Cellulose nanocrystal/graphene oxide one-dimensional photonic crystal film with excellent UV-blocking and transparency

Bingyu Xia; Xu Zeng; Wu Lan; Mingxin Zhang; Wei Huang; Huihui Wang; Chuanfu Liu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121646

Cellulose nanocrystal/graphene oxide one-dimensional photonic crystal film with excellent UV-blocking and transparency

Carbohydr Polym. 2024 Mar 1:327:121646. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121646. Epub 2023 Nov 29.

Authors

Bingyu Xia¹, Xu Zeng¹, Wu Lan¹, Mingxin Zhang², Wei Huang², Huihui Wang³, Chuanfu Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Lab Pulp & Paper Engineering, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, PR China.
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan 570228, PR China.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan 570228, PR China. Electronic address: wanghh@hainanu.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Lab Pulp & Paper Engineering, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, PR China. Electronic address: chfliu@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38171671
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121646

Abstract

Achieving excellent ultraviolet (UV) blocking properties and maintaining high light transmittance are highly challenging. In this study, a facile and green polymer-assisted vacuum filtration strategy was used to prepare cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPhC) films with excellent UV-blocking performance and good transparency. The polymer-assisted self-assembly behaviors of CNC and the hydrogen bonding interaction between CNC, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and graphene oxide (GO) drive the homogeneous distribution and parallel alignment of GO. The UV absorption of GO and high reflection of UV resulting from the chiral nematic structure of CNCs result in excellent UV-blocking and high visible light transmission. Besides, the strong hydrogen bonding interaction among CNC, PEG, and GO endows the films with obviously increased mechanical properties. The UV-blocking and the transparency of the CNC composite films could reach 98.3 % and 60.5 %, respectively. Besides, the strain at break of the composite film reached 1.72 ± 0.11 %, which was 535.94 % of neat CNC films. The CNC composite films present great potential in the field of UV-blocking glass, sensors, anti-counterfeiting measures, radiation protection, and so on.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystal; Chiral nematic structure; Graphene oxide; One-dimensional photonic crystal; UV-blocking.