Advanced resonator - and imaging-based characterization of morphology and aggregation in CNCs and CFs

该项目的扩展标题是“通过基于阻抗和成像的表征推进对CNC和CNC基纳米复合材料性能的理解和测量”。 纤维素纳米晶体和纳米丝构成了一种令人兴奋的纳米材料，最近引起了科学界的强烈关注。 与此同时，纤维素纳米材料中的许多物理现象仍然没有得到充分的理解，这反过来又限制了它们在潜在的结构，光学，电子和传感应用中的使用。在这种情况下，该提案的主要科学目标是对纤维素纳米晶体（CNCs）和纤维素纳米丝（CNFs）的性质和行为进行基础研究，旨在扩大其在二元和多组分共混物/复合材料中的应用。我们所提出的工作的新奇源于我们提出的用于研究CNC和CF以及CNC与其他功能材料的混合物的相对独特的一套方法。 在这项提案中，我们提出了两个迄今未使用的技术，即阻抗微波谐振器为基础的表征和成像为基础的表征，这不仅是对现有技术的补充，但也旨在应用其他领域（无机纳米结构的情况下，微波，生物分子的情况下，TIRF）的研究纤维素纳米材料。 绝大多数CNC和CF的实际应用需要与另一种固体组分混合。 然而，目前用于CNC和CF的大多数表征方法要么完全不适用于固态复合材料（例如DLS），要么繁琐（例如XRD），要么由于重叠信号或峰位移（例如拉曼、FTIR）而不精确和不可靠，这是我们试图使用基于阻抗和成像的表征方法来解决的缺陷。 该CRD项目还将尝试推进基于CNC和CF的电子复合材料的制造和表征。********

The expanded title of this project is "Advancing the understanding and measurement of the properties of CNCs and CNC-based nanocomposites through Impedometric- and Imaging-based characterization". Cellulose nanocrystals and nanofilaments constitute an exciting nanomaterial that has recently attracted strong attention from the scientific community. At the same time, a number of physical phenomena in cellulosic nanomaterials remain inadequately understood, which in turn, is limiting their use in potential structural, optical, electronic and sensing applications. In this context, the primary scientific objective of the proposal is to conduct fundamental research into the properties and behavior of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofilaments (CNFs) with the intention of expanding their applications in binary and multicomponent blends/composites. The novelty of our proposed work originates in the relatively unique suite of methodologies we propose to employ to study CNCs and CFs, and blends of CNCs with other functional materials. In this proposal, we present two hitherto unused techniques, namely Impedometric microwave resonator-based characterization and Imaging-based characterization, which are not only complementary to the existing techniques but also aim to apply proven methodologies from other areas (inorganic nanostructures in the case of microwaves, biomolecules in the case of TIRF) to the study cellulosic nanomaterials. The vast majority of real-world applications of CNCs and CFs require blending with another solid component. Yet, most of the present characterization methods for CNCs and CFs either are completely inapplicable to solid-state composites (e.g. DLS) or else are cumbersome (e.g. XRD) or else imprecise and unreliable due to overlapping signals or peak shifts (.e.g Raman, FTIR), a deficiency which we seek to address using the Impedometric- and Imaging-based characterization methods. This CRD project will also attempt to advance the fabrication and characterization of electronic composites based on CNCs and CFs. ********