Calcium phosphates grown on bacterial cellulose template

Bacterial cellulose membranes were employed as templates for calcium phosphates deposition by successive immersion in solutions of Ca(NO₃)₂·4H₂O and (NH₄)₂HPO₄, under ultrasonication. During the wet chemical reaction, mineral phases were loaded on bacterial cellulose fibrils, leading to precursor hybrid composites. These were subjected to a lyophilisation procedure in order to preserve the 3D porous aspect and afterwards to a thermal treatment with the aim of removing the polymeric phase and generating well crystallized structures. Different types of morphologies were achieved by varying the heating rate, as well as the calcination temperature and period. The as-prepared samples and the final ones were investigated from compositional and structural point of view through X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and morphologically concerning by scanning electron microscopy. The magnetic properties were also evaluated in order to demonstrate the suitability of the obtained materials for the development of magnetic scaffolds dedicated to hard tissue applications.     

羟甲基化木质素/纤维素气凝胶粒子的制备、表征及吸附性能

以羟甲基化木质素和纤维素为原料，NaOH/尿素水溶液为溶解体系，采用冷冻干燥法制备羟甲基化木质素/纤维素气凝胶粒子。采用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）仪、X射线衍射（XRD）仪、比表面积及孔径分析仪等对其结构进行了表征。研究结果表明：羟甲基化木质素分子通过氢键作用附着在纤维素骨架上，气凝胶内部仍保持三维网状结构，羟甲基化木质素的引入使得气凝胶表面出现明显收缩，网状结构的致密度随着羟甲基化木质素用量提高而逐渐降低；同时气凝胶粒子具有纤维素Ⅱ型红外吸收峰和XRD衍射峰；粒子表现出Ⅱ型吸附/脱附等温线，孔径均在15 nm以下，且随着羟甲基化木质素用量不断提高，比表面积、孔容均有所减小，HKL-4的比表面积为105.3m²/g，孔容为0.336 6cm³/g，孔径为13.67nm。吸附性能分析表明在25℃下吸附5 h，HKL-4气凝胶粒子对金胺O、亚甲基蓝和罗丹明B的吸附量分别为33.06、96.06和43.26mg/g，对亚甲基蓝的饱和吸附量可达208.7 mg/g，吸附过程更符合Langmuir等温吸附模型，主要为单分子层吸附。     

Effect of processing conditions on wood and glass fiber length attrition during twin screw composite compounding

In this study, we compare the effect of twin-screw extrusion processing on the attrition of wood fibers (WFs) with glass fiber. The effects of process variables and screw design on fiber length were investigated by performing a range of dead-stop experiments where the extruder was stopped, opened-up, and compound removed from the screw elements. Fibers, chemically extracted from the polypropylene matrix, were analyzed for length and width using a commercial fiber analyzer. It was found that WF length attrition and composite properties were less affected by screw design and twin-screw processing conditions (feed rate and screw speed) than glass fiber. Length weighted fiber length and X50 length (a measure used in particle size analysis) were equally correlated with process conditions and composite performance for both fiber types. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48551.     

Surface treatment of eucalyptus wood for improved HDPE composites properties

In this study, the effect of Eucalyptus globulus wood (UE) used as a filler (5–20% w/w) on the physical and thermal properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites was evaluated. To improve the compatibility with HDPE, the wood was modified (TE) using crude glycerol derived from biodiesel production. The addition of 20% (w/w) of UE or TE led to more rigid and durable composite materials compared to neat HDPE (about 50 or 100% increase in tensile strength, respectively). Composites also revealed 55–75°C higher temperatures at maximal degradation rates. The advantageous behavior of TE over UE in composites was attributed to the improvement of surface morphology of modified wood and it is better compatibility with the HDPE as revealed by surface energy analysis. The changes in wetting behavior of HDPE and ensuing HDPE-TE composites (contact angles of ca 72 and 80°, respectively) explain the matrix-filler interactions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48619.     

水包砂多彩涂料的制备及应用

介绍了水包砂多彩涂料的制备工艺流程，对保护胶的用量和种类、纤维素醚用量和种类、不同类型的乳液、防沉剂的种类进行平行实验。实验结果表明：选用 S482为保护胶，涂料的耐水白性和稳定性好；分散相中疏水改性纤维素醚 HE-10K用量为 0.4%~0.6%、250HBR用量为 0.2%~ 0.6%，连续相中 4% S-482保护胶溶液用量为 25%、HY-1黄原胶用量为 0.025%、TX-100乳液用量为 3%~5%、RS-3799乳液用量为 12%~15%时，所制的水包砂多彩涂料具有强度适中、抗渗色性强、耐水白性好、贮存稳定性好的特点。     

Evaluation of turbulent forced convection of non-Newtonian aqueous solution of CMC/CuO nanofluid in a tube with twisted tape inserts

The present paper investigates the turbulent flow and heat transfer of non-Newtonian aqueous solution of Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and CuO nanoparticles in a plain tube and also tube with twisted tape inserts. The aqueous solution of CMC and CuO/CMC nanofluid show a shear-thinning (pseudo-plastic) rheological behavior, resulting in a higher viscosity than that of water. The consistency index and the power law index are evaluated based on available experimental data. The single phase approach with temperature dependent thermo-physical properties is applied to simulate the nanofluid flow and heat transfer. Simulation results are presented at different nanoparticle concentrations and twisted tape ratios. Only an axial flow is identified in the plain tube whereas both axial and swirl flows are detected in the tube with twisted tape inserts. The turbulence kinetic energy in the tube with twisted tapes is significantly higher than that in the plain one, which is useful for non-Newtonian fluid with higher viscosity. Also, the temperature fields in the tube with twisted tapes are disturbed relative to those in the plain one, due to stronger turbulence intensity and better fluid mixing. Higher amounts of nanoparticles concentration and lower twist ratios, giving maximum values of total efficiency, display the advantage of using non-Newtonian nanofluid in the tube with twisted tape inserts rather than non-Newtonian base fluid in the plain one.     

Understanding the Self-Assembly of Cellulose Nanocrystals—Toward Chiral Photonic Materials

Over millions of years, animals and plants have evolved complex molecules and structures that endow them with vibrant colors. Among the sources of natural coloration, structural color is prominent in insects, bird feathers, snake skin, plants, and other organisms, where the color arises from the interaction of light with nanoscale features rather than absorption from a pigment. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are a biorenewable resource that spontaneously organize into chiral nematic liquid crystals having a hierarchical structure that resembles the Bouligand structure of arthropod shells. The periodic, chiral nematic organization of CNC films leads them to diffract light, making them appear iridescent. Over the past two decades, there have been many advances to develop the photonic properties of CNCs for applications ranging from cosmetics to sensors. Here, the origin of color in CNCs, the control of photonic properties of CNC films, the development of new composite materials of CNCs that can yield flexible photonic structures, and the future challenges in this field are discussed. In particular, recent efforts to make flexible photonic materials using CNCs are highlighted.     

Re-Printable Chiral Photonic Paper with Invisible Patterns and Tunable Wettability

The construction of invisible patterns via high-resolution printing and the independent encoding/decoding of complex information can lead to promising applications in steganography and watermarking for optical encryption. Herein, a rewritable chiral photonic paper formed by cholesteric cellulose nanocrystals and polycation is reported. The chemically crosslinked polycation network interpenetrates in the cholesteric structure while retaining the optical properties of the photonic crystals. The film exhibits controllable wettability via anion exchange, leading to extremely low contrast in the dry state but high contrast by a rapid wetting response. Triple invisible information is independently encoded on the films, including invisible patterns caused by reversible counterion-controlled wettability, permanent fluorescent labels based on fluorescent counterions, and polarization-dependent structural colors based on cholesteric structures. Full color patterns can be reversibly constructed via inkjet printing, with a high resolution of 100 µm. In addition, the circular polarization characteristics of the cellulose nanocrystals, liquid crystals, endow the system with complex and independent responses, realizing a wetting/polarization double-key decryption. This work provides a simple and effective optical technique for coding complex information on a single material platform and expands the techniques available to achieve invisible patterns for sensing and anti-counterfeiting.     

Stabilizing effect of the cyclodextrins additive to spray-dried particles of curcumin/polyvinylpyrrolidone on the supersaturated state of curcumin

Although curcumin is considered to have various therapeutic effects, its use as a functional food or supplement is restricted owing to its low water solubility and bioavailability. To increase the solubility of curcumin in water, the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymers with a pyrrolidone skeleton was noted to be promising. In particular, the bi-component formulations of curcumin/PVP prepared through spray drying exhibited an amorphous state in powder X-ray diffraction observations and temporally increased the apparent solubility of curcumin to over 5000 times that of untreated curcumin; nevertheless, after 24 h, the solubility decreased owing to the unstable supersaturated state of curcumin. The addition of α-cyclodextrin (α-CyD) in the bi-component curcumin/PVP formulation helped maintain the supersaturated state of curcumin, whereas the addition of β- and γ-CyD led to the collapse of the supersaturated state. The addition of α-CyD can likely help inhibit the nucleation and crystal growth of curcumin, through the interaction among the solubilized units of curcumin/PVP and α-CyD.