title: Aerogel microspheres from natural cellulose nanofibrils and their application as cell culture scaffold.
abstract: We demonstrated that ultralight pure natural aerogel microspheres can be fabricated using cellulose nanofibrials (CNF) directly. Experimentally, the CNF aqueous gel droplets, produced by spraying and atomizing through a steel nozzle, were collected into liquid nitrogen for instant freezing followed by freeze-drying. The aerogel microspheres are highly porous with bulk density as low as 0.0018 g cm(-3). The pore size of the cellulose aeogel microspheres ranges from nano- to macrometers. The unique ultralight and high porous structure ensured high moisture (~90 g g(-1)) and water uptake capacity (~100 g g(-1)) of the aerogel microspheres. Covalent cross-linking between the native nanofibrils and cross-linkers made the aerogel microspheres very stable even in a harsh environment. The present study also confirmed this kind of aerogel microspheres from native cellulose fibers can be used as cell culture scaffold.
authors.affiliation: College of Quartermaster Technology, Jilin University , Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, China.
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Sudhir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Wenying
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005782:Gels; D051379:Mice; D008863:Microspheres; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005782:Gels; D002482:Cellulose