The same tiny cellulose crystals that give trees and plants their high strength, light weight and resilience, have now been shown to have the stiffness of steel.
The nanocrystals might be used to create a new class of biomaterials with wide-ranging applications, such as strengthening construction materials and automotive components.
Calculations using precise models based on the atomic structure of cellulose show the crystals have a stiffness of 206 gigapascals, which is comparable to steel, said Pablo D. Zavattieri, a Purdue University assistant professor of civil engineering.
“This is a material that is showing really amazing properties,” he said. “It is abundant, renewable and produced as waste in the paper industry.”
Findings are detailed in a research paper featured on the cover of the December issue of the journal Cellulose.
“It is very difficult to measure the properties of these crystals experimentally because they are really tiny,” Zavattieri said. “For the first time, we predicted their properties using quantum mechanics.”
The nanocrystals are about 3 nanometers wide by 500 nanometers long – or about 1/1,000th the width of a grain of sand – making them too small to study with light microscopes and difficult to measure with laboratory instruments.
The paper was authored by Purdue doctoral student Fernando L. Dri; Louis G. Hector Jr., a researcher from the Chemical Sciences and Materials Systems Laboratory at General Motors Research and Development Center; Robert J. Moon, a researcher from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory; and Zavattieri.
The findings represent a milestone in understanding the fundamental mechanical behavior of the cellulose nanocrystals.
“It is also the first step towards a multiscale modeling approach to understand and predict the behavior of individual crystals, the interaction between them, and their interaction with other materials,” Zavattieri said. “This is important for the design of novel cellulose-based materials as other research groups are considering them for a huge variety of applications, ranging from electronics and medical devices to structural components for the automotive, civil and aerospace industries.”
The cellulose nanocrystals represent a potential green alternative to carbon nanotubes for reinforcing materials such as polymers and concrete. Applications for biomaterials made from the cellulose nanocrystals might include biodegradable plastic bags, textiles and wound dressings; flexible batteries made from electrically conductive paper; new drug-delivery technologies; transparent flexible displays for electronic devices; special filters for water purification; new types of sensors; and computer memory.
Cellulose could come from a variety of biological sources including trees, plants, algae, ocean-dwelling organisms called tunicates, and bacteria that create a protective web of cellulose.
“With this in mind, cellulose nanomaterials are inherently renewable, sustainable, biodegradable and carbon-neutral like the sources from which they were extracted,” Moon said. “They have the potential to be processed at industrial-scale quantities and at low cost compared to other materials.”
Biomaterials manufacturing could be a natural extension of the paper and biofuels industries, using technology that is already well-established for cellulose-based materials.
“Some of the byproducts of the paper industry now go to making biofuels, so we could just add another process to use the leftover cellulose to make a composite material,” Moon said. “The cellulose crystals are more difficult to break down into sugars to make liquid fuel. So let’s make a product out of it, building on the existing infrastructure of the pulp and paper industry.”
The Latest on: Wonder material
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Wonder material” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Wonder material
- The Boy Wonder #1 Reviewon May 7, 2024 at 8:10 pm
Before we start chatting about this comic, I have to admit something. I’ve never liked Damian Wayne as a character. He’s as moody and insufferable as Jason Todd without any of the ...
- Wonder Material 'More Remarkable' Than Graphene Has Medical Potentialon May 7, 2024 at 8:55 am
Borophene is already thinner and more conductive than graphene, and scientists have altered it to make it even more special.
- $1 million gift to preserve Wonder Five legacy at Franklin Collegeon May 6, 2024 at 11:55 am
Franklin College has received a $1 million gift commitment to designate the basketball court in the Elwood Fitness Center as the “Wonder Five Court.” ...
- Stevie Wonder, Misty Copeland to speak at Peabody Conservatory graduationon May 2, 2024 at 12:58 pm
Legendary singer Stevie Wonder and groundbreaking ballerina Misty Copeland will be the speakers at the Peabody Conservatory’s graduation ceremonies on May 22, the school announced today.
- The botched FAFSA rollout leaves students in limbo. Some wonder if their college dreams will surviveon May 1, 2024 at 12:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The last thing standing between Ashnaelle Bijoux and her college dream is the FAFSA form — a financial aid application that's supposed to help students go to college, but is blocking ...
- In “Wonder of the Woodlands,” Françoise Weeks Shares Her Gift of Designing Botanical Arrangements That Reflect the Pacific Northwest Landscapeon April 30, 2024 at 4:35 pm
These stunning arrangements, along with tips on how to make your own, are featured in her newest book, Wonder of the Woodlands: The Art of Seeing and Creating with Nature (Clarkson Potter ...
- Graphene at 20: why the ‘wonder material’ is finally coming goodon April 30, 2024 at 6:31 am
Strong, light and with amazing electronic properties, graphene has always been touted as the “wonder material”. But two decades after it was first isolated, James McKenzie believes the graphene is ...
- Superconductivity hunt gets boost from China’s $220 million physics ‘playground’on April 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm
One particularly tantalizing goal of many researchers using this US$220-million toolbox is to discover new superconductors, materials that conduct electricity without resistance. “This kind of ...
- Dezeen In Depth explores the prospect of a plastic-free futureon April 27, 2024 at 1:00 am
To mark Earth Day, which has the theme of "Planet vs Plastics" and is campaigning for "the end" of the material, we investigated whether it's time to bid farewell to the 20th century's wonder ...
via Bing News