Microscale 3D Printing and Tuning of Cellulose Nanocrystals Reinforced Polymer Nanocomposites

Groetsch, Alexander; Stelzl, Samuel; Nagel, Yannick; Kochetkova, Tatiana; Scherrer, Nadim; Ovsianikov, Aleksandr; Michler, Johann; Pethö, Laszlo; Siqueira, Gilberto; Nyström, Gustav; Schwiedrzik, Jakob (2022). Microscale 3D Printing and Tuning of Cellulose Nanocrystals Reinforced Polymer Nanocomposites Small, 19(3), p. 2202470. Wiley-VCH 10.1002/smll.202202470

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The increasing demand for functional materials and an efficient use of sustainable resources makes the search for new material systems an ever growing endeavor. With this respect, architected (meta-)materials attract considerable interest. Their fabrication at the micro- and nanoscale, however, remains a challenge, especially for composites with highly different phases and unmodified reinforcement fillers. This study demonstrates that it is possible to create a non-cytotoxic nanocomposite ink reinforced by a sustainable phase, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), to print and tune complex 3D architectures using two-photon polymerization, thus, advancing the state of knowledge toward the microscale. Micro-compression, high-res scanning electron microscopy, (polarised) Raman spectroscopy, and composite modeling are used to study the structure-property relationships. A 100% stiffness increase is observed already at 4.5 wt% CNC while reaching a high photo-polymerization degree of ≈80% for both neat polymers and CNC-composites. Polarized Raman and the Halpin-Tsai composite-model suggest a random CNC orientation within the polymer matrix. The microscale approach can be used to tune arbitrary small scale CNC-reinforced polymer-composites with comparable feature sizes. The new insights pave the way for future applications where the 3D printing of small structures is essential to improve performances of tissue-scaffolds, extend bio-electronics applications or tailor microscale energy-absorption devices.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	Bern Academy of the Arts Bern Academy of the Arts > Institute Materiality in Art and Culture
Name:	Groetsch, Alexander; Stelzl, Samuel; Nagel, Yannick; Kochetkova, Tatiana; Scherrer, Nadim0000-0002-6576-885X; Ovsianikov, Aleksandr; Michler, Johann; Pethö, Laszlo; Siqueira, Gilberto; Nyström, Gustav and Schwiedrzik, Jakob
Subjects:	T Technology > T Technology (General)
ISSN:	1613-6810
Publisher:	Wiley-VCH
Language:	English
Submitter:	Nadim Scherrer
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2022 14:13
Last Modified:	22 Jan 2023 01:36
Publisher DOI:	10.1002/smll.202202470
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.18412
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/18412