Chiral Self-Assembly Behavior of Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals Isolated by Recyclable Oxalic Acid from Degreasing Cotton

Chunxiang Lin; Ping Wang; Yifan Liu; Yuancai Lv; Xiaoxia Ye; Minghua Liu; Junyong Zhu

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00118

Treesearch

Chiral Self-Assembly Behavior of Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals Isolated by Recyclable Oxalic Acid from Degreasing Cotton

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Chunxiang Lin, Ping Wang, Yifan Liu, Yuancai Lv, Xiaoxia Ye, Minghua Liu, Junyong Zhu

Year:

2023

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Forest Products Laboratory

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00118

Source:

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

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Download (PDF 3.56 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/66987.pdf

Abstract

Carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (OA-CNCs) isolated by aqueous recyclable oxalic acid hydrolysis from degreasing cotton were used to observe its self-assembly behavior and chiral nematic properties. The oxalic acid here served as the sole catalyst to esterify and hydrolyze the degreasing cotton. The results indicated that the obtained OA-CNC suspensions were spontaneously phase-separated into a chiral nematic mesophase above a critical concentration, and the occurrence of chiral self-assembly is highly dependent on the aspect ratio and the surface charge of the OA-CNC suspension. Scanning electron microscopy images of the cross section of OA-CNC solid films revealed a periodic ordered multilayer structure. The residual OA was easily recovered through simple re-crystallization method after reactions with a high recovery rate of at least 90%. The recycled OA (ROA) had excellent performance in terms of ROA-CNC yield even after reusing for five cycles. Moreover, the resultant ROA-CNCs from recycled OA could also form chiral nematic ordered phases with little change in the critical concentration and pitch, suggesting excellent suitability for sustainable OA-CNC production for photonics and other specialty applications.

Keywords

carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals, recyclable oxalic acid, chiral nematic liquid crystal, self-assembly, sustainable production

Citation

Lin, Chunxiang; Wang, Ping; Liu, Yifan; Lv, Yuancai; Ye, Xiaoxia; Liu, Minghua; Zhu, J. Y. 2023. Chiral Self-Assembly Behavior of Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals Isolated by Recyclable Oxalic Acid from Degreasing Cotton. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 11(21): 8035-8043. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00118.