Cellulose nanocrystals: Potential nanofiller for food packaging and catalytic applications

International Conference and Exhibition on Biopolymers & Bioplastics

August 10-12, 2015 San Francisco, USA

Vimal Katiyar, Prodyut Dhar and Amit Kumar

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNCs) is a biodegradable, non-toxic, environmentally friendly nanoparticle with immense potential for
application in fields such as biomedical engineering, food packaging, sensors, electronic devices etc. In our lab, CNCs using
different polymorphs of cellulose were fabricated from raw bamboo pulp through alkali treatment followed by acid hydrolysis. The
effect of CNC polymorphs, namely CNC I, CNC II and CNC I→II (CNC II from cellulose I), on its morphology, crystal structure,
degree of hydrogen bonding and thermal stability were studied. These polymorphs were dispersed in poly-lactic acid (PLA) films
using solution casting approach and their effect on the structural, thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of the PLA was
investigated. Incorporation of CNC II and CNC I→II significantly improved the Young’s modulus (by~72%). Therefore, the current
study provides an insight towards selection of appropriate polymorphs for fabrication of CNC reinforced high performance PLA
based bio-nanocomposites. Moreover, we have used the hydroxyl functional groups on CNCs as an anchor point for the simultaneous
reduction and stabilization of zero valent nano-particles (ZVI). The CNCs supported ZVI had narrow size distribution along
with improved dispersion stability in water. Moreover, this biocatalyst performed well in the degradation of methylene blue and
hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. Further, we have observed autonomous motion of CNCs supported ZVI in the
presence of peroxide fuel, whose locomotion can be externally controlled under both magnetic field and pH gradient. Interestingly,
both the fields led to remotely control directionality and speed of the biocatalyst making it a potential candidate for next generation
nano-machine for sensors, imaging and drug delivery applications.