title: In situ development of self-reinforced cellulose nanocrystals based thermoplastic elastomers by atom transfer radical polymerization.
abstract: Recently, the utilization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as a reinforcing material has received a great attention due to its high elastic modulus. In this article, a novel strategy for the synthesis of self-reinforced CNCs based thermoplastic elastomers (CTPEs) is presented. CNCs were first surface functionalized with an initiator for surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Subsequently, SI-ATRP of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) was carried out in the presence of sacrificial initiator to form CTPEs in situ. The CTPEs together with the simple blends of CNCs and linear poly(MMA-co-BA) copolymer (P(MMA-co-BA)) were characterized for comparative study. The results indicated that P(MMA-co-BA) was successfully grafted onto the surface of CNCs and the compatibility between CNCs and the polymer matrix in CTPEs was greatly enhanced. Specially, the CTPEs containing 2.15wt% CNCs increased Tg by 19.2°C and tensile strength by 100% as compared to the linear P(MMA-co-BA).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products, CAF; National Engineering Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Utilization; Key and Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210042, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products, CAF; National Engineering Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Utilization; Key and Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210042, China; Institute of Forest New Technology, CAF, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Chunpeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products, CAF; National Engineering Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Utilization; Key and Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210042, China; Institute of Forest New Technology, CAF, Beijing 100091, China. Electronic address: wjf118@126.com.
authors.forename: Jifu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products, CAF; National Engineering Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Utilization; Key and Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210042, China; Institute of Forest New Technology, CAF, Beijing 100091, China. Electronic address: chufuxiang@caf.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Fuxiang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D000179:Acrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D063566:Biodegradable Plastics / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D002482:Cellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D020724:Elastomers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D000179:Acrylates; D063566:Biodegradable Plastics; D020724:Elastomers; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP); Cellulose nanocrystals; Thermoplastic elastomers