title: Mechanical behavior of transparent nanofibrillar cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite films in dry and wet conditions.
abstract: Transparent, biocompatible and biodegradable chitosan (CS) nanocomposite films reinforced with nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) were prepared by solution casting. The effects of NFC content on the mechanical properties in dry and wet conditions were investigated. The incorporation of NFC significantly enhanced the mechanical properties, especially in wet conditions. The ultimate tensile strength and Young׳s modulus of chitosan were improved by 12 times and 30 times, respectively, for the nanocomposite containing 32wt% of NFC in wet conditions. The mechanism of the remarkable reinforcements was studied by analyzing the swelling behavior of NFC-CS nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of wet NFC-CS nanocomposite films matched well with those of human skin, which demonstrate potential for uses as artificial skin and wound dressings.
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3E5; Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors: Tongfei
authors: T
authors: Wu
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3E5.
authors: Ramin
authors: R
authors: Farnood
authors: Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: O'Kelly
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK. Electronic address: biqiong.chen@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors: Biqiong
authors: B
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002482:Cellulose; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Chitosan; Mechanical properties; Nanocomposites; Nanofibrillar cellulose