Nanocellulose and chitosan based films as low cost, green piezoelectric materials

Aleksi Hänninen; Essi Sarlin; Inari Lyyra; Timo Salpavaara; Minna Kellomäki; Sampo Tuukkanen

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.001

Nanocellulose and chitosan based films as low cost, green piezoelectric materials

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Dec 15:202:418-424. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.001. Epub 2018 Sep 5.

Authors

Aleksi Hänninen¹, Essi Sarlin², Inari Lyyra¹, Timo Salpavaara¹, Minna Kellomäki³, Sampo Tuukkanen⁴

Affiliations

¹ BioMediTech Institute and Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 10, Tampere, 33720, Finland.
² Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 10, Tampere, 33720, Finland.
³ BioMediTech Institute and Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 10, Tampere, 33720, Finland; BioMediTech Institute and Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Tampere, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.
⁴ BioMediTech Institute and Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 10, Tampere, 33720, Finland. Electronic address: sampo.tuukkanen@tut.fi.

PMID: 30287018
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.09.001

Abstract

Nanocellulose and chitosan have recently started to get attention as environmentally friendly piezoelectric materials for sensor and energy harvesting applications. Conversely, current commercially available flexible piezoelectric films made of for example polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) are relatively expensive and made from non-renewable materials. We measured the piezoelectric responses (2-8 pC/N) for solvent casted films based on nanocellulose, microcrystalline chitosan and their blends. In addition, the tensile properties of the piezoelectric films were characterized to find out if chitosan could be used to enhance the flexibility of the brittle nanocellulose films. Based on the results, plain chitosan is an interesting piezoelectric material itself. In addition, blending nanocellulose and chitosan could be a potential method for tailoring the properties of solvent casted low cost, green piezoelectric films.

Keywords: Chitosan; Nanocellulose; Piezoelectric sensitivity; Piezoelectricity; Solvent casting.