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Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxide on Nanocellulose for Enabling Microscopic Characterization of Polymer
Athanasia A Septevani1,2, David A C Evans1, Alireza Hosseinmardi1
1Australian Institute Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
Analysis of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) at low volume fractions in polymer nanocomposites through conventional electron microscopy still remains a challenge due to insufficient contrast between CNCs and organic polymer matrices. Herein, a methodology for enhancing the contrast of CNC, through atomic layer deposition (ALD) of alumina (Al2 O3 ) on CNCs is demonstrated. The metal oxide coated CNC allows clear visualization by transmission electron microscopy, when they are dispersed in water and polyol. A coating of about 6 ± 1 nm thick alumina layer on the CNC is achieved after 50 ALD cycles. This also enables the characterization of CNC dispersion/orientation (at 0.2 wt% loading) in an amorphous cellular system rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF), using backscattered electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Microscopic analysis of the RPUF with alumina-coated CNC confirms that the predominant alignment of CNC occurs in a direction parallel to the foam rise.
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