Polymer nanocomposites reinforced with polysaccharide nanocrystals
by Alain Dufresne
International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT), Vol. 8, No. 10/11/12, 2011

Abstract: Aqueous suspensions of polysaccharide nanocrystals can be prepared by acid hydrolysis of natural resources, such as cellulose, chitin and starch. The object of this treatment is to dissolve away regions of low lateral order so that the water-insoluble, highly crystalline residue may be converted into a stable suspensoid by subsequent vigorous mechanical shearing action. When using cellulose or chitin, the resulting nanocrystals occur as rod-like particles or whiskers, which dimensions depend on the nature of the substrate, while in the case of starch the nanocrystals appear as platelet-like nanoparticles. During the last decade we have attempted to mimic biocomposite by blending polysaccharide nanocrystals from different sources with polymer matrices, including synthetic and natural ones. Casting mixtures of polysaccharide nanocrystals and lattices led to composites with drastically enhanced mechanical properties, especially at T › T_g of the matrix, by virtue of the formation of a whiskers network, even when the whisker volume fraction was only a few percent. The formation of this rigid network, resulting from strong interactions between whiskers was assumed to be governed by a percolation mechanism. This hydrogen-bonded network induced a thermal stabilisation of the composite up to 500 K, the temperature at which polysaccharides start to decompose. A new and promising way of nanocomposite processing consists in transforming polysaccharide nanocrystals into a co-continuous material through long chain surface chemical modification. It consists in submitting polysaccharide nanocrystals to surface chemical modification based on the use of grafting agents bearing a reactive end group and a long compatibilising tail.

Online publication date: Sat, 24-Dec-2011

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com