Cellulose Nanowhiskers ... 202 8.5 Cellulose-Reinforced Nanocomposites................................................... 204
8.5.1 Casting ............................................................................................. 204 8.5.1.1 Nanobiocomposites of κ/ι-Hybrid Carrageenan
and Cellulose Nanowhiskers ........................................ 205 8.5.1.2 PLA Nanocomposites Reinforced with Cellulose
Nanowhiskers .................................................................. 206 8.5.2 Electrospinning .............................................................................. 207
8.5.2.1 Electrospun EVOH Fibers Reinforced with BCNW ...209 8.5.2.2 Electrospinning of Anisotropic Biohybrid Fiber
Yarns Containing BCNW ............................................... 211 8.5.2.3 Electrospun PLA Fibers Reinforced with BCNW ...... 212
8.5.3 Melt Compounding ....................................................................... 213 8.6 Future Perspectives and Conclusions ..................................................... 215 References ............................................................................................................. 216
be extracted from some marine animals, such as tunicates, from algae, and is produced by some bacterial species. Regardless of its source, cellulose consists of a linear homopolysaccharide of poly-β(1,4)-d-glucopyranoside chains linked by β-1-4-linkages, forming rod-like crystal units that are organized parallel in a highly ordered manner.1-3 These crystal units are held together in a paracrystalline matrix and linked along the axis by disordered amorphous domains. This is the basic structural component of cellulose and it is commonly referred to as cellulose “microbrils,” “nanobrils,” “nanocrystals,” or “nanowhiskers.” Cellulosic nanocrystals are increasingly being used as load-bearing constituents for new and inexpensive biodegradable materials since they present excellent mechanical properties as well as fully degradable and renewable character. Modulus values in excess of 130 GPa have been reported for cellulose nanocrystals, and mechanical strength values are close to 7-10 GPa.4−10 In addition to these remarkable mechanical properties, cellulose nanocrystals present other interesting properties such as high sound attenuation,11 high barrier to gases,12 high specic surface area,13 and low density (ca. 1500 kg/m3),14 which make them attractive for their use in nanocomposite materials.
