Ionic Cross-linked Cellulose Nanocrystals Composites of Poly(vinyl acetate)

Understanding the effect on the materials mechanical properties from the perspective of interfacial interaction between the filler and the polymer matrix has become an important criterion in polymer nanocomposites field. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are renewable materials that can be extracted from natural sources, such as wood, cotton, and tunicates. In addition, CNCs have the characteristics of being rigid rods having high aspect ratio of 10 100 with estimated tensile strength (TS) and tensile modulus (E) of ~3 GPa and ~150 GPa, respectively. Due to their prominent mechanical profile and abundance, CNCs have been used with a variety of polymers and studies have shown that the incorporation of CNCs has significant impact on E improvement but less on TS.