Issue 15, 2017

Highly stiff yet elastic microcapsules incorporating cellulose nanofibrils

Abstract

Microcapsules with high mechanical stability and elasticity are desirable in a variety of contexts. We report a single-step method to fabricate such microcapsules by microfluidic interfacial complexation between high stiffness cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and an oil-soluble cationic random copolymer. Single-capsule compression measurements reveal an elastic modulus of 53 MPa for the CNF-based capsule shell with complete recovery of deformation from strains as large as 19%. We demonstrate the ability to manipulate the shell modulus by the use of polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a binder material, and observe a direct relationship between the shell modulus and the PAA concentration, with moduli as large as 0.5 GPa attained. These results demonstrate that CNF incorporation provides a facile route for producing strong yet flexible microcapsule shells.

Graphical abstract: Highly stiff yet elastic microcapsules incorporating cellulose nanofibrils

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
14 Jan 2017
Accepted
23 Mar 2017
First published
23 Mar 2017

Soft Matter, 2017,13, 2733-2737

Highly stiff yet elastic microcapsules incorporating cellulose nanofibrils

G. Kaufman, S. Mukhopadhyay, Y. Rokhlenko, S. Nejati, R. Boltyanskiy, Y. Choo, M. Loewenberg and C. O. Osuji, Soft Matter, 2017, 13, 2733 DOI: 10.1039/C7SM00092H

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