All-in-One Cellulose Nanocrystals for 3D Printing of Nanocomposite Hydrogels

Jieping Wang; Annalisa Chiappone; Ignazio Roppolo; Feng Shao; Erika Fantino; Massimo Lorusso; Daniel Rentsch; Kurt Dietliker; Candido Fabrizio Pirri; Hansjörg Grützmacher

doi:10.1002/anie.201710951

All-in-One Cellulose Nanocrystals for 3D Printing of Nanocomposite Hydrogels

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 Feb 23;57(9):2353-2356. doi: 10.1002/anie.201710951. Epub 2018 Jan 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland.
² Center for Sustainable Futures, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Corso Trento, 21, 10129, Torino, Italy.
³ DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 21, 10129, Torino, Italy.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland.
⁵ EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
⁶ Lehn Institute of Functional Materials (LIFM), Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275, Guangzhou, China.

PMID: 29266601
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201710951

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with >2000 photoactive groups on each can act as highly efficient initiators for radical polymerizations, cross-linkers, as well as covalently embedded nanofillers for nanocomposite hydrogels. This is achieved by a simple and reliable method for surface modification of CNCs with a photoactive bis(acyl)phosphane oxide derivative. Shape-persistent and free-standing 3D structured objects were printed with a mono-functional methacrylate, showing a superior swelling capacity and improved mechanical properties.

Keywords: 3D printing; cellulose nanocrystals; hydrogels; nanocomposites; photoinitiators.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't