Direct kneading of thermo-softening pulp towards producing sustainable tough composites of wood nanocellulose and polycaprolactone

Masahiro Kasamatsu; Shun Ishioka; Noriyuki Isobe; Katsunori Kimoto; Satoshi Okada; Yohsuke Goi; Shuji Fujisawa; Tsuguyuki Saito

doi:10.1039/D5NH00271K

Direct kneading of thermo-softening pulp towards producing sustainable tough composites of wood nanocellulose and polycaprolactone

Masahiro Kasamatsu,

^a Shun Ishioka,

*^ba Noriyuki Isobe,

^ca Katsunori Kimoto,

^c Satoshi Okada,

^d Yohsuke Goi,^e Shuji Fujisawa

^a and Tsuguyuki Saito

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Biomaterial Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
E-mail: saitot@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

^b SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), The University of Osaka, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
E-mail: s.ishioka@eco.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp

^c Biogeochemistry Research Center, Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization (MRU), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan

^d Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan

^e Sustainable Materials R&D Group, Corporate R&D Department, Kyoto Central R&D Division, DKS Co. Ltd., 5 Ogawara-cho, Kisshoin, Minami-ku, Kyoto 601-8391, Japan

Abstract

Cellulose nanofibre (CNF)-reinforced plastics were prepared by direct kneading of polycaprolactone (PCL) and a new type of pulp with thermo-softening nature. This thermo-softening pulp fully disintegrated into CNFs within a melted PCL through kneading, resulting in an increase in the strength and thermal stability of PCL while preserving its toughness.

This article is part of the themed collection: Celebrating 10 Years of Nanoscale Horizons: 10th Anniversary Collection

Supplementary files

Transparent peer review

To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article.

View this article’s peer review history

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5NH00271K
Article type: Communication
Submitted: 25 Apr 2025
Accepted: 07 Aug 2025
First published: 15 Aug 2025

Download Citation

Nanoscale Horiz., 2025, Advance Article

Permissions

Request permissions

Direct kneading of thermo-softening pulp towards producing sustainable tough composites of wood nanocellulose and polycaprolactone

M. Kasamatsu, S. Ishioka, N. Isobe, K. Kimoto, S. Okada, Y. Goi, S. Fujisawa and T. Saito, Nanoscale Horiz., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5NH00271K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Nanoscale Horizons

Direct kneading of thermo-softening pulp towards producing sustainable tough composites of wood nanocellulose and polycaprolactone

Abstract

Supplementary files

Transparent peer review

Article information

Download Citation

Permissions

Direct kneading of thermo-softening pulp towards producing sustainable tough composites of wood nanocellulose and polycaprolactone

Social activity

Search articles by author

Spotlight

Advertisements