Aqueous Modification of Nano- and Microfibrillar Cellulose with a Click Synthon

The modification of cellulose as a renewable resource has received wide attention in research and industry. A major problem regarding chemical modification, including heating and drying, is related to hornification that causes pore-system collapse and results in decreased reactivity and changes in the 3D structure of the material. A mild and green approach for the modification of different never-dried and thus wet cellulose substrates (pulp, nanostructured celluloses, and viscose fibers) by an alkoxysilane-azide in water is presented. A kinetic study of the silanization reaction demonstrates that alkoxy-trans-silanization of the cellulose surface is accomplished in water as a suspension medium within a few hours at room temperature. The resulting, azido-equipped celluloses are widely applicable precursor materials for subsequent functionalization by so-called click chemistry, for example, with a fluorescent Rhodamine derivative as a representative reagent. Successful covalent bonding was shown by GPC and a model reaction. The 3D structure of the materials remained intact, as was inter alia visualized by optical and fluorescence microscopy.