Favorable combination of foldability and toughness of transparent cellulose nanofibril films by a PET fiber-reinforced strategy

作者：Zhang, Dejian; Li, Guanhui; Liu, Yu^*; Hou, Gaoyuan; Cui, Jinyi; Xie, Hong; Zhang, Shiman; Sun, Zeyu; Fang, Zhiqiang^*

来源：International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020, 164: 3268-3274.

DOI：10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.08.196

• Cellulose nanofibrils
• PET fibers
• Transparent CNF films
• Toughness
• Foldability

Transparent cellulose nanofibril (CNF) films have been considered a promising sustainable alternative for nonrenewable and nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastic films. However, their relatively low toughness and poor folding endurance are two remaining challenges for commercial application. In this work, inspired by fiber-reinforced polymer, a transparent CNF film with favorable combination of toughness and folding endurance is demonstrated by a facile and scalable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber-reinforced strategy. The as-prepared PET fiber-reinforced CNF film not only exhibits a maximum average toughness of 13.7 +/- 2.4 MJ/m(3) that is nearly 4 times stronger than that of pure CNF film (3.7 +/- 1.1 MJ/m(3)), but also presents superior bending flexibility with a folding endurance of over 10(4) times that is an order of magnitude higher than that of pure CNF film (similar to 4 x 10(3) times). Moreover, its underlying principle for the enhanced toughness and foldability is explored. This work provides a facile strategy to prepare tough yet foldable CNF film and could promote its industrial uses in the fields of energy storage devices, packaging, and electronic devices.

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