Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2019

Publication Title

Molecules

Volume

24

Publisher

MDPI

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24142662

Abstract

The use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in high performance coatings is attractive for micro-scale structures or device fabrication due to the anisotropic geometry, however CNC are insulating materials. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are also rod-shaped nanomaterials that display high mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. The hydrophobic regions of surface-modified CNC can interact with hydrophobic CNT and aid in association between the two anisotropic nanomaterials. The long-range electrostatic repulsion of CNC plays a role in forming a stable CNT and CNC mixture dispersion in water, which is integral to forming a uniform hybrid film. At concentrations favorable for film formation, the multiwalled nanotubes + CNC mixture dispersion shows cellular network formation, indicating local phase separation, while the single-walled nanotube + CNC mixture dispersion shows schlieren texture, indicating liquid crystal mixture formation. Conductive CNT + CNC hybrid films (5–20 μm thick) were cast on glass microscope slides with and without shear by blade coating. The CNT + CNC hybrid films electrical conductivity increased with increasing CNT loadings and some anisotropy was observed with the sheared hybrid films, although to a lesser extent than what was anticipated. Percolation models were applied to model the hybrid film conductivity and correlate with the hybrid film microstructure.

Comments

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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