title: The Microstructure of Cellulose Nanocrystal Aerogels as Revealed by Transmission Electron Microscope Tomography.
abstract: The microstructure of highly porous cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) aerogels is investigated via transmission electron microscope (TEM) tomography. The aerogels were fabricated by first supercritically drying a carboxylated CNC organogel and then coating via atomic layer deposition with a thin conformal layer of Al2O3 to protect the CNCs against prolonged electron beam exposure. A series of images was then acquired, reconstructed, and segmented in order to generate a three-dimensional (3D) model of the aerogel. The model agrees well with theory and macroscopic measurements, indicating that a thin conformal inorganic coating enables TEM tomography as an analysis tool for microstructure characterization of CNC aerogels. The 3D model also reveals that the aerogels consist of randomly orientated CNCs that attach to one another primarily in three ways: end to end contact, "T″ contact, and "X″ contact.
authors: Oregon State University , Wood Science and Engineering, 119 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Buesch
authors: Oregon State University , School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1148 Kelley Engineering Center, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
authors: Sean W
authors: SW
authors: Smith
authors: Oregon State University , Electron Microscopy Facility, 145 Linus Pauling Science Center, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Eschbach
authors: Oregon State University , School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1148 Kelley Engineering Center, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
authors: John F
authors: JF
authors: Conley
authors: Oregon State University , Wood Science and Engineering, 119 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Simonsen
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D002482:Cellulose / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016062:Porosity; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D002482:Cellulose