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Cellulose‐Nanocomposites: Towards High Performance Composite Materials
Author(s) -
Kohler Robert,
Nebel Kai
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200651209
Subject(s) - thermosetting polymer , materials science , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , nanocomposite , cellulose , whiskers , composite number , thermoplastic , polymer , textile , nanometre , chemical engineering , engineering
Summary: Strong cellulose fibres, e.g. flax and hemp, are increasingly used for composites. Despite substantial advantages, the tensile strength of these fibres is limited due to their complex structure and the unavoidable imperfections of the cell wall, inherent from growth or induced by processing. Essential improvements are possible by using highly crystalline cellulose fibrils (“whiskers”) which can be isolated from the cell wall, thus eliminating the influence of adhesion and defects. Instead of complete fibrillation, which demands special time consuming processing, a partly fibrillation has been achieved by adapted textile finishing procedures which have the potential for mass production. By combining chemical and mechanical/hydro‐mechanical treatments it is possible to produce finest fibrils with diameters from below 1 µm down to the nanometer range. The problem of fibril agglomeration during drying has been avoided by forming homogenous fibrous sheets in a wet‐laid non‐woven process. These sheets can be impregnated with thermosetting resins. Alternatively thermoplastic polymers can be directly integrated to form hybrid materials ready for moulding. The resulting composites show greatly enhanced mechanical properties.