3D printing of nanocellulose inks: the effect of electrostatic complexation to produce wet-resilient scaffolds

• Grant number: 21/00571-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Juliana da Silva Bernardes
• Grantee: Guilherme Fior Correa Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The production of biomass-based materials is one of the pillars of sustainable development, as it is based on the use of renewable raw materials that generate biodegradable products with a wide range of applications. The sustainable characteristics of biomaterials have raised the interest in the understanding of their properties and the challenges involved in their practical uses, for instance, water sensitivity is one of the most critical disadvantages of biopolymers compared to petroleum-based polymers, and different methodologies have been studied to overcome this drawback. In this project, scaffolds of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) will be produced by 3D printing. To improve their stability in water, electrostatic complexation between cationic CNFs and alginate during the printing will be used as a cross-linking strategy. It is hoped that the obtained results will amplify the colloidal knowledge of nanofibers in an aqueous medium and enable the production of wet-resilient scaffolds with improved mechanical properties, using a simple, green and scalable process. (AU)