Self-Compounded Nanocomposites: toward Multifunctional Membranes with Superior Mechanical, Gas/Oil Barrier, UV-Shielding, and Photothermal Conversion Properties

Jiaxiu Wang; Yu Cao; Bea Jaquet; Christoph Gerhard; Wei Li; Xiaodong Xia; Judith E Rauschendorfer; Philipp Vana; Kai Zhang

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c06376

Self-Compounded Nanocomposites: toward Multifunctional Membranes with Superior Mechanical, Gas/Oil Barrier, UV-Shielding, and Photothermal Conversion Properties

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 23;13(24):28668-28678. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c06376. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Authors

Jiaxiu Wang¹, Yu Cao^{2

3}, Bea Jaquet⁴, Christoph Gerhard⁴, Wei Li⁵, Xiaodong Xia^{2

6}, Judith E Rauschendorfer⁷, Philipp Vana⁷, Kai Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Wood Technology and Wood Chemistry, Department of Wood Technology and Wood-based Composites, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 4, Göttingen D-37077, Germany.
² School of Food Science and Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, Liaoning, China.
³ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
⁴ Faculty of Engineering and Health, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Von-Ossietzky-Straße 99, Göttingen D-37085, Germany.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Hexing Road 26, Harbin 150040, China.
⁶ College of Food Science and Engineering, Sino-US Joint Research Center, Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi 712100, China.
⁷ Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, Göttingen D-37077, Germany.

PMID: 34110125
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c06376

Abstract

Nanocomposites combine multiple favorable properties to achieve intriguing functionalities, but the formation of nanocomposites with only one constituent with the inclusion of multiple superior properties is still not known. Herein, novel self-compounded nanocomposite membranes from one single polymer-cellulose cinnamate (CCi)-with multiple outstanding properties are reported. The self-compounded membranes contain two distinct morphologies as CCi nanoparticles (CCi-NPs) and a CCi polymer matrix, while CCi-NPs are either firmly embedded in the CCi matrix or fused with adjacent CCi-NPs. The unique self-compounded nanostructure endows the membranes with a tensile strength of 94 MPa and Young's modulus of 3.1 GPa. The water vapor permeability, oxygen permeability, and oil permeability reach as low as (0.94 ± 0.03) × 10^-11 g m^-1 s^-1 Pa^-1, (8.48 ± 2.39) ×10^-13 cm³·cm/cm²·s·cmHg, and 0.008 ± 0.003 g mm m^-2 day^-1, respectively. Moreover, self-compounded CCi nanocomposite membranes also demonstrate UV-shielding and photothermal conversion properties. UVB and UVC light are entirely blocked, while UVA light is partly blocked. The temperature increases from room temperature to 120 °C within 1 min under UV irradiation. In addition, CCi membranes also show remarkable thermal and humidity resistance. Based on these outstanding properties, CCi membranes are applied as food packaging materials. This work offers a new avenue to construct nanocomposites with multiple superior properties from one constituent, which is promising for diverse applications.

Keywords: UV-shielding; barrier; mechanical; nanocomposite; photothermal conversion; self-compounding.