Formation of functional hierarchical structures from aqueous dispersions of cellulose nanofibrils

到目前为止，我们已经通过纳米纤维的表面羧化方法，即TEMPO介导的氧化，将纤维素纳米纤维分散到水中；分散的纳米纤维自发地排列成向列相的有序。在本研究中，我们通过控制自取向的纤维素纳米纤维的整合方式，构建了一系列块状材料，如水凝胶、气凝胶和薄膜。这些块状材料由排列整齐的纤维素纳米纤维组成，表现出优异的性能。

We have so far dispersed cellulose nanofibrils into water by using a surface carboxylation method of the nanofibrils, namely the TEMPO-mediated oxidation; the dispersed nanofibrils spontaneously align into a nematic-like order. In the present study, we have constructed a wide range of bulk materials, such as hydrogels, aerogels, and films, by controlling the integration mode of the self-aligned cellulose nanofibrils. These bulk materials consisted of aligned cellulose nanofibrils and exhibited outstanding properties.